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Greg Oliver

Clemson native Marshall Marchbanks, who served as Chief of Cardiac Surgery at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital for 20 of his 25 years there, was recently honored when an operating room at the hospital’s new Heart and Vascular Institute was named in his honor. The recognition came at a time when Marchbanks, son of former State Rep. Claude Marchbanks and Carolene Elizabeth Marchbanks, of Clemson, was undergoing treatment for esophageal cancer.

SENECA — Dr. Marshall Vance Marchbanks is the true definition of the local boy who made good.

The 1965 Daniel High School graduate and 1969 Clemson University graduate enjoyed a 25-year career at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, including a 20-year span as chief of cardiac surgery until his retirement in 2007. Marchbanks, who performed more than 5,000 open heart surgeries during his career, was so revered that the operating room at the hospital’s new $57 million Heart and Vascular Institute was recently dedicated in his honor — virtually unheard of for anyone other than a large donor.

But what should be the most exciting time for Marchbanks has instead become his most challenging. When Marchbanks attended the dedication of the Dr. Marshall Marchbanks Operating Suite in July, he did so facing his own personal battle —esophageal cancer diagnosed earlier that year. In fact, the diagnosis came on a day Marchbanks is all too familiar with — Aug. 31, 2007 —his 60th birthday.

“It was harder because I knew the prognosis,” Marchbanks said. “I knew it was a deadly tumor, though not as bad as brain cancer or a melanoma. But I had become a little discouraged because I didn’t realize how tough it was to come through it.”

The news was even more difficult because Marchbanks has always taken great pride in being physically fit. He has never weighed more than 170 pounds, was active in flying, where he held a private pilot license and logged more than 4,000 hours in the air, and was an avid golfer.

A born leader

In fact, Marchbanks has been active his entire life. While attending Daniel High School, where he graduated in 1965, he served as student body president, captain of the baseball team and as a school bus driver.

Those leadership qualities served Marchbanks well in selecting his chosen professional field. While attending Clemson University, Marchbanks chose a career in medicine due to two men who, next to his father, he most admired — local physicians Dr. Robert Burley and Dr. William E. Dukes.

Following his graduation, Marchbanks attended the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston for the next four years. Starting in 1973, he spent the next seven years in residency at the school — becoming board certified in both general surgery and cardiothoracic surgery.

After spending two years on active duty in the U.S. Navy, as Assistant Chairman of the Cardiothoracic Surgery Department at Balboa Naval Hospital in San Diego, Marchbanks was granted an honorable discharge and rank of Commander in 1982.

During that time, Marchbanks entered private practice at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, the beginning of a 25-year love affair with the hospital, his staff and the small town that, during those years, contained a population of 60,000.

“This was a beautiful area, with no humidity,” Marchbanks said, adding that the population has since grown as large as Greenville. “The beauty of California’s coast and wine country and being 45 minutes from San Francisco was like a dream come true.”

Marchbanks, who married his wife, Elaine, in 1975, said they both delved deeply into their respective medical careers — he as a cardiac surgeon and she as a nurse, though at different hospitals. The hours, Marchbanks recalled, were extremely long.

“In cardiac surgery, if you want to be at the top of your field, you will never work less than 100 hours,” he said. “We were pretty much adjusted to the time apart, so I had to learn to take advantage of time spent with family.”

When the couple adopted Jessica in 1990, Marchbanks admits he became torn between work and family. Elaine had already quit her job as a cardiac care nurse in order to devote full-time care to their daughter.

“She (Jessica) turned out to be a sweet, wonderful girl,” Marchbanks said. “That was probably the most rewarding thing — to be able to have a family. But it is difficult to be in this field and balance it with family.”

Success in Santa Rosa

Meanwhile, Marchbanks saw his medical career take off as he was named Chief of Cardiac Surgery in 1987 — a position he held for 20 years. Marchbanks said it was the efficient work of his team of doctors that contributed to the 5,000 open-heart surgeries performed over 25 years.

“Although every patient was different, there was a group of people in the operating room that remained the same,” he said. “We developed a procedure that was fast, efficient, healthy and strong while maintaining compassion for the patient.”

Marchbanks said his team averaged anywhere from seven to 10 open heart surgeries per week and performed all valve operations. His peak surgery years were from ages 34 through 50, after which Marchbanks said he took in a couple of partners and began slowing down.

“I let them do more as I did less,” Marchbanks said, his caseload decreasing from 300 to 150 the final two years of his career. “Endurance is a major issue as your dexterity slows a bit.”

Marchbanks planned to retire at age 60 and move his family to Vail, Colo., a move that would also allow Jessica to attend a school where she could live on campus.

“I don’t think a surgeon should work past 60,” he said. “For me, it was a benchmark to compensate for the loss of eyesight, dexterity and stamina needed when you take people’s lives in your hands.”

Personal crisis

Marchbanks said he became so excited about the prospects of retirement, he never once considered that cancer was growing inside his body. After all, he had never been sick a day in his life.

But that quickly changed when Marchbanks began experiencing rapid weight loss and became ill to the point where he knew something indeed was wrong. Once the diagnosis of Adeno Carcinoma of the Esophagus was made, Marchbanks decided to have as much of the tumor surgically removed as possible. The only problem, though, was that Marchbanks’ weight had dropped to the point where that was not an option initially.

“I weighed 130 pounds and the doctors wouldn’t operate until I was at least 140 pounds,” he said. “All of my food and water had to go through a tube.”

Thanks to the loving care provided by his wife, whom Marchbanks said “fattened me up,” he was soon able to undergo radical surgery. Doctors removed more than half of Marchbanks’ stomach and his esophagus is now two-inches long. Though unable to completely remove the tumor, the Denver medical team renowned for results that include a five-year survival rate, administered chemo and radiation that shrank much of it.

As a result, Marchbanks witnessed his cancer decrease from Stage 3 when first diagnosed to Stage 2. Though required to eat five to six times per day, Marchbanks, now 140 to 145 pounds, said he would never regain his previous weight of 170.

What Marchbanks is grateful for is that side effects, such as pneumonia and often-fatal infections, were eliminated due to the type of surgery he had.

Lifting his spirits

But Marchbanks said the dedication ceremony lifted his spirits, particularly when reunited with former colleagues and patients who wanted to share such a special occasion.

“It really is unusual to get your name on anything in a heart institute unless you are rich,” Marchbanks said. “But a lot of my patients, some on the board of trustees, some VIPs and some physicians I had operated on while in town, behind my back, told administration that the cardiac operating suite should be named for me due to all the hours I had worked there and as many cases as I had seen.”

Marchbanks admits he initially wondered whether the honor was due to his cancer diagnosis. But such thoughts quickly evaporated.

“The ceremony and dedication made me realize that they loved me,” he said. “It was an honor to present my family to a place that meant so much to me.”

A photo and biography of Marchbanks now hang over the entrance to the doors of the Heart and Vascular Institute. The new facility will officially open Oct. 1.

Attitude of Gratitude

To say that Marshall Marchbanks is now out of the woods healthwise would simply be untrue. Though currently cancer-free, the man, with God’s help, who improved the lives of others through his gift of medicine, realizes that a five-year survival rate is the best-case scenario right now.

Marchbanks has given up his pilot’s license and only recently began driving again. But he is thankful to again play the piano, a talent that has resulted in the recording of several CDs in recent years.

But despite the medical difficulties Marchbanks has dealt with and continues to deal with, you won’t hear him complain. In fact, there is an attitude of gratitude that he possesses — evidenced by his warm smile and gleam of hope in his eyes.

“The best medical and surgical treatment you can have is a strong will to survive, to rely on someone close to you,” Marchbanks said. “The best thing for me was my family and faith, and that’s the only way you can get through it.”

For now, Marchbanks calls Vail, Colo. his home, but eventually would like to move his family to Six Mile — to the house on top of a hill where Elaine grew up. Though once immersed in his own career, Marchbanks said he has learned over the years that it is important to strike a balance between work and family.

“Love your family because, if you have a family, you will have the greatest treasure in life,” Marchbanks said, adding, “There were times I almost gave up on myself, but they didn’t give up on me.”