Heidi Greenleaf/Working Press Terry Harper, executive director of SPJ.

Terry Harper, executive director of SPJ, is living with brain cancer.

But don’t cry for him.

“This is the hand I was dealt,” said Harper, who remains upbeat despite the potentially life-threatening disease.

He says he is determined to play to win.

“I’m fortunate that I have a good prognosis,” Harper, 43, said in a telephone interview before he arrived in Washington for SPJ’s annual convention.

After he had two seizures earlier this year, doctors found a tumor on his brain. They removed it in July, and Harper underwent six weeks of radiation treatment. He recently started monthly chemotherapy.

But the treatment came with a price: After the radiation he lost the thick head of shoulder-length hair he was so proud of.

Harper also has MRI exams every two months to check for a recurrence of cancer, which is likely for the kind of tumor he had.

“If it comes back,” he said, “I’ll have to deal with it.”

Life is returning to normal for Harper.

He recently returned to work at the SPJ offices in Indianapolis. He is driving again. He said there isn’t anything that he did before the cancer that he is unable to do now.

“I have no limitations right now unless my body tells me so,” he said. He has experienced some fatigue because of the chemotherapy, but he says that is to be expected.

His primary concern is his family, particularly his sons, ages 15 and 12. He wants to keep things as normal as possible for them.

His wife, LeeAnn Harper, said they both worked hard to be upfront with their children, to keep them informed and to stay positive.

“It was actually quite frightening to see him having a seizure, but when we found out it was a tumor, we knew it’d be taken out, and we’d be able to move on with our lives,” she said.

Mrs. Harper also said they appreciated the support they received from friends, including when his co-workers sent someone to clean their house. Members of her women’s group also helped her spiritually and emotionally, meeting her at the hospital.

Chris Vachon, SPJ’s associate executive director, said she helped the family by making sure everything stayed on track at the office. She also visited them at home.

“I admire and respect how he has approached it,” Vachon said. She said his great attitude has made the difference.

HAIR-RAISING Watch exclusive footage of Mac McKerral having his head shaved in support of Terry Harper. Video

In another show of support for Harper, Mac McKerral, a former SPJ president, on Thursday night auctioned the opportunity to shave his own head. SPJ President Christine Tatum paid $700 to run an electric razor over McKerral’s scalp.

Mrs. Harper has noticed how the cancer has changed her husband.

“Terry’s positive aspects have been heightened by this experience,” she said, adding that it has brought them closer together.
Harper says having a positive attitude and not worrying about the future is important.

“The people that focus on the negative die, and the people who don’t live longer,” he said. “I’m just trying to live my life.”

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2010 SPJ Convention & National Journalism Conference
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