Health News
LAURIE PARKHURST
MONA PINNINGTON
“I knew we were going to take care of this and this was what we had to do,” Carolyn said. “Twenty-four hours after the diagnosis I was ready to fight.” LAURIE PARKHURST, 41 • EVANS WHEN MOST PEOPLE THINK ABOUT BREAST CANCER, they think of a lump, a bump … something under the skin. But in 2004, Laurie’s first indication there was something wrong was on the outside, not the inside. “My breast had just turned bright red, and it was really red for three weeks or so,” she said. “It was kind of tender and swollen and I thought, ‘Something is not right here.’” It was Stage III breast cancer. She made it through the treatments and diligently monitored her health over the next few years until she hit a milestone – the five-year mark without cancer. “We were celebrating and all happy, but I started having some pain in my sternum. If I took a deep breath, I would just start coughing,” she said. Laurie was devasted when she was informed of the results from rounds of scans and tests. The cancer had spread to Laurie’s bones and lungs and is now Stage IV. “I’ve learned that I’m tougher than I thought I was; much tougher than I thought I could be,” Laurie said. “There’s this kind of a force field around me, and I just put my head down and charge on through. Mainly because I have to, I mean what choice do you have, right?” MONA PINNINGTON, 39 • EVANS MONA ROUTINELY DID BREAST SELF EXAMS and that diligence paid off in July 2010 when she found a lump. Many times, women are hesitant to go immediately to a physician, whether it be from denial or fear, but Mona knew she couldn’t wait and took immediate action. She quickly had a mammogram and a lumpecto-
LISA BYRD
my. Under the care of Randy Cooper, M.D., a surgeon who practices at University Hospital, she was able to get her results within 30 minutes – she had Stage II breast cancer. A small-business owner, Mona prides herself on always being on the go, but she said cancer has a way of making you reprioritize and take a step back. “You know some people say those dirty dishes will still be there in the morning, I was never one of those people,” she said. “I learned that some of those daily things that I thought had to be done everyday really don’t matter. Nobody knows but me.” LISA BYRD, 44 • AUGUSTA LISA HAD BIG PLANS FOR VALENTINE’S DAY IN 2009. She and her husband of 20 years were going to get away from it all with a romantic trip to Nashville and the Grand Ole Opry. But a little more than a week before they were to leave town, Lisa decided to stop by University’s Mobile Mammography Unit. Soon, it was more mammograms and a biopsy. By then, the trip was cancelled and Lisa spent Valentine’s Day at home recovering from a lumpectomy. “Seeing your name on a paper with the word ‘carcinoma,’ is devastating. It’s kind of like, ‘This can’t be my name on this piece of paper,’ but it was. “I was just trying to remain positive and continue to have my mammograms and go to my doctors.” And Lisa finally did get her trip to the Grand Ole Opry – nine months late – but it was more appreciated since she and her husband certainly had something to celebrate – her life. EVON GREEN, 56 • AUGUSTA EVON KNEW SOMETHING WAS WRONG when she went to a local emergency room in April 2000, but she couldn’t have expected her diagnosis. While there, Evon had a mammogram and was told to come back
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