RECORD SOUTH WHIDBEY
INSIDE 42-YEAR
CANCER SURIVOR SEE...A15
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013 | VOL. 89, NO. 84 | WWW.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.COM | 75¢
Surviving breast cancer ‘I just wanted to live’ — April Webb
Betty Freeman photo
April Webb of Clinton was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004 and had both breasts removed. Today, she is cancer-free and is thankful to be a breast cancer survivor.
Clinton woman shares tale of fear, courage, and now hope By BETTY FREEMAN South Whidbey Record One June morning in 2004, April Webb of Clinton was dressing for work when she found a painful lump in her right breast. She was only 38 and in good shape physically, so she wasn’t too worried, but instinct told her to ask another woman for advice. Webb called her mother-in-law, Pat, who didn’t mince words. “Go to the doctor immediately,” Pat Webb said. Webb’s doctor wasn’t overly concerned. “It’s probably a cyst,” he said. Webb’s instinct kicked in again and she remembers talking her doctor into ordering a mammogram.
“The results came back suspicious,” Webb said. Next came a biopsy, which confirmed she had “intraductal carcinoma of the breast.” Her doctor said it was “a garden variety breast cancer,” which could be dealt with by having a lumpectomy to remove just the two-inch tumor. “I had a lumpectomy within two weeks of diagnosis,” said Webb. “I was told I’d need chemo and radiation too, but I waited six weeks after surgery.” Meanwhile, Webb returned to her job as a deckhand for the Clinton-Mukilteo ferry run. In August, six days into her first chemotherapy regimen, Webb found another lump under her right arm.
“I called my surgeon in a panic and told him I’d found another lump,” she said. “Calm down. Cancer doesn’t spread like wildfire,” he told her as he ordered another biopsy. A few hours after the biopsy, Webb received another call. “You were right and I was wrong,” the surgeon said. “The lump is cancerous and I recommend a radical mastectomy as soon as possible.” A radical mastectomy involves removing all of the breast tissue, underlying chest muscle and axillary lymph nodes. At the time, Webb had a four-year-old daughter with speSEE SURVIVOR, A20