“With any cancer diagnosis and every cancer patient, you are always afraid of relapse. So this idea that the cancer might come back [is] always haunting me. That is going to be my life now. I try to keep planning and pushing forward,” Bonita Vista High (BVH) Zoology and Botany teacher Priscilla McClain said.
McClain’s journey began in 2021 after she was diagnosed with stage four colorectal cancer; a disease where cells within the colon grow out of control. Although the signs were prevalent that past year, McClain was unprepared to hear the news that would force her to leave the job she adored, the community she loved and the people she interacted with everyday. Now, in 2023, McClain has returned to BVH with an astounding story to tell.
McClain feels that BVH was one of the reasons she was emotionally capable to persevere through her journey. Currently, she is still enduring chemotherapy but is considered to have no evidence of disease (NED). The process of her returning was simple and heartwarming. Librarian and Earth Science teacher, Adrienne Marriottt, who has known McClain for almost eight years, offered both of her Zoology and Botany classes to McClain. According to McClain, she thrives off her passion for plants, so she was especially ecstatic with her botany class.
“I know that she is the kind of person that is extra. She is just like me. We are both always dragging in dirt, plants and doing stuff that is kind of weird, but also really fun and so I left my students in the best situation that I could,” Marriott said.
Not only did Marriott give her classes to McClain but also recommended her to Principal Lee Romero. Others in the science department also explained to Romero what a great teacher she was and how she would benefit the school. When McClain became a teacher, administration understood her situation so they gave flexibility regarding her schedule. McClain says she appreciates everything everyone has done for her throughout her process of returning to campus.
“I am very excited to be here and back with the teachers. They are not just my coworkers or peers, they are my friends. They supported me while I was gone, hung out with me, brought me food and checked in on me. It was incredible to come back because the school feels like home,” McClain said.
In the 2021-2022 school year, McClain had been feeling symptoms of colorectal cancer, but her doctors were oblivious to every sign. One instance was when McClain came into the doctor’s office not feeling well, but her symptoms passed as a Gluten-Free allergy. It took a whole year to properly diagnose her with cancer. When McClain and her doctors finally realized it might be something out of the ordinary, she was tested. With days passing after the scans, McClain finally received the email that contained the news.
“I opened the computer and there it was; I had cancer all over my body. It was terrifying. I just broke down. My husband heard me and woke up. Then we held each other and cried. My mom called me because it was her birthday and she saw the email and told me, ‘We will figure it out. It will be okay,” McClain said. “Then my sister called because my mom immediately called her and she said, ‘I got you. Do not worry, we got this.’ After that it was calling work and letting them know. They asked, ‘What are you going to do?’ I did not know, all I knew was that I had it.”
In the end, McClain decided she had to leave BVH, which she considered a “home,” to receive treatment. She left California in hope to find a solution in Mexico and from there was sent to a number of places throughout California to receive treatment. Her treatments forced her to stay in the hospital room alone since COVID-19 was still considered a global pandemic at the time. As she stayed in the hospital, she turned to social media for the comforting messages and support being sent her way. In fact, former BVH Principal Roman Del Rosario, created a GoFundMe for McClain to support her financially while Jennifer Ekstein supported her friend by getting McClain’s story on the news.
“It is just incredible. With the support, I felt so blessed and I still could not believe [the support I received],” McClain said. “My husband jokes and says, ‘How do you not believe it? How much work and effort do you put into each student? Of course, they are going to give [the support] back.’”
As teachers and staff improve McClain’s experience at BVH, students like junior Zayra Mercado, are thrilled she has returned. Mercado had McClain as a teacher in the 2021-2022 school year. Originally, she found out through social media that McClain was battling cancer and was devastated. Now, Mercado has her once again and is excited to have her as a teacher.
“It was very shocking to hear the news [of her return] and it makes me happy. When I stepped into class that Monday, I did not recognize her until I saw her name on the board. Then everything [the memories] came back to me. It shows that sometimes the impossible is possible,” Mercado said.
As McClain faced some dull days in the hospital, she used most of her time to send out postcards to each one of her students. Later that year, she even summoned enough strength to attend that year’s prom to see her former students. With a year of treatments, chemotherapy and 30 tumors, McClain began showing signs of improvements.
“During the pandemic, I wrote every single one of my students a postcard and sent it to them. Now I know [good things] do come back when you need it. I feel very loved. When you are at your lowest to feel the support [was incredible]. On the GoFundMe I was reading the comments and it was just so nice to see students and teachers from the years I have spent teaching reach out and say, ‘We are thinking about you’,” McClain said.
Now with the school year in session, McClain has brought in guest speakers, created her own lessons and gotten back into the groove of teaching. Marriott understands that it may be difficult to do this while experiencing the symptoms of her treatments at school, but feels that returning to teaching was the right thing for McClain to do at this moment.
“She is fantastic. The science department loves having her back and so it ended up working out for everyone. She looks healthy, she has her smile, the twinkle in her eye and her sense of humor still,” Marriott said.
At her age, this level of cancer had exceeded the possibility of partial recovery, that is until McClain’s doctors used a method where they took out a piece of her cancerous tumor and tested different types of chemotherapy on it. There they found out which treatment was best for McClain and began the process to recovery. In the beginning, doctor’s were straightforward and informed her that she had a low chance of making it through the cancer. Now with this fulfilling treatment McClain expects to live a full life.
“I was supposed to die. I was not supposed to be here. I have a birthday coming up in November and I can not wait because that was the birthday they told me I would not make it to. So I am really excited but it is emotional,” McClain said.
McClain has gained an unbreakable relationship with the people that have supported her along the way. Along her journey, BVH students and staff have helped build her passion for teaching. Mercado seeing McClain for the first time in almost two years gave her a blissful satisfaction.
“The fact [of her medical issues] makes me feel very grateful that I still get to have her as a teacher and she survived. I always expected her to come back but did not know it would be this long. 30 tumors is crazy, but it gives me hope in situations like these where you do not feel there are any,” Mercado said.
For the past two years McClain has gone through a rollercoaster of emotions. Starting from scratch at a new school would be too complicated, while at BVH there was an already established relationship.
“Once I started getting better, the conversation of working and being employed came up, because medical bills are expensive. Everyone asked me, ‘Are you going to go back to teaching?’ and it does take a toll on your mind and your body like nothing else. All I could think was, I will go back, because it is my home and so are the people,” McClain said. “BVH truly appreciates me, respects me and wants me to succeed. Why would I not come back? .”
McClain expects to be teaching her two classes at BVH for the rest of the year, while simultaneously going to chemotherapy. She explains how at work, she may feel sick, numb and tired so she takes time to take care of herself. McClains journey is not over but it seems as though the worst is over and she now is grateful for what this experience has given her.
“Strangely, I am happier now; I did not think I would ever feel this way, but I do. Everyday is so exciting for me now and for the first time in my life I do not have a five-year plan and I do not know what I am going to do. It is a great feeling to not be afraid, that the doors are not closed and I am ready for the doors that could open. I have been given a second chance at life so I want to do something meaningful. I am excited to be here in the world,” McClain said.
