Celebrating survivors Pink is stronger than you think Sunday, October 9, 2016
New mother’s fight Crevolyn wiley
crevolyn.wiley@jandjfoods.com
A light at the end of the tunnel
As patrons of The Times, you are accustomed to reading about my family stories, cooking tips and recipes once a month. This time my focus is different. While it’s easy for me to write articles about family and food, this particular story is not so easy for me to share. It’s my breast cancer story. In August 2015, I went in for my annual mammogram. In past years, I had some suspicious-looking scans, but those were deemed non-problematic with no further tests needed. Not this time. This time was ... “Houston, we have a problem.” Further tests were needed, biopsies were performed and the dreaded “C” word was confirmed. Crevolyn, you do indeed have breast cancer. Insert gasp and heart drop here. The weeks that followed the diagnosis were a blur of doctor’s appointments, scans, surgery and recovery; all before beginning treatments. I was uncertain and scared, as were my husband, children, family and close friends. They all kept positive attitudes around me, but I could see it in their eyes. As our traditions for the holidays were discussed, I could see they were all uncertain about how to handle my prognosis. Let me say one thing here. My husband and children are rock stars. Not once did their love or care for me waver. They arranged some dear friends to come to the house and pray over me. It was a precious time I will never forget. And isn’t that the way our journeys go? Amid the darkest times, we are given sweet pockets of love that last us through the walk in the valley. Fall is my favorite time of year. I love college football, fall festivals, baking, decorating and overall, enjoying the delightful respite from the summertime heat. But last fall was different. I found myself on the inside looking out. I went through the motions and only went out when my family insisted that I go. I was happy to stay home with our dogs. If you know me at all, this is very unlike me. I don’t retreat often. I love to travel, go and do. I love my people and I thrive when I’m with them. I felt paralyzed. I felt alone in my journey, even though I was so blessed to have my loved ones’ constant care. I watched as friends and family members struggled with much more difficult circumstances and thought why can’t I get it together and go on with the wonderful life that I’ve been given? I don’t have extensive knowledge of many subjects, but one thing I do know is when to seek wise counsel. Thankfully, one of my nearest, dearest friends has a background in counseling and it doesn’t hurt that she is a serious prayer warrior. What a blessing beyond measure. She was my go-to soul sister. I also sought out friends who had been down a similar road. Women I knew had been pillars of faith and positivity throughout their cancer journeys. They understood the feelings and emotions and not to mention, all of the medical hullabaloo that was whirling around me. They set me down and gave it to me straight. And boy howdy, did I need that. I began to come out of the fog. I began to see a life with breast cancer was not a death sentence. It was a life sentence. It was a new normal. Not one that I might have chosen, but it was mine and doggone, I was going to embrace it. You know, we don’t have any guarantees in life. John Chapter 16 says it very clearly: In this life you will have trouble. Well, there it is, plain and simple. It is how we handle the trouble that makes a difference. After a cancer diagnosis, the sun shines
■■Please see Crevolyn, 4
ERIN O. SMITH | The Times
Chad and Dallas Sage found out about Dallas’ inflammatory breast cancer diagnosis after daughter Madelyn was born. Dallas noticed red blotchy areas on one of her breasts, which she thought may be a clogged milk duct. She later discovered it was a rare form of breast cancer.
Gainesville woman battles cancer 2 months after child’s birth BY JENNIFER LINN
jlinn@gainesvilletimes.com Dallas Sage gave birth to a beautiful baby girl in February. Afterward, the young mother noticed something wasn’t right. One of her breasts felt hot and had red blotchy areas on it. The redness turned into raised welts that itched. Then, Sage found a mass she thought may be a clogged milk duct. Sage told her obstetrician/gynecologist about the symptoms at a follow-up appointment six weeks after giving birth. Her doctor first treated her for mastitis, an infection in the breast tissue. But after two rounds of prescribed antibiotics, the symptoms didn’t subside. Sage was referred to a surgeon for a possible clogged milk duct. The surgeon said he didn’t think it was a tumor. He was wrong. During the procedure June 16, the surgeon discovered the 28-year-old woman had Inflammatory Breast Cancer, a rare and aggressive type.
DISCOVERY AND DIAGNOSIS Sage said she thought the worst when she heard the news. “My initial thoughts were: How did this happen?” she said. “I’m fairly young for this to happen, because usually this doesn’t show up until your 40s or 50s. You don’t even get a mammogram until then, so I had no idea.” According to the National Cancer Institute, IBC is very rare. IBC accounts for only 1 percent to 5 percent of all breast cancers diagnosed in the United States.
Index
It is called “inflammatory” because the breast often looks swollen and red, or inflamed. Although Sage’s IBC presented as a tumor, that isn’t always the case. It’s a very aggressive disease in which cancer cells block lymph vessels in the skin of the breast. It can spread rapidly, often in a matter of weeks or months. “All cancer is bad cancer,” said Chad Sage, Dallas’ husband. “But when you get a rare type that’s very aggressive and can grow fast, time is of the essence. That’s when it hit us that she could be fighting for her life real quick and not over a long period of time.” After the diagnosis on a Thursday, Dallas’ family and friends rallied around her. Chad’s uncle sprung into action, calling a doctor he knew — Dr. Ernest Hawk is the vice president of the division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences, at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. The next day, Dallas scheduled an appointment with Hawk for the following Monday. On Saturday, the three Sages piled into their car and drove for two days to Texas.
PROGNOSIS and TREATMENT Upon arrival, Hawk met with the Sages. After 12 hours of tests, results showed the cancer had spread to Dallas’ liver and lymph nodes on both sides. And it was in her blood. “We assumed that it probably had spread,” Dallas said. “I mean, we were
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Breast cancer vocabulary
hopeful that it didn’t.” But it was not the news the Sages wanted to hear. “They say IBC starts at Stage 3,” Dallas said. “So I was hopeful it was Stage 3 at least. It was stage 4.” Stage 4 is the last stage of cancer and deemed incurable, Chad said. Therefore, doctors said surgery was not possible at the time. But they did devise an aggressive treatment plan for Dallas since she is young and healthy. “(The doctors) wanted to get it out of my liver, because that’s what’s deeming me incurable right now because it did metastasize,” Dallas said. “So they’re hoping to stop it spreading and get it out of those other organs.” The first step in her treatment involved an aggressive chemotherapy in Texas, which then was continued in Gainesville. The second step involved another treatment therapy, which is more specific to IBC and started in September. Now, Dallas travels to Texas every six weeks for scans to see if the treatments are working. In Texas, Dallas works with Dr. Mariana Chavez Mac Gregor. In Gainesville, Dr. Andre Kallab at Northeast Georgia Diagnostic Clinic oversees her treatment.
FIGHTING FOR HER FAMILY Dallas said the cancer and treatments have made her tired, but going through everything has been surprisingly manageable.
n Mastectomy: Surgery to remove all or part of a breast and sometimes other tissue. A double mastectomy removes both breasts. n Chemotherapy: Treatment with drugs that kill cancer cells n Mammogram: An X-ray of the breast; a method of finding breast cancer that can’t be felt using the fingers. n Radiation: In reference to cancer, the two main types are ionizing and non-ionizing radiation. The high-energy rays used for X-rays and
■■Please see mother, 11 some other imaging tests, as well as in higher doses for cancer treatment, are called ionizing radiation. This type of radiation can be produced by medical devices but also comes from natural sources such as radon gas (in the ground) and outer space. n Reconstructive surgery: Rebuilding or replacing removed or injured body parts such as breasts. n Ultrasound: Imaging test in which high-frequency sound waves are used to make pictures of the inside of the body. The sound wave echoes are picked up and displayed on a computer screen.