The art of healing

How Linda Cooley found advanced cancer care and comfort in southwest Louisiana

Home means different things to different people. For some, home is a person or a place. Others find it in a feeling.

For Linda Cooley, home is southwest Louisiana—and that’s exactly where she wants to be, even during cancer treatment.

Choosing to stay local

Midway through 2025, Cooley received a cancer diagnosis, news that changes everything in an instant. Her oncologist, Michael Broussard, MD, with the Cancer Center at Lake Charles Memorial, was ready to support her in seeking a second opinion out of town, as many patients do. But Cooley already knew her path. She trusted her local care team, and she wanted to stay at home, surrounded by her family and the community that had always supported her.

Cooley has known Lake Charles as home for many years. She was raised here, met her husband here and it’s where they raised two children. For decades, she built a career that could only be described as colorful.

Affectionately known as “the glass lady,” Cooley owned and operated A Touch of Glass on Lake Street for 31 years, creating vibrant stained-glass art. Through her work, she brought to life images that caught the light and turned ordinary windows into stories of their own. Though her shop has since closed, her art and her passion live on through her daughter, who learned the craft at her side.

When Cooley chose to stay in Lake Charles for treatment, she didn’t know she would also become a permanent part of Memorial’s history. She was the first patient to undergo radiation therapy using the hospital’s new Varian Edge Linear Accelerator, the only system of its kind in Louisiana.

Getting the best possible care

Varian Edge Linear Accelerator is a radio surgical system designed to deliver precisely targeted radiation beams that destroy cancer cells while sparing healthy tissue and surrounding organs. For patients, that can mean shorter treatments, fewer side effects and better quality of life. For Cooley, it meant advanced cancer care was available just around the corner from her home.

Radiation therapy is demanding. It takes time, energy and consistency. For many patients who must travel back and forth to other cities, treatment becomes even more exhausting. The drive, the unfamiliar beds and the hotel stays all add stress at a time when rest and routine matter most. Staying in Lake Charles allowed Cooley to focus on healing while sleeping in her own bed each night and staying connected with her family and friends on a regular basis.

Like stained glass, Cooley’s treatment required precision, patience and the skill to bring many pieces together into one picture of hope. Her care team- oncologists, radiation therapists, nurses and technicians—have worked seamlessly, each playing their part in the design of a plan for recovery.

Trusting the process

The Varian Edge began operating the same day Cooley began her radiation therapy. While she was nervous to start, she took comfort in knowing that she was in trusted hands and wouldn’t have to leave home to receive advanced care.

Cooley hopes that by sharing her story, she can encourage other women—especially older women—to stay current with routine gynecological exams, including Pap smears. She admits it’s easy to put those appointments off, particularly when life feels busy or symptoms aren’t obvious. But she believes preventive care matters at every age and encourages women to keep those conversations going with their doctors.

Today, Cooley continues her chemotherapy and radiation treatments and is looking ahead with gratitude and optimism. The colors of her life may have shifted, but like her art, the light still shines through.