Longtime Pocatello resident Elisa Magagna was given two years to live following a terminal cancer diagnosis four years ago. While she’s still fighting for her life against the odds, she’s also been living it to the fullest.
When Magagna was diagnosed with melanoma, it was too late, doctors said. The cancer had already spread to her brain and spine. Her prognosis was an abbreviated life, and that prompted her to start checking off a bucket list.
Already an accomplished writer, publisher, wife and mother, her bucket list included things like going skinny dipping (which she did in Bingham County), writing another book, and singing the national anthem for a crowd.
In 2022, Magagna finished her memoir, “Two More Years,” which was published earlier this year, and this past week she sang The Star-Spangled Banner for a charmed crowd at a Gate City Grays baseball game in Pocatello.
Magagna sang beautifully, though she couldn’t help but poke fun at herself later for messing up a word in the song. She used to sing in a band, but that felt different than the pressure of having a quiet crowd focused only on her.
“When I was five years old, one of my biggest dreams was to sing the national anthem. I sang it so much that my mom woke up in the morning singing the national anthem, and she was like, ‘Hey, Elisa, now I’m singing it in my sleep, you need to be done,’” she said. “(The Grays) had no idea this was on my bucket list, but they reached out and asked me to sing. That was amazing.”
For her new book, Magagna is hosting a book signing from 6 to 8 p.m. on Friday at Cottonwood Junction, 141 N Main St. in Pocatello.
Magagna’s book details her battle with cancer, taking the reader into her thoughts. It was a number two bestseller Amazon for more than a month. The author said she’s looking forward to meeting readers at her book signing and sharing her story, whether for comfort, prevention or anything in between.
“I just want people to know that they should go see a doctor because I should have gotten my mole checked out earlier and it just didn’t look weird,” she said. “I mean, there’s really no reason for me to be going through this other than I didn’t go in when I should have. People just don’t think about it.”
The cancer in Magagna’s brain died, she said, which is a “rare” development in cases like hers, and the cancer in her upper back is gone despite doctors saying there was nothing they could do. She still has cancer in parts of her body, but she’s going to keep fighting and making the most of life.
Magagna works as a copy editor and she always enjoys spending time with her husband, Mike, and her children, Ruby, Sky, Trey and Indiana.
“There is value in finding the good,” she said. “You can always find the good no matter what you’re going through, even the hardest things, like cancer. There’s really been something so good about it that even through this terrible thing, I was able to write this book and I get to build memories with my kids.”