Comfort food: East Huntingdon man provides meals for fellow patients at Unity cancer center

Nina Wilson gave thanks at the end of her four-hour chemotherapy session this week.

Thanks to the efforts of fellow cancer patient Corey Rhodes, the 84-year-old Mt. Pleasant Township woman was able to end her long morning enjoying a Buffalo chicken salad — or at least part of the dish.

“Thank you so much. It’s delicious,” Wilson told Rhodes as they crossed paths for the first time while undergoing treatment at the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center in Unity.

“Boy, that salad came in handy,” she said. “It was huge. I can make three meals out of that.”

Rhodes, 32, was at the center Wednesday morning as part of a third round of radiation treatment for a rare form of liver cancer. The East Huntingdon resident stayed to see how the midday meals paid for by his nonprofit Rhodes Cancer Foundation were going over with other patients.

The chicken and steak salads were flying out the window of the Savor My Flavor food truck Rhodes booked for the extended lunch hour.

Rhodes is familiar with lengthy chemotherapy treatments, which he’ll resume when his radiation regimen is complete.

“I wanted to provide some type of lunch for people who are here for a long period of time,” he said. “I’ve seen people pack stuff in a little cooler. That’s what kind of gave me the idea.”

Rhodes is planning to supply patient lunches once a week at the center, offering a variety of menus from a roster of area food trucks approved by UPMC.

The day before Thanksgiving was the second food truck day at the Hillman center, which is one of the medical facilities at the Arnold Palmer Pavilion. The week before, Rhodes sampled sliders from a purveyor of pulled pork and brisket meals and he covered the orders of 13 other patients.

“There were 67 total orders that day because of the nurses and staff and the people from the rest of the building paid for their meals,” he said. “It turned out really well.

“I took a flier to the family medicine office and across the road to the bank. I tried to spread it out so people in the area could benefit.”

Including patient orders, Savor My Flavor served about 30 salads during its visit to the Hillman Center. Co-owner David Domzalski of Rostraver plans to donate a portion of the day’s proceeds to Rhodes’ foundation.

His truck also has served food outside area hospitals.

“We try to stay within the hospital field because we enjoy the people,” he said. “My wife used to work at Excela Health (now Independence Health) and she likes talking to all the different staff.”

Wilson is a year into weekly treatments for bone marrow cancer after a previous bout with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma ended in remission. She praised Rhodes for his lunch initiative.

“For somebody to do something like that is amazing, especially around this time of year,” she said. “There are wonderful people out there.”

Rhodes, who continues to work part time as an accountant, has gathered a dozen people, including family, to help him operate his foundation.

A July 20 outing at Glengarry Golf Links in Unity raised about $30,000, some of which is covering costs of the patient meals. The fundraiser also provided a donation of more than $14,000 in support of liver cancer research at UPMC, under the direction of Dr. David Geller.

Hillman Center oncologist Dr. Terry Evans said Rhodes has demonstrated spirit as well as charity during his cancer journey.

“He hasn’t let this get to him at all,” Evans said.

Though the disease caused Rhodes to give up playing fast-pitch softball, he has continued to umpire local baseball games.

“He has gone so far over and above the call of duty,” Evans said of the cancer-related causes Rhodes has pursued. “He’s taken his illness and turned it into something positive for the benefit of other people. Not too many people do that in his situation.”

Though a clinical trial in New York City didn’t provide a remedy for Rhodes, he’s hoping he may find another one that will provide better results. In the meantime, he said, the ongoing treatments at the Hillman center are working to keep contained the cancer affecting his liver and bones.

Meanwhile, he’s thinking about next year’s foundation fundraisers — including another golf outing and possibly a spaghetti dinner.

He’s hopeful that current and future cancer patients can benefit from those efforts.

“I can feel some comfort if less people have to go through chemo, which is not fun,” he said.

To learn more about Rhodes’ foundation, contact him at coreyrhodes02@yahoo.com or at 366 Wesley Chapel Road, Scottdale, PA 15683.