Diana Prout Marbley

This is a love story.

Diana was dearly loved by her family and all who knew her. So many friends continue to ask how they can express their love, appreciation and support for CJ and the Marbley family. With great reluctance, CJ finally allowed us to establish this campaign. Gifts of food, condolences and faith support have been flowing their way daily. Family and friends from around the country are also coming together in this campaign. 

Diana and I met at Howard University in class at Frederick Douglas Hall and I joined the dance ensemble in order to date her.  ~ CJ Marbley

We met CJ and Diana when they were engaged to be married. We were married ourselves two months after their June 1994 wedding. In the early years we spent time together just hanging out as newlywed couples. Over the past 21 years we watched them grow into their careers, parenthood and their first house. We count it an honor to know them as friends. They are phenomenal people, amazing parents and some of the most generous people we have ever known.

Along with tremendous losses and multiple family illnesses, the Marbleys are overcoming a personal battle against cancer. It has been a ten year fight so far and they are currently in the midst of their third battle. Everyone and anyone can join this fight through their monetary contributions. No amount is too big or too small and all gifts will go directly to the family.

Please join us.  ~ Scott and Marcia Stem

Family ~ Sonya Norsworthy (Lillian's mom)


The adage “When you marry someone, you are marrying their whole family” really begins to take shape when family is expanded beyond parents and siblings to include a small child and parent. Where love, humanity, compassion, and humility meet is where we find Diana Prout soon to be Diana Marbley facing the reality of becoming a parent through marriage and considering the elements of a co-parenting relationship. “Strange,” “unusual,” “crazy,” are the things I heard on my end from people who could not identify or relate to doing the things we were considering and what it meant
for Diana. 

When CJ and Diana were married Lilly (Lillian) was three years old. CJ and I had previously decided that once CJ finished college he would take on full time care of Lilly so that I could return to college. The ramification of that decision and all the moving parts were overshadowed by an intense desire to raise Lilly in a loving caring environment. You can never have too many adults thinking well and loving a child.

Thus began the journey of new bride, new mother, and cultivator of a co-parenting relationship. I can image the things people told Diana because I received an earful every opportunity someone felt the need to share. However, she opened her home, arms, and heart to Lilly and to me in a way that I can only attribute to possessing the love of God in one’s heart.

Over the years a relationship was forged between two mothers that baffled and inspired. Diana’s consistent inclusive gestures were reassuring and affirming. I trusted her with my child and I have never regretted it for one moment. The love and care she showered Lilly by never making her feel left out even as she and CJ began to have children goes beyond belief. I have always been sure that this love comes from one of the most genuine hearts I have ever known. As Lilly grew, our relationship took on a collaborative parenting model that spilled over into long honest talks on the phone sharing tactics and strategies for raising our girl.

A decision that was made out of necessity evolved into a model for extended families and a picture of love. Diana was always in a position to deny the experience with solid reasoning but she didn’t. It made Lilly’s life that much more blessed and impacted my life in ways she may not have understood.

I can’t rightly say that I would have met my goal of completing college as a young mom with limited skills or that I would become so passionate about supporting families and the establishment of “villages” to raise children. Her love has impacted the life of my daughter, my life, and even my career. It’s a model of sacrifice that propels and unleashes the bonds of what is possible and our human capacity to love.  ~ Sonya Norsworthy

Lillian Marbley Brown is now 24, has a BA in Hospitality and is a newlywed. Caleb Marbley is 17, plays baseball and is looking forward to attending baseball camp this summer, Audrey Marbley (Named for Diana's mother) is 15 and has become among other things, a beautiful dancer. Ernest Marbley (Named after Diana's father) is 12 and plays football. According to his big sister Audrey, Ernest is the kid that is always outside somewhere. All three of the youngest children take part in the Young Marines National
Youth Organization.

On June 7, 2015 CJ made an audio recording detailing  events related to Diana's fight with cancer. The memories below are based on that recording.

2005
First Diagnosis, Surgery, Benefit Dance Concert
and Hurricane Katrina

We both knew that it would be ok.  ~ CJ Marbley

Diana is a professional dancer and instructor in modern dance, ballet and aerobics. In May of 2005 Diana and CJ learned that she had a breast lump. It was found during a routine OB/GYN visit. Subsequent tests followed and in June she was diagnosed with breast cancer. More tests were done over the next month and by August she was scheduled for a radical
left mastectomy.

While in this process Diana was chosen to perform in two benefit concerts with dancers from the Broadway cast of the "The Lion King". The surgery had been scheduled right in the middle of rehearsals and the performance dates. Through careful consultation with her surgeon, all agreed that she should embrace this a once in a lifetime opportunity so surgery was postpone for two weeks.

Diana's parents came up from New Orleans for a two week visit and to see Diana dance. It was an incredible experience for her but her parents had to be told about her breast cancer and the procedure to come. It was now August 26, 2005. The surgery date was the same day that hurricane Katrina shifted its course, heading directly toward New Orleans. Her parents stayed in Maryland to be with her and all they could do was ask cousins in New Orleans to recover essential things out of their house before the storm hit. As CJ waited for Diana to come out of recovery he watched the news as hurricane Katrina destroyed her parent's home and the city where she was born and raised.

After the surgery Diana had nine months of chemotherapy and radiation. She was fortunate enough to get in a clinical trial for a new phase of chemotherapy and treatment for stage three breast cancer.

2006
Reconstruction and CJ's new job

Diana finished all chemotherapy and radiation treatment in April of 2006. She started taking Tamoxifen once a day for the next five years and continued follow up appointments with her doctors. CJ left his nursing job at Sinai hospital and moved to GBMC hospital where Diana then had breast reconstruction surgery at the Women's
Surgical Center.

2011

In 2011, Diana stopped taking the Tamoxifen as was the usual protocol for that medication at that time. (Research studies since that time have demonstrated that cancer patients who take Tamoxifen for ten years have lower recurrence and lower breast cancer mortality rates).

2012
Second diagnosis

The first two times, neither of us doubted that things would be ok. ~ CJ Marbley

In May 2012 the Marbley family traveled to Denver for their daughter Lillian's college graduation. Diana had been having some groin pain which she thought was a dance injury. She got muscle treatment, including stretching exercises and icing therapy. After Lillian's graduation ceremony Diana was walking across campus when her legs gave out and she collapsed. She got up right away without injury but the event was strange. Diana and CJ both knew that she needed to talk to a doctor and maybe get another MRI when they returned home.

The MRI confirmed that the cancer had come back and had spread into her hip bones, one rib and one spinal vertebrae. The cancer in Diana's hips had destroyed so much healthy bone that doctors could barely see her right hip bones on x-ray. The only good news was that she hadn't sustained any fractures to her hips with the fall in Denver and there were no signs or symptoms that the cancer had spread to any other organs.

From then on she was limited to no or low weight baring activities and she had to use a walker for about six months.

Radiation treatment to those bones began and Diana was prescribed Denosumab, (Used to help regenerate bone in cancer patients). After six months the spots in her rib and spinal vertebrae had gone away and by the end of a year of treatment she had regenerated bone in her hip.

This time period was however significantly heart breaking for Diana because her mom was diagnosed with multiple myeloma and her dad was diagnosed with lower colon cancer. Diana is an only child and all three of them were all going through treatment for cancer at the same time.

They all recovered in 2013 though her mother was still getting treatments. Her mother had come home, was using a cane in place of her walker and was finally able to get around and participate in family activities.

2013
Improvements and return to dancing

Diana was able to get rid of her walker. She started physical therapy and returned to dance. She joined a company called Connective Vibes and they did a benefit concert in Granada that summer. It had always been her goal to get back to dancing and to perform again. 2013 went well with no problems.

2014 - 2015
Third diagnosis and additional family loss

In the summer of 2014 a PET scan (Positron Emission Tomography imaging) revealed five spots on Diana's liver and she started IV (Intravenous) chemotherapy. She had a PORT-A-CATH (An IV catheter that is placed under the skin in a patient who requires frequent administration of chemotherapy, blood transfusions, antibiotics, intravenous feeding, or blood draws.)
placed again.

Later that same summer, her mother and two of her aunts all went into the hospital for exacerbation of cancer. On labor day, one of her aunts passed away from lung cancer. Three weeks later Diana's mother passed away from exacerbation of multiple myeloma and two weeks after those loses, her second aunt died from cancer.

By fall, the spots on Diana's liver had come back. Diana restarted treatment but another PET scan in November of 2014 showed them that the spots on her liver hadn't gone away. Her lab work showed that her tumor markers had not dropped so they started a new and stronger treatment called Eribulin to prevent further spread. Through the end of November to the beginning of December, she started losing her hair again and severe neuropathy developed, (Weakness, numbness, and pain from nerve damage, usually in the hands and feet). This prevented her from dancing anymore and limited her ability to do daily activities.

The aggressive treatment seemed to be making progress. The five spots on her liver were down to four, the tumor markers started dropping but by February 2015, the neuropathy had gotten much worse. Diana decided with her physician that she would try to continue the Eribulin as long as the tumor markers were still dropping and the spots on her liver were decreasing. She also started on two additional medications for the neuropathy.

After February, March and at the end of April, the spots on her liver had become more prominent and her lab work showed that her tumor markers had actually taken another step up. This in spite of the consistent drop over the previous four months. It was a sudden change seeming to take place in a brief two week period. Diana had been getting lab work every week.

An appointment with her doctor was scheduled for the first week in May to decide on new chemotherapy medication because the current one had stopped working and was causing severe neuropathy.

A repeat PET scan was scheduled for May 7th with a doctor's appointment scheduled for the next day. But, on May the 6th, while at work. Diana noticed that her face wasn't feeling right.

She was getting ready to leave and go to get lab work done at the hospital. She felt fine otherwise and after talking to CJ agreed to meet him at the hospital. When CJ saw her at the Lab he noticed a facial droop and they went straight to the ER. Diana was given all of the stroke protocols and a CT scan immediately. She was not having a stroke.

An MRI on the brain and full body PET scan were scheduled for the next morning. The scans now revealed that the cancer had spread to her brain, her lungs and the spots on her liver had become too numerous to count. It also returned in her hips and on her spinal cord. Because this massive spread started while she was on active chemotherapy, the only options now were radiation treatment to the brain to help with the severe facial droop.

There were few other treatment options that were shown to be effective in a case where cancer has spread during active treatment of chemotherapy and has spread to so many organs and to the brain. Diana proceeded with two weeks of radiation therapy which brought her back to normal facial functioning and at the end of May CJ and Diana started home hospice.

They are currently using at home hospice for symptom management. Right now Diana's only symptom is a lethargic feeling and the neuropathy is going away. While she is lethargic and sleepy most of the day. When she is awake, she is her normal, happy, positive, energetic self.



Why home hospice?

Simple. They wanted her to be at home and not in the hospital because she always felt worse just being in the hospital.

In CJ's own words:

We're fortunate to have the top doctors in this area. Working with her doctors and their colleagues at Hopkins and The University of Maryland has helped us understand all available protocols out there. We understand that there are other treatments that people could provide for her and there are other chemotherapy and radiation treatments that we could agree to but the likely hood that they would cause more harm than good is also present. Our goal is to focus on her quality of life and to get as much quality out of the quantity that we have versus the option of her living the next several months to a year in our hospitals or spending her final days in the hospital.

Some people option for that.

We chose to option for quality and we know that at this point, healing is going to come from God. We're trusting in that. We know that all things work for good for those who love the Lord and are called according to His will. We're going to make the most out of life, make the most out of whatever time we have. We're going to try to make each day a positive day for her.

We want our children to learn that even with the worst news they can still trust in God, they can still help others and they can still love life to its fullest. We want them to understand that only what we do for others will last anyway.

We choose not to be angry or sad, questioning or bitter because we've been blessed so much in our lives, more than most other people in the world. In every aspect of our lives we've been blessed and we have been able to be a blessing to others.

And so, we see no reason to live our days in negativity and despair when we can choose hope, faith, happiness, love and joy instead.

We know that what the diagnosis means is sad to many friends and family but everyone who knows Diana knows that sadness and despair are not part of her character, not part of who she is. Happiness, joy, love are who she is, who she represents and so her living testimony will always be that.

Victory, June 2015

CJ took Diana and the family home to New Orleans on Thursday, June 18th. Diana quietly passed away in her sleep on June 21st, Father's Day at 6:00 am.