Restauranteur stays strong after two bouts of Hodgkin lymphoma

She never flinched in the face of adversity.

When Maggie Fuqua and her husband Ronnie decided to start their own soul food restaurant in the mid 1980s, they knew it would be tough. There would be long hours, times of uncertainty and a myriad of other obstacles in their way. But they persevered, and RMY’s Restaurant had been one of the oldest — if not the oldest — soul food restaurants in Fort Wayne.

So when Fuqua was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma, it was a different, more deadly challenge. Still, she leaned on her faith, and her medical team at Community South Cancer Center, to beat cancer not once but twice.

“Why not try to live as long as you can? I want to live as long as I can,” she said.

Fuqua, who lives with her daughter Yolanda Johnson in Camby, is in remission now. The 78-year-old continues to go through immunotherapy infusions to keep the cancer at bay, but otherwise has regained control over her life.

She still works tirelessly at their restaurant and food truck, serving up heaping portions of fried chicken, smothered pork chops and peach cobbler. Around the house, she cares for the flowers, tending to the gardens and watering with vigilance.

“God has blessed Mom — God’s grace and mercy,” Johnson said.

RMY’s Restaurant was born of a dream Fuqua and her husband had, opening a Southern comfort food eatery on Dec. 18, 1986. The concept was simple to start out with — fried catfish, fries, cole slaw and limited other items.

Over time, the restaurant gained a loyal following. The menu expanded, featuring fried chicken, smothered pork chops, candied yams, collard greens, black-eyed peas and cornbread dressing. Their peach cobbler drew rave reviews.

“All of those really good tasty comfort food items,” Johnson said.

Johnson was 12 years old at the time RMY’s was founded and came up with the name: a combination of the initials of their first names. After Ronnie Fuqua passed away, she and her family stepped in to help her mother run the restaurant. On Sundays, they can be found in Fort Wayne, dishing up the classic dishes for take-out on what they call Taste of Soul.

“It means a lot to us. We’re Black women, and it is harder for African-Americans to run a business and sustain it,” Johnson said. “Sometimes, the odds are stacked against us, but we prevailed. We’ve kept those doors open, even in the midst of my mom getting sick.”

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Unbeknownst to any of them, Fuqua was still hard at work at the restaurant while suffering from Stage 4 cancer. Her daughter noticed something was wrong in 2016. Her lymph nodes looked swollen, and she had been suffering from night sweats and itching, which had increased over time.

“She was the one who said, ‘Mom, you just look so tired. You’re so tired. You need to make a doctor’s appointment,’” Fuqua said.

She made an appointment to see her doctor, who sent her to get x-rays at the hospital in Fort Wayne. Doctors took scans and ran a number of blood tests. The medical team found abnormalities in her blood, but could not pinpoint exactly what the issue was. While they worked, Fuqua was admitted for the hospital, where she stayed for almost two weeks.

Focused on the swollen lymph node in her neck, they did a biopsy to try and determine a diagnosis. The surgeon returned, even before sending the tissue sample off to be tested, and told them it was cancer.

“I was like, wait a minute, how can you say that, you haven’t even sent it off? She said she had been doing this for a long time, and it’s cancer,” Johnson said. “It seemed like my world just fell apart in that second. I prayed, I cried, I called my husband, telling him I needed him to get there right now.”

For Fuqua, the doctors confirmed a suspicion she had once she started feeling ill.

“I already was assuming it probably was cancer. My mother passed from cancer, and in my mind, if she had it, I might have it too before I pass on,” she said.

By the time of the diagnosis, cancer had spread to organs throughout Fuqua’s body. Hodgkin lymphoma is a cancer that starts in white blood cells called lymphocytes. Because the cancer is centered in the lymph system, which operates throughout the body, it can spread quickly to different organs, as it had with Fuqua.

As the family digested the diagnosis, they made a decision to have Fuqua receive care while living with Johnson in central Indiana. They chose Community MD Anderson Cancer Center South — which was known as Community Cancer Center South at the time.

Dr. Bilal Karim Siddiqui spearheaded care for Fuqua. He recommended chemotherapy, which she would receive every two weeks for more than a year.

At the end of the year-long treatment, Siddiqui found that her cancer was in remission.

“Everything looked good,” Johnson said.

Two years ago, a routine checkup found that the Hodkin’s lymphoma had returned. Again, the cancer was found in organs throughout her body.

“I was just shocked. In the hospital, Dr. Siddiqui came through and I could tell something was wrong. He wasn’t looking like his normal looks. He told us, and said he’s going to treat it,” Fuqua said.

By this time, Community had partnered with MD Anderson Cancer Center, considered one of the most respected cancer care centers in the world based out of Houston, Texas. Siddiqui and other Community doctors discussed Fuqua’s case with a team at MD Anderson, and together they recommended immunotherapy infusion to attack the cancer.

The treatment worked, as she’s again in remission, still receiving the treatment every three weeks.

“I really like Dr. Siddiqui’s attitude. When we were talking to him in the hospital when it came back, he said we’re going to fight it, and if it comes back, we have something for it. If it comes back again, we have something for it. There are new medicines now, and we’ll keep fighting it,” Johnson said.

Fuqua has never been one to rest, and with the restaurant, she continues to stay active. The experience of going through two different bouts with cancer has strengthened her own faith, while

“We know that if God brought her through Cancer No. 1 and Cancer No. 2, he’s keeping her here and she’s here for a reason,” Johnson said. “It’s a testimony to anyone else going through cancer struggles — she’s never sunk into depression or said ‘woe-is-me.’ We stay busy.”

During a recent weekend working in the food truck, Fuqua was overcome with a feeling. Reflecting on the number of people she knew who had recently died of varying ailments, she was compelled to step outside the truck.

“I got out, and I needed to have a talk with (God.) I walked right into the parking lot, looked up and said, ‘I just want to thank you. I want to thank you for all you have done. I had cancer twice, and I want to thank you,’” she said.

THE FUQUA FILE

Maggie Fuqua

Age: 78

Diagnosis: Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2016; recurrence in 2022

Treatment: Chemotherapy for the first instance; ongoing immunotherapy infusions for second diagnosis

How has cancer changed you?

It’s changed me. I stay busy still; I’m not sitting around. I don’t mope around about it. My faith in God is stronger.

What did cancer teach you?

I like to stay busy. I like to be doing something. But when I get tired, I will rest. It might take me two days, where I just stay in bed. But then I’m back.

What would you tell someone who was diagnosed with cancer?

Trust in the good Lord, because he is good and he will take care of you. And I would suggest to them — because I did it — go to a hospital or cancer center and be treated. Don’t sit around and say you don’t want to take this medicine, or you don’t want to do it. They have different types of medicine these days. Why not try to live as long as you can? I want to live as long as I can; I want to help my daughter raise her two boys. I was here when they came into the world, both of them. Whatever your doctors tell you to do, just do it. If you’re going to get better, just do things you should do. Don’t give up; it’s not time to give up.