2015 American Cancer Society
Relay for Life of Southwest Iowa Friday, June 19 - Saturday, June 20 6:00 p.m. - 2:00 a.m. Creston Panther High School Track n
honorary survivors this year are andrew bradley and joyce cooper
Survivor Joyce Cooper beats cancer twice By KYLE WILSON
CNA managing editor kwilson@crestonnews.com
Contributed photo
Andrew Bradley poses for a photo with his grandparents Lila and Frank Wickham of Creston while in the hospital in Iowa City.
Creston man survives softball-size tumor By BAILEY POOLMAN
CNA staff reporter bpoolman@crestonnews.com
“Watching him, the way he handled it, being so strong, made me want to be stronger,” said Wilma Osmun of her son Andrew Bradley, both of Creston. Bradley, 32, underwent surgery for cancer when
he was two years old. It all started when Bradley was playing with his father, Mike Bradley, currently of Des Moines. “My ex-husband, at the time, was playing with him (Bradley), and he was tickling him, and felt a lump so we called our family doctor,” Osmun said. “He went out and had an x-ray taken at
the hospital. And he (the doctor) thought maybe it was a tumor, but he referred us up to Iowa City.” At University of Iowa Children’s Hospital in Iowa City, Bradley underwent several tests, including x-rays, blood Please see BRADLEY, Page 4
Call it bad timing. It was the summer of 1985, and Joyce Cooper of Creston was one month away from watching her youngest daughter Julie walk down the aisle when she awoke to discover a lump on her left breast. She immediately worked with her doctor at Greater Community Hospital to schedule a biopsy and investigate the lump. “We did the biopsy and the doctor wasn’t worried,” Cooper said. “He said there was more danger of me getting hit by a street car going home than the tumor being cancerous. He just didn’t think it was cancer. But, that didn’t end up being the case.” Four days later, she received a call asking her to return the hospital to discuss the findings from the biopsy.
Contributed photo
Joyce Cooper is pictured here with her husband Bob. The two have been married 52 years as of Tuesday. Bob was her biggest supporter during her two bouts with cancer.
“That was a dead giveaway,” Cooper said. The day was July 5, 1985. She remembers it clearly. That day the surgeon confirmed what she had already suspected. She had cancer. “And, he wanted to do surgery right away,” Cooper said. Cooper told him that
wasn’t an option because her daughter was getting married in August. The surgeon told her she couldn’t wait and promised to have her on her feet by the wedding. “I remember Mom came to my wedding Please see COOPER, Page 2