Douglas Lambert talks to a reporter as his wife Gloria listens at the Seekonk home of Gloria’s mother, Janet Ashburne, Wednesday.  Times photo/Butch Adams 

By JON BAKER

SEEKONK  ---  If you love a “good cry” — not to mention poker — and just abhor what cancer has done to anyone you know, call this a must read.

Sound confusing? You bet, but conducting a poker tournament seems the only way Gloria Lambert can help her cancer-surviving husband, Douglas, pay for $4,000 worth of necessary prescriptions every month.
The Lamberts, who hail from Pawtucket’s Pleasant View section, admit they’re amazed they’ve lasted this long on Gloria’s salary of $3,900 per month, which she earns from her home day-care center. Because of that income, they don’t qualify for a state-provided health plan.
“We’re $30,000 in the hole right now, and it’s because of Doug’s medical care; we don’t have a ‘med’ plan because of all the cuts on the state level,” stated Gloria, standing in the kitchen of mom Janet Ashburne’s Newman Avenue home. “We’re drowning in debt. I’ve got to pay the mortgage, which is $2,700, and that’s because we’ve got to keep the house. We need our day care because Doug can’t work.
“I’ve attempted to lower the interest rate for our home at least eight times, but no bank will help because of the way the market is,” she added. “I’m extremely upset with the world right now. I have to take antidepressants because I’m sad, mad and upset all the time. I cry every day, but this tournament gives us a little hope, at least for the immediate future.”
 The couple, with input from the Eastern Poker Tour, will host a “Texas Hold’em Tournament” at 6 p.m. tonight at The Moose Cabin, 220 O’Neil Blvd., Attleboro. For $75, a player may purchase 5,000 chips, and — with some talent (or luck?) — could earn a hefty portion of the total $3,000 payout, as well as a seat in a playoff qualifier for the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.
So far, the couple has received about 50 verbal commitments from friends and family, but has at least 40 more openings. They say they’re praying to fill the quota to help alleviate their financial distress.
“Sixty percent of the money gained will go back to the players,” Gloria said. “I don’t have a (money) goal for this. The way it is now, I have to go to the hospital every week and beg for medicine. I would love not to have to do that.”

*     *     *
Everything was “golden” for the Lamberts less than a year ago. As he had for 26 years, Doug continued his work as a plasterer, and his wife cared for youngsters at her center, then funded by the state Department of Human Services. The parents of three, they concentrated on their jobs and themselves.
How quickly fortunes can change.
During the second week of September 2007, Doug began suffering from intense foot pain. He ignored it due to the Caribbean cruise the couple had planned for early October; he didn’t want to ruin it for his wife.
“Gloria kept telling me I needed to see her podiatrist, so I did,” Doug said. “I was told I had a pinched nerve in my foot, so he gave me a shot of cortisone and sent me on my way.”
Offered Gloria: “He kept saying he felt like he was still on the ship, that he was woozy, had trouble walking. We fought for two weeks, with me telling him, ‘Will you go to the hospital?’ Finally, on Veteran’s Day in November, I looked at him and said, ‘Get your shoes on. We’re going to the emergency room NOW.’ I had a feeling it wasn’t just his feet.”
The pair spent most of the day at Rhode Island Hospital, moving from doctor to doctor, Doug taking test after test. Finally, an X-ray confirmed their worst fear.
“A doctor told us Doug had a huge mass in his chest; I kind of knew, but still was in shock,” Gloria offered. “I didn’t believe him. I thought, ‘This is my husband. It may happen to other people, but not to him.’”
Doug spent two weeks in the hospital, undergoing biopsies, blood work and so on. Just before Thanksgiving, the evidence became clear: He had small-cell lung cancer.
“I called Gloria to tell her, and we both cried and cried,” he said, wiping his eyes.

*     *     *
Doug chose not to travel to his brother-in-law’s for Thanksgiving dinner; instead, he remained home alone, watching football and wondering, “What the hell is going on with me? How could this happen?”
Following the holiday, the duo met with Dr. Ursula Reusch, an oncologist who had created a treatment plan: Three days of chemotherapy beginning in early December, then 10 rounds of twice-daily radiation, then two more rounds of chemo.
“The tumor had been crushing his esophagus, which is why he had had trouble breathing, and it was also pressing against two arteries in his heart; that’s what caused his neurological damage,” Gloria explained. “Simply put, blood from his heart could travel to his brain, but you couldn’t say the same for the return trip. It’s called paraneoplastic syndrome.
“While all this was going on, I was trying to run my day care, which was funded by DHS,” she continued. “I was with children of single moms on welfare, but who had moved back into the work force. I had been caring for seven children before he was diagnosed, but then it dwindled to three. The reason had nothing to do with Doug, who was driving the van to bring the kids to school, but because of the governor’s cuts in child care. Those parents couldn’t afford it anymore.”
During early spring, things got a bit better business-wise, but due to his balance issues, Doug was unable to drive. They lost all medical benefits. That’s when Gloria began the begging for prescriptions.
“He needs them not only for the pain and to remain in remission, but also nausea, anorexia and depression,” Gloria stated. “He’s also got to take a neurological pill for the nerve damage.
“It’s just too much to take,” she said, tears welling.

*     *     *
To keep them “sane,” they continued to play in Eastern Poker Tour events at Chelo’s in Pawtucket. For a mere $10, the two could enjoy a meal and gain entrance to the tourney. Each week, the victor earns a seat in a playoff qualifier for the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.
“It was a great stress-reliever for both of us,” Gloria said. “We spent three hours playing and chit-chatting with friends. One night in June, a pal of mine, Annemarie, told me I should ask the EPT to help us with a charity event for Doug, and I thought it was a great idea. The next day, June 11, I e-mailed Glenn McCrary, the EPT president, and director of charities Matthew Supinski.
“I got a return note the very next day, Glenn saying ‘Absolutely, positively! I’ll make it my personal business to make sure this gets done for Doug,’” she added.
Gloria talked to officials at the Moose Cabin, who donated use of the hall, and other businesses, who offered gift certificates for a raffle.
That bit of “poker luck” gave Gloria the impetus to initiate another venture, a “Chopstick Auction,” slated for South Attleboro Knights of Columbus Hall on Sunday, Nov. 9.
“Everyone had been so great in helping us,” she said. “We owe a lot of people a ton of gratitude. This cancer has taken a lot out of us, and we’re not out of the woods yet. We’re still hoping Doug’s in remission, but these events are going to take some burdens off us.”
Claimed Doug: “If I take my medicines, I feel alright; if I don’t have them because of the money situation, I feel horrible. I don’t want to get out of bed, but my plan is to act as dealer at the poker tournament.”
With that, Gloria and her mom flashed grins not lately witnessed.