Kathleen's diagnosis My name is Kathleen, I'm 46, and I'm an environmental scientist and I like to jog a lot and five years ago, when I was 41, I was diagnosed with Stage II breast cancer, which was pretty shocking because I was pretty heavy into jogging, and healthy, doing my daily exercise, eating right, and lo and behold, I end up with breast cancer. It was shocking for two reasons: One, because I thought I was healthy and two, because I didn't think breast cancer would happen to me. And I was pretty ignorant about breast cancer in particular. So, it was pretty scary, and pretty traumatic, actually, because I didn't realize all that was gonna happen until I went in to the Cancer Center at the University of Washington, and they explained everything to me, about what this diagnosis meant, and what I would need to undergo in terms of treatment. So it was pretty traumatic. The Treatment I underwent a mastectomy, for one, and then I underwent six months of a pretty tough chemo regimen. I think the chemo regimen is pretty standard for most people, but it's very tough on the body and Not only do you lose your hair, but you get pretty sick and you get tired and you get infections a lot because you're immune system's been blown by the chemo. While it's trying to kill the cancer cells, it also kills all your good cells, so you're vulnerable to a lot of illness and fatigue, and that sort of thing. A lot of people don't work during that time or can't function very well. But fortunately for me, because I was a jogger, and in pretty good health, I was actually able to handle the chemo reasonably well, and it didn't affect me as much as it would other people. So I was able to work and finish up some classes in the spring, and then, do my normal routine. So I was actually able to jog, to keep jogging, because that was a gift to my sanity and that kept me from being depressed about the breast cancer. An emotional struggle The hardest part of the process of care was the fact that I had to undergo that chemotherapy and lose my hair. And that's pretty traumatic for most women. And the other part was the mastectomy. So you lose a breast, and that in and of itself has a lot of traumatic effects on how you look at yourself and how other people look at you, and what it means, how your husband will look at you and relate to you. So, a lot of self-esteem issues that way. My husband's been very supportive and very strong for me. And I've come to realize that that part of it is very inconsequential, really. I mean, if you have to lose a body part like that to save your life, then essentially people do that. Life is important and that was a good lesson on just how important life is to people, not only to yourself but in particular to your loved ones, and how they look at things. The importance of support As a result of breast cancer and the things that I had to undergo and the fact that I didn't know what to expect, I didn't know much, and I had to kind of find my way through it. I did run into a couple of individuals who were very helpful, and so because they had already been there and they had already done that, and so What I encourage people to do now, is to seek out those individuals who have been there and done that, because they do help you get through the process. You can learn what to expect, how you're going to feel through that chemo, whether or not certain side effects will affect you or not, or you know, is some kind of a symptoms a result of the chemotherapy or other side effects. What we found was that at the time I was taking some of the drugs and going through the chemo, I was having a hard time concentrating and reading, and my eyes wavered a lot and the vision was a little strange, and the concentration wasn't there and it seemed like I had a memory block, and didn't remember things, that were to be on the tip of my tongue and I couldn't remember them. Those sorts of things. And I found that things like that are a direct eff the chemotherapy, and In this support group that I started when I was undergoing chemo, these women that were in the same time frame of cure were finding you know, well, what's this about? And we would discuss it. And so for people that are just getting into it, I would tell them to get with other individuals and seek out support groups or get with other individuals that would help them to get through this. Because it really does mean a lot when you don't know what to expect. So, other people that have been there can tell you and help you learn what to expect and then get through it that way. But when you find yourself getting depressed and crying, you know, what do you do about that? How do you help them help their family members, because people feel helpless. So there's a lot of things that we could impart if people could get to a support group. Or seek out individuals like I said that have been there and done that already. Body Language What's different is that I've learned to listen to my body more about what's going on. I did ignore the symptoms of breast cancer, probably about six months. And so now I've learned to be more attuned to what my body is trying to tell me in terms of care. And I've also learned not to drive myself quite so hard in my work life, because I was just engulfed in work, completely. I was absorbed in it, and I think that was partly of why I got cancer, or why my body was susceptible to cancer. Because I worked hard, I didn't get a lot of sleep, I didn't get a lot of rest, even though I ate right and jogged every day like I was supposed to, still, I think my body was wearing out, and wasn't wanting to respond to the cancer cells. We're all vulnerable I think the family has grown closer as a result of it, and the things that are important now are just living every day to the fullest, because you never know. It made me realize just how vulnerable we as humans are, and the little things we just worry about, it's all small stuff, really. It has brought my family closer together, and I'm much more communicative. And being involved in the support group and trying to help counsel other people is important to me now. One of the things I didn't realize was whereas cancer is pretty treatable if you find it early and early detection is the key, it's not just an older woman's disease as was initially thought, it's much younger now. I'm finding 29 year-olds, 30-year-olds, 35-year-old with the Stage II and III breast cancer. And I didn't realize that before, so we're all susceptible, and it does happen to younger girls. In general, I would like to say that I would like the people to not be ignorant about breast cancer and how many women it affects. It's your mother, it's your sister, it's your aunt, it's your grandmother. And I would like women to be much more aware of breast health because it's important. And the other thing is, I've seen so many women die of breast cancer in the last five years, and it's not untreatable, but we're also not infallible. I mean, I could die tomorrow, just as easily as a friend of mine died earlier this year. Knowledge is Power Enjoy life, and be aware of what can happen. And right now we're campaigning on research, education and screening for breast cancer because a lot of people don't know about it, they don't talk about it. You know, it's breasts, who wants to talk about breasts? But it's a reality that we have to face. And yes, they're doing good research, to find a cure, but we're not there yet. We need more money and more awareness and more education about breast cancer and it's effects, and what we can do about helping each other. There's just a whole host of things that we need to know about as the general public that we don't know about now. 4 |
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