Cancer victim Palmer keeping busy Washburn multi-sport athlete is a basketball manager, photographer

BANGOR – Amber Palmer is many things to the Washburn girls basketball team.

She’s a manager, taking the No. 2 Beavers’ warmup shirts to the locker room after games. She’s an unofficial photographer, snapping action shots of the Washburn players including her sister Rachel, a 6-foot-3 sophomore center, during their Eastern Maine Class D quarterfinal Saturday night against No. 10 Southern Aroostook of Dyer Brook. And she’s a fan, clapping and cheering throughout the eventual 43-32 win.

Palmer, however, is no longer a player.

A 5-10 forward who would have started this year, the Washburn senior has been battling a form of cancer called Hodgkin’s lymphoma and has been ruled out of playing basketball and volleyball, which Washburn offers between the winter and spring seasons. Palmer should be back in time to play first base for the varsity softball team, however.

It’s been a frustrating time for Palmer, but she has found a lot to do while on the sidelines.

“It’s really hard. I’m very active in all my sports,” Palmer said after the quarterfinal. “But I can be on the bench and support my team.”

Palmer was diagnosed in September when her neck swelled up from some masses in her lymph nodes. She also had affected lymph nodes in her armpit and chest. Her abdomen, pelvis, and spleen were also affected.

She had surgery in the fall and has already undergone nine of 12 planned chemotherapy treatments. The 18-year-old is being treated at A.R. Gould Memorial Hospital of The Aroostook Medical Center in Presque Isle and said she’s the youngest person to be treated for cancer there.

“I think the hardest thing about having cancer was going into the oncology unit in Presque Isle and seeing all the older people there,” said Palmer, who has grown close to her doctor, Amarnath Ramineni and calls him “Rami.”

“The closest [patient] to my age was, like, 30-something,” she said. “It was hard to find somebody to bond with. But it’s amazing because we’re all connected. We all have cancer and we all know how each other feels. We’re all there to support each other.”

Palmer keeps busy. She played soccer last fall, although she missed the end of the season. She started a school pep group called the Blue Zoo, so named for the Beavers’ blue and yellow school colors, which has turned into a regular student cheering section at games. She also managed the boys basketball team.

“She can’t sit still,” Washburn coach and athletic director Ron Ericson said. “She would have been a big part of [the tournament] and that’s the sad thing. We’re thankful that her treatments are going well and the doctor’s reports are good. That’s the important thing.”

Palmer has also made friends with a lot of her competition. After the Beavers’ quarterfinal win, she chatted with some of the girls from the No. 3 Greater Houlton Christian Academy team, which beat No. 6 Ashland Saturday in a quarterfinal.

Ericson said several Aroostook County schools and communities, including Easton, Limestone/Maine School of Science and Mathematics, Fort Fairfield, and Greater Houlton Christian, have honored Palmer, sent donations, or attended a benefit for Palmer last month.

Chemotherapy treatments have caused Palmer’s hair to fall out. People do stare at her sometimes, Palmer said, and although she occasionally wears hats and bandannas, she’s perfectly willing to go bald.

“I refuse to wears wigs. If it’s not my hair, I don’t want it,” said Palmer, who was dressed for the quarterfinal in a stylish black pinstriped suit. “If people want to make fun of me, that’s their problem. I am kind of nervous about the prom, though, not having any hair.”

Palmer’s most recent tests have shown her to be cancer-free, she said. After her final course of chemotherapy, she’s going to Scotland for a weeklong school trip organized by Washburn couple Chris Hallett, a guidance counselor and boys basketball coach at the high school, and Andrea Hallett, a math teacher.

Palmer is also looking forward to studying rehabilitation services at the University of Maine-Farmington next year.

As much as Palmer has done for the Beavers on the sidelines, she may not be at the Bangor Auditorium Thursday to watch the semifinal against Greater Houlton Christian.

Her 10th chemotherapy session is Tuesday in Presque Isle.

“I wanted them to do great tonight, but in a way I didn’t want them to win,” Palmer said as Southern Aroostook player Kim Grant stopped to give her a hug. “I might have a hard time coming back for the Thursday game. It usually wipes me out for three or four days.”