ANNE LASHER

next weekend I took my MCAT. That night my mom passed away. I think the timing was very special because she saw me get through my MCAT. She had instilled in me that I would be able to complete medical school. I got my acceptance my senior year around my birthday, which was also very special.” After graduation, Anne entered UK’s College of Medicine. After applying to medical school, Anne wasn’t entirely sure what she wanted to do. But after her mom passed, Anne spoke with many of her mother’s patients about their experiences. Many were happy birth stories, but the ones that stuck with her most were the more upsetting ones. “I wish to not only care for women during happy times in their life, but also to be a pillar of stability and comfort for them during tragedy; just like my mother was for her patients, and the ER physicians were to me when she passed.”

Lisa Lasher is fondly remembered in the Paducah community, especially by those at Lourdes (Mercy) Hospital, where she worked most of her 20 years of practice as an OB/GYN, delivering an estimated 5,000 babies in the Paducah community. The week she died she delivered six infants. Dr. Lasher worked tirelessly as a champion for breast cancer awareness and was a leader in developing women’s health services, touching thousands of patients’ lives. Anne remembers going with her mother to monthly meetings of the Hopeful Hearts Cancer Support Group, a place women came to talk about what they were dealing with.

“She and Dr. Daniel Howard were instrumental in starting the Women’s Center at Lourdes Hospital, which she was very passionate about,” Anne stated. “The Center provided care for women including routine mammogram screenings, pap smears—all maintenance things for women—and helped them get access to those services. My mom did lots of other things for women that I don’t know how she had time for.”

Anne’s family is full of physicians. Her mother’s brother, Glen Chaney, a Paducah pediatrician at Baptist Health, hooded her on stage during graduation at the University of Kentucky. Glen’s wife, Sally Chaney, is also an OB/GYN, now retired. Her mom’s sister, Anne’s aunt, is married to OB/GYN Dr. Jorge Cardenas of the Paducah Women’s Clinic. And two of Anne’s cousins, the Doctor Chaneys’ children, are in the medical field, one a cardiothoracic surgeon in Lexington, and one a pediatrician in Louisville.

While in medical school, Anne worked on an ovarian cancer screening trial and presented her findings in March 2022 in Phoenix at the annual Society of Gynecological Oncology meeting representing the UK School of Medicine. She collected 30 years of data for this four-year research project and is sending it in for publication where she will be the first author. She has presented at additional national and international conferences, both online and in-person.

Though medical school was challenging, Anne said she was grateful and would do it again despite how tough and grueling it could be. During her third year, she did rotations in every specialty and thought she was leaning toward OB/GYN, even though she swore for years that she never would. She knew she liked surgery and continuity of patient care and was looking for something that could combine the two. “I realized obstetrics and gynecology was a perfect fit for me. You have a close-knit bond with your patients, follow them year to year, and serve as someone they can lean on and turn to throughout their life. You also get to perform surgeries and experience the happiness of delivering babies and bringing life into the world.”

Anne recounted one of her favorite memories of her mom. “It was my 20th birthday and I got to scrub in with my mom in a C-section while she delivered twins in the very hospital she had me in! It was the last birthday I spent with her while she was on earth. I will cherish that moment forever!”

Anne credits her dad, Blaine Lasher, as her continued support who helped her through medical school after the loss of her mother. “He is my best friend. He filled the role of my mom in many ways, and especially through traveling— my mom and I had always loved to travel. My dad and I took a free-spirited road trip through Europe a few years ago. We booked a flight to Munich and knew we were leaving from Geneva, Switzerland, but not too much more planning went into it. It was one of the best trips I’ve ever been on, thanks to my dad’s adventurous spirit. We also went to Aruba to celebrate my graduation from medical school and snorkeled for four hours! He’s my rock and support person who helped me make it through med school, and even came to clean my apartment one weekend when I was stressed and overwhelmed with school.”

Lisa Lasher’s three sisters— Rita Cardenas, Anita Harper, and Rebecca Vance—have also supported Anne through her journey, helping move her into her new home in Indianapolis. She also says she couldn’t have gotten through this without her stepmother, Jennifer McIntosh, and stepsister, Kate Kimble.

In June 2023, Anne left Lexington for the first time in eight years for her residency in Indianapolis at a Catholic hospital very similar to Lourdes. She is very excited to begin her new adventure for the next four years alongside co-residents who seem like-minded.

Though her future is uncertain, Anne says, “I would love to come back to Paducah. I can’t predict the future and you never know what will happen. But if everything works out right… you never know!”

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by A MANDA H UTCHISON

The Name Of The Game Is

The River Discovery Center at 117 South Water Street is in the oldest building in downtown Paducah. As such it houses a treasure trove of artifacts that have accumulated over time.

Last year, when Polly Brasher became the Executive Director of the center, she started looking around the storage area—with the goal to organize, clean, and reuse items. There is equipment—possibly from the building of Locks 52 and 53—air apparatuses, antique tools, and old catalogues piled high in the dimly lit storage space. “I found the chart book for the Delta Queen,” Polly marvels. “And I have been told there is a paddle wheel plank somewhere for the Delta Queen, but we have not found it yet. But most surprisingly, In this process I found a boat. It was dirty and full of junk,” Polly recalls.

“And I fell in love with it.” It reminded her of the rescue boats she had seen in old photos of the 1937 flood. She was intrigued.