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
Buford woman battles rare cancer Page 2 Survivors steer Dragon Boat team Page 3 Women focus on healing strong Page 4 Doctor’s orders Page 5 Questions to ask your doctor Page 5 Patient navigator experiences cancer Page 7 Program helps women look, feel good Page 7 Woman journals about her experience Page 8 Family handles niece’s diagnosis Page 9 Nonprofit focuses on fertility issues Page 10 Cancer resources available Page 10 Conflicting mammogram information Page 11
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.
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Sunday, October 9, 2016
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WINNING THE FIGHT
Dorena Lemus celebrates 6 years of recovery after battling rare form of cancer BY EMILY WILLIAMS For The Times
Dorena Mobley Lemus never missed a mammogram. So, when she went in for her annual appointment in December 2010, she wasn’t expecting anything out of the ordinary. At 52, she was healthy and active. She worked full-time as the owner of Personal Touch House Cleaning in Buford. Sometimes she was tired and sore, but she figured it was from hours scrubbing floors and showers. But before she left the hospital that day, she received news that would change her life. Tests confirmed she had developed Stage 3 breast cancer. For two weeks, Lemus and her husband, Victor, sat in silence, in too much shock to even turn on the television. It was just one of several stages of emotion for the couple. “You go through denial, then you go through acceptance, then you’re angry and sad,” Victor said. “It’s almost like losing a loved one, but not quite, because the future is unknown. You don’t know whether they’re going to live or not.” Victor served as caregiver and advocate for his wife, researching treatments and statistics about her extremely rare and aggressive cancer. He cared for her through a year of chemotherapy — seven hours a day every three weeks — a double mastectomy, radiation and treatment with herceptin, an antibody used to fight certain types of breast cancer. Dorena’s daughter, Jessica, a veterinary student at the time, also provided support. She accompanied her mother to doctor’s appointments and asked questions to help sort through the complicated medical terminology. “Anytime you’re dealing with cancer, it’s scary with not knowing what to expect, and I fortunately had the background in the sciences and medicine to better understand it and be there for her,” Jessica said. “It was great to see her fight through it and come out the other side, and it just shows how strong she is.” Inspired by her mother’s fight, Jessica now works as a veterinary oncologist at St. Francis Veterinary Specialists in Decatur. And fight is exactly what Dorena did. Never one for self-pity or wallowing, the Gainesville woman set out to prove she couldn’t be beat. Through it all, she held her business together. Cancer took her hair and fingernails, but it wasn’t going to take the element she dedicated her life to since 1989. Doctors warned her that she might not ever get back to her former activity levels, but she was determined. She would not only to come back, but to come back stronger. “I would say, ‘I’m glad God allowed me to have this, because I’m going to help other people,’” she said. “I’d put on Facebook a lot of times, ‘Cancer picked the wrong person to mess with, because I will prevail.’ It’s almost like a challenge that you’re going to win.” Her best friends, Panda Jones and Johanna DeLoatch, supported and cheered for Dorena along the way. Jones sat with her through all but one of her chemo sessions, reminiscing and offering words of encouragement to pass the time. “It’s changed everything about our rela-
Photos by ERIN O. SMITH | The Times
Dorena Lemus runs around the building as a part of her morning workout Oct. 1, at Fit Body Boot Camp in Buford.
I n e le h w op p l pe e ’s h s t s I g to cro in r. ke y r e a go nce l li t ‘I m are ca ee ast co ho gh t I f p ive w rou , bu t I’m n g th ary tha ca sc w at, I ope no l th le h us al op Lem pe rena Do
Above: Kejalien Kimbrough, Dorena Lemus and Juli Spiegel participate in a morning workout Oct. 1, at Fit Body Boot Camp in Buford. Two years after her diagnosis, Lemus returned to her active lifestyle, participating in boot camp three to four days a week and running races every year. Top: Lemus poses for a photo after finishing a workout Oct. 1.
tionship, how we interact, how we feel about each other,” Jones said. “We’ve always been close, but I think she has a different perspective (now). We’d call and we never were good about saying ‘I love you.’ Now it’s just part of our conversation before we get off the phone.” DeLoatch, who has known Dorena for 27 years, encouraged her friend to get active after she completed her treatment. The two regularly run 5-kilometer races and the Peachtree Road Race together. “I hopefully helped her in keeping her active and keeping her focused on something else by doing races,” DeLoatch said. “Sometimes I don’t really think I did that much, that’s just what you do when you’ve got a friend. What else would you do? Of course you’re going to be there for them.” Inspired by Lance Armstrong’s nonprofit cancer foundation Livestrong, DeLoatch made bands to hand out to Dorena’s support group. It said, “Hope, faith, love, strength. Help Dorena win the fight.” “I thought that if I made them and passed them out to all her friends and she got to see people wearing them, it would make her feel good that we were all fighting with her and she was not alone,” DeLoatch said. “I think I wore it everyday during her fight. It helped me to remember to constantly be in touch with her and keep her motivated.” It did. Two years after her diagnosis, Dorena was back to cleaning at her business and returned to her active lifestyle, participating in boot camp three to four days a week and running races every year. Dorena credits her loving family, friends and customers with giving her the strength to win her battle. To reflect this, she redesigned her company’s logo as a drawing of her, with a scarf around her head, along with Jones and DeLoatch. On Dec. 16, Dorena will celebrate six years of survival, but for her the fight is never over. She continues to give back and foster a supportive community, by providing free cleanings to clients who are fighting cancer and encouraging others to be proactive about mammograms and screenings. “I try to help when I come across people who are going through cancer,” she said. “It’s scary, but I feel like now that I’m past all that, I can give people hope.”
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month
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Breast cancer survivors battle, paddle together BY NICK WATSON
nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com
Still in stitches, Dianne Bryant drove to Lake Lanier in June 2012 and climbed aboard a dragon boat. Seated inside were women who shared two things in common: All were breast cancer survivors and all were paddling to raise awareness and support for the cause. The group is Dragon Boat Atlanta, a breast cancer awareness team composed of survivors and supporters of the disease. Last month, the women from across Georgia participated in the 2016 Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival at Lake Lanier Olympic Park in Gainesville. “Nobody willingly joins, but once you’re a part of it, it’s such a sisterhood,” crew member Kathy Cunningham said. “That’s our onthe-water support group.” Bryant never thought she would have to join the group. As a fitness instructor, she said she believed she made all the right moves to steer clear of the disease. Then she was diagnosed with breast cancer ERIN O. SMITH | The Times in March 2012. “I did all the right things, ate Amy Glass, Linda Evans, Phyllis Parker and Lois Hall of Dragon Boat Atlanta wait their turn to race Sept. 10, all the broccoli, the whole nine during the Atlanta Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival at Lake Lanier Olympic Park in Gainesville. yards,” she said. “No breast cancer in my family. It’s just kind of of a Charleston, S.C., unit, said Wanting to get physically active events. Competitions on Lake the luck of the draw.” Linda Evans, one of the founding again, Cunningham became Lanier and other venues draw While she was recuperating, members. involved with the team in 2005. She ex-military members, college stuBryant used the “baby paddle” to “It was a new sport,” said the said with every stroke she beats dents and the familiar ladies in help her learn the moves with less woman who was first diagnosed back the disease. pink, to name a few. physical exertion. in 1998 but experienced a recur“It’s very satisfying for me that The time on the water gives the “It’s basically a handle that goes rence three years ago. “It was new I’m doing the community aware- dragon boat members a rush irreall the way with no resistance in to us, and we were all survivors. ness and showing that there is life spective of winning. the water, and it allows people to We were ready to just try anything after breast cancer,” Cunningham “It’s a thrill when you are comcome who still are compromised to let people know that we could do said. “It’s not a death sentence. It’s ing across that finish line, whether and can learn,” she said. “It’s kind what we’re supposed to do.” not something to be hushed and you are first or last. We have a of like playing air guitar.” For Cunningham, the team rep- talked about in low tones.” saying, ‘We’re first in our lane’,” The dragon boat team was first resented a “silver lining to that The team raises awareness by Evans said. JEMC_Community_BraseltonCentennial_2_JEMC 10/4/16 4:02 PM Page 1 organized in 2004 as a replica dreaded diagnosis.” competing at other dragon boat Finishing the race makes the
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members of the team feel powerful, Bryant said. “I thought my life was over when I got that diagnosis, and (dragon boat racing) brought me back to life,” Cunningham said. While their cause unites them, the dragon boat members don’t dwell on their maladies, Cunningham said. The focus is supporting one another, especially as family members face the same diagnosis, Evans said. “As we’ve brought new team members on, we are a support group for each other,” Evans said, adding two members have daughters battling breast cancer. Participating in the local Dragon Boat Atlanta also allows members to compete with other groups such as the International Pink Sisters around the globe, Bryant said. The Dragon Boat Atlanta team hopes to compete in 2018 at the International Breast Cancer Paddlers’ Commission’s festival in Florence, Italy. While eating breakfast in Puerto Rico before an international event, Bryant said she had an epiphany. “If I had never had breast cancer, I wouldn’t be here ... It has thrown me in with these wonderful, strong, beautifully spirited women that I would have never gotten to know had I not had breast cancer,” she said.
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Sunday, October 9, 2016
3 women find new ways to recover
Survivors start HealingStrong in Gainesville BY HAILEY VAN PARYS hvanparys@ gainesvilletimes.com
The doctor utters the words “you’ve got breast cancer.” Then comes the treatment options. In some cases, chemotherapy and radiation are a mandatory next step. But for others, such as Christine Holcomb, Lynn Kearns and Marsha Dickey, the idea of injecting themselves with the poisonous substances didn’t sit right. Instead, the trio chose alternative options. Holcomb chose to have a double mastectomy, while Kearns and Dickey chose radiation at first and changed to controlling their diets and exercise to battle their cancers. Now, the women run the HealingStrong chapter in Gainesville. Part of its mission is to show people how to make the decision about treatment for themselves. The group meets every first Tuesday of the month at Natural Juice Cafe, 2480 Limestone Parkway, in Gainesville. Each woman’s journey, though, started with a cancer diagnosis.
CHRISTINE HOLCOMB Holcomb found out she had breast cancer five years ago. “It was a lot of panic and fear,” she said. She visited three surgeons after her diagnosis, weighing her options with doctors who were fans of the “gotta get it cut out” method, Holcomb said. But her daughter begged her to see general and plastic surgeon Dr. Grant Carlson at Emory Hospital in Atlanta. “He did it all,” she said. All included an oncotype DX test, which determined Holcomb’s cancer was on the line between needing chemo and not. She explained the test is based on thousands of genes of cancer patients and is designed to predict how cancer is likely to behave. Insurance doesn’t normally cover the costs for the test, but Kearns had the test. She said it cost her $3,000 out of her own pocket. Based on this information, Holcomb decided against chemotherapy, even though her family was pressuring her to do so. “My (alternative) health journey started after (refusing chemo),” she said. Holcomb said it was a slow process, and she didn’t
Crevolyn ■■ Continued from 1 a little brighter, my children make me laugh a little harder, and my husband’s arms feel a little tighter. The small things that might have been important before are just not as big a deal anymore. Our family always says
Photos by SCOTT ROGERS | The Times
HealingStrong group leader Christine Holcomb, right, Lynn Kearns, left, and Marsha Dickey meet at the Natural Juice Cafe to chat over some healthy juice drinks. The volunteer-based nonprofit is a cancer resource organization educating, connecting and encouraging those seeking comprehensive, natural strategies to heal strong and stay strong.
completely change her lifestyle overnight. She started off with changing how she was eating, which led to changing how she exercised and the other things she was putting into her body. She now uses chemical-free makeup, for example.
LYNN KEARNS Kearns’ battle with breast cancer started seven years when she found a lump in her breast. It wasn’t the first time the Gainesville woman discovered a lump. It was in a place where the 62-year-old previously had one at age 20. A mammogram without an ultrasound came back with negative results. But Kearns was not convinced. “If you’ve got a palpable lump, insist on an ultrasound,” she said. For her, the mass had all the signs of being benign, but specialists in Atlanta biopsied the mass. They called her to tell her the news — she had cancer. Kearns demanded a second and third opinion and eventually called Duke University. “Everything fell in place,” she said. The doctor spoke with her for 45 minutes on the phone to plan her appointments. There wasn’t a rush to get the tumor out of her body like at most other places. This gave her time to inform herself about her condition before making any big decisions. “Your body will tell you
we work hard and play hard. We take every opportunity to be together and are intentional about our time as a family unit. Because when it’s all said and done, it’s how you spend the little moments that count. Please don’t think that sharing this part of my life comes easy. As a rule, I’m a classic over-sharer, but this journey I made private by my own instruction. Every-
what’s right,” Kearns said. “You need to find a doctor you have a connection with.” She traveled to Duke and met with her surgeon, radiologist and oncologist. The trio tracked her progress from appointment to appointment. “They all communicated with each other, which is rare,” she said. Once Kearns received her results, she learned her cancer was on the border of needing chemo treatments. She decided against it. Her tumor was small, low grade and slow-growing, meaning it wasn’t as aggressive as other types. The Gainesville woman, however, elected to go through 20 days of radiation. After that, she vowed to clean up her diet, change the sources of the food she was eating to organic or as local as she could get it, and implement an exercise regimen, among other things. Kearns is now cancer-free.
MARSHA DICKEY Nine years ago, Dickey chose to treat her breast cancer with surgery. “My cancer was caused by chemo I had in ’04,” she said. But Dickey never felt fear toward her diagnosis, just the need to get rid of it. She did with a double mastectomy. Next, she decided to help her body recover from the ordeal. She began taking supplements, such as pancreatic enzymes, and studied the dietary side of
one is different on how they handle something like this. I’m a year out now and will be going for that dreaded one-year follow-up in a few weeks. I can only be inspired by those who continue to fight. They fight with grace, strength and perseverance. They are warriors in the truest sense of the word. As a parting gift, I am sharing this smoothie rec-
HealingStrong
What: A cancer resource organization educating, connecting and encouraging those seeking comprehensive, natural strategies to heal strong and stay strong When: First Tuesday of the month; next meeting Nov. 1 Where: Natural Juice Cafe, 2480 Limestone Parkway, Gainesville More info: christine@ healingstrong.com or www.healingstrong.org
alternative healing methods. “I was doing fine,” the 72-year-old said. “I never felt bad.” A book called “Knockout” by Suzanne Somers led her to a doctor in New York who helped her. He prescribed a fish-based diet, which was especially suited for her. Detoxing is a huge part of Dickey’s treatment plan. “It flushes out all the bad stuff,” she said. She gives herself coffee enemas regularly to help balance out the chemicals she ingests on a daily basis.
HEALING METHODS AFTER CANCER All three women say to have a successful recovery from cancer, one must follow six key elements: diet, nutrition, supplements, detox, exercise and mental and spiritual wellness. Not only should these keys be used for recovery, but they should be used for the rest of your life to stay healthy.
ipe. It became my favorite thing throughout the months of recovery and treatment. You can change up the fruit and the flavor of yogurt to match your tastes. It’s cool, refreshing and full of nutrients. Yes, cancer is nasty. There is no denying that. But out of bad always comes good. You might have to change your viewfinder to see it, but it’s there.
Dickey, center, along with Holcomb, left, and Kearns created the very first HealingStrong offshoot group after attending a HealingStrong conference in Johns Creek in September 2013.
“Food is the biggest block to get people to understand,” Holcomb said. “They need to know what they put in their bodies affects them.” Diet and nutrition go hand in hand. Eating whole or real food is important for healing, they said. Dickey, Kearns and Holcomb all take different kinds of supplements. “It’s a very individual thing,” Kearns said. Though, they said, across the board most cancer patients have low vitamin D. Other popular supplements include magnesium, calcium, vitamins K2 and C. Detoxing can be done with saunas, enemas, salt and
soda baths and breathing exercises. Exercises used can include yoga, walking or swimming. Skin brushing or massages also can help stimulate your lymph nodes and rebounding with a small trampoline can help work out every cell in your body. And finally, mental and spiritual wellness can be achieved through prayer, reading or meditation, as well as an overall attitude change. Some of these practices are discussed at their monthly meetings, which are set up to educate, not to prescribe methods of healing.
The remaining portion of verse 33 in John 16 says this: “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” And that is a very good thing.
Berry Smoothie
Crevolyn Wiley is a Gainesville resident with her first published cookbook “Cooking with Crevolyn” available at J&J Foods. She can be contacted at crevolyn. wiley@jandjfoods.com.
2 cups frozen berries 1 cup strawberry Greek yogurt 1 banana, sliced 1 cup unsweetened almond milk 1 cup crushed ice Mix all ingredients together in a blender. Cover and blend until smooth.
Source: Crevolyn Wiley
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Doctor’s orders Medical director answers common questions BY ALEXANDER POPP
JT Stratford proudly supports the women - and their families affected by breast cancer.
apopp@gainesvilletimes.com With the arrival of October in North Georgia comes cooler weather, changing leaves and pumpkins. But October also marks the start of another season, more important than fall seasonal trends. It is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. According to a study by the National Breast Cancer Foundation, 1 in every 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer at some point in her life. They estimate every year more than 246,660 women will receive a breast cancer diagnosis. More than 40,000 women will die of it. These statistics may seem daunting if you or a loved one are starting the process of dealing with a cancer diagnosis, but a number of different resources can help reassure patients and set them on the right path. Dr. Charles Nash, the Cancer Center medical director at Northeast Georgia Medical Center, said even though the process of diagnosis and treatment can be a scary one, knowing what to be prepared for is the best tool to help reduce stress and navigate the process. To find out more about what women can expect when going through the difficult first steps of cancer treatment, The Times spoke with Nash about some of the different elements surrounding breast cancer. Question: Who should be screened for breast cancer? Answer: We generally say all adult females in their mid-30s should begin getting screened. Or if they have a family history of breast cancer at a younger age, they should begin being screened at that age. We don’t usually screen men for breast cancer, but men can have it. Q: Why are regular screenings for breast cancer important? A: To ensure that noticed abnormalities are found at the earliest possible time. The results of treatment and expected prognosis is better when a cancer is discovered earlier in its course. Q: Are doctors or scientists currently aware of any ways to prevent breast cancer? A: There is some clinical data that the use of Tamoxifen antiestrogen medication taken for five years in patients less than 65 years of age who have a first-degree relative with breast cancer may result in a lower incidence of that patient developing breast cancer. Q: What are the types of breast cancer? A: Most are infiltrating ductal carcinomas. Less common cell types are lobular carcinomas, mucinous carcinomas and metaplastic carcinomas. Some cancers are hormonally driven to grow while others are found to be
For The Times
Dr. Charles Nash is the Cancer Center medical director at Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville.
hormonally insensitive. And some may contain a genetic mutational driver. The oncologist takes into consideration all of these factors when designing a treatment plan. Q: What are the different stages of cancer? A: To an oncologist, stage is strictly defined depending on the size of the primary tumor and whether there is involvement of regional axillary nodes or distant organs. Stages 0-4 are defined in this way. Q: How does cancer stage affect a patient’s long-term chances for survival? A: Generally cancers presenting at an earlier stage have a better prognosis in terms of recurrence rate and survival duration. However, cancers that present at more advanced stages can still be treated with beneficial effect. Q: What are the kinds of treatments available? A: Surgery, chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, genetic therapies and radiation therapy. (They are) sometimes given alone or in combinations can be used quite successfully. Q: What treatment do you recommend and why? A: I can recommend all of these therapies depending on the particular situation presented by a given patient. Most ladies need some sort of surgery, usually a lumpectomy or a mastectomy. A lumpectomy is usually followed by a round of radiation therapy. Q: How do treatments affect different people? A: The effects of surgery are as expected with necessary healing times. Lumpectomy (removal of a breast lump without removal of the entire breast) is well tolerated with short recovery times. Chemotherapy is now tolerated much better than before due the use of modern antiemetics, shorter treatment duration and newer treatment regimens. Some patients have few if any side effects from chemotherapy, but others have some nausea, fatigue and hair loss.
Healthy patients generally tolerate chemotherapy well. Radiation therapy can result in skin redness that resolves after treatment is completed, sometimes with mild skin tanning as a result. Q: How do you know which treatment is right for you? A: Consultation with an oncologist is necessary to discuss the treatment options for a given patient as there are many options to address the multiplicity of breast cancer types, hormonal status and genetic mutations that may present in a given cancer. Q: What is the goal of treatment? A: The goal is always cure if possible. However, in cancers that present to the physician with metastasis, the goal will be response of the cancer to treatment, relief of symptoms and improved response duration that can lead to improved survival times. Q: When should you get a second opinion? How do you ask for a second opinion? A: Consider a second opinion if you desire confirmation of a treatment plan or diagnosis, are in doubt of the accuracy of information presented to you or if you have unanswered questions. Q: What happens after treatment? A: After completion of treatment, the patient is typically followed to assure success of the given treatment, to screen for side effects and for surveillance for cancer recurrence. Q: How does reconstruction work? A: Surgical reconstruction is used for cosmetic recovery after or during cancer treatment. Generally it is performed by a plastic surgeon skilled in breast cancer procedures. Either patient tissues or prosthetic implants can be used as indicated. Q: Is reconstruction work normally covered by insurance? A: For patients with a breast cancer diagnosis, reconstruction is generally a covered procedure by most insurers.
• Approximately 1 in 8 women (about 12%) in the U.S. will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime. • For women in the U.S., breast cancer death rates are higher than those for any other cancer, besides lung cancer. • Other than skin cancer, breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among American women. • In 2016, there are more than 2.8 million women with a history of breast cancer in the U.S.
Four professionals at JT STraTford have family members who were affected by breast cancer. JT STraTford provides comprehensive wealth management services, including financial planning, asset management, estate planning and retirement planning services to individuals, institutions and corporations. The firm and its professionals graciously donate to Glory, Hope and Life charities which provide opportunities and support for cancer patients, families and caregivers.
Questions to ask your doctor about breast cancer Being told you have breast cancer can be scary and stressful. You probably have a lot of questions and concerns. Learning about the disease, how it’s treated and how this information might apply to you is a lot to do on your own. You might need some help. Therefore, the American Cancer Society can give you general information about the disease and its treatment, but your cancer care team is the best source of information. Here are some questions you can use to help you better understand breast cancer and your options. The questions are grouped by where you are in the process of cancer treatment. Not all of these questions will apply to you, but they should help get you started.
When you’re told you have breast cancer
■■ Exactly what type of breast cancer do I have? ■■ How do I get a copy of my pathology report? ■■ Has the cancer spread to my lymph nodes or other organs? ■■ What’s the cancer’s stage? What does that mean? ■■ How does this affect my treatment options and longterm outcome (prognosis)? ■■ What are my chances
of survival, based on my cancer as you see it? ■■ How much experience do you have treating this type of cancer? ■■ Will I need other tests before we can decide on treatment? ■■ What are my treatment choices? ■■ What treatment do you recommend and why? ■■ What’s the goal of my treatment? ■■ Should I think about genetic testing? ■■ Should I get a second opinion? How do I do that? ■■ Should I think about taking part in a clinical trial?
When deciding on a treatment plan
■■ What are the chances the cancer will come back after this treatment? ■■ What would we do if the treatment doesn’t work or if the cancer comes back? ■■ Will I go through menopause as a result of the treatment? ■■ Will I be able to have children after treatment? Would I be able to breastfeed? ■■ How much will I have to pay for treatment? Will my insurance cover any of it? ■■ How long will treatment last? What will it involve? ■■ Where will treatment be done?
■■ What risks and side effects should I expect? ■■ What can I do to reduce the side effects of the treatment? ■■ How will treatment affect my daily activities? ■■ Will I be able to work during treatment? ■■ Will I lose my hair? If so, what can I do about it?
If treatment includes surgery
■■ Tell me about breast reconstruction. Is breast reconstruction surgery an option if I want it? ■■ What would it involve in my case? ■■ Can I have reconstruction at the same time as the surgery to remove the cancer? What are the ■■ pros and cons of having it done right away or waiting until later? ■■ Will you have to take out lymph nodes? ■■ What will my breasts look and feel like after my treatment? Will I have normal feeling in them? ■■ Will the treatment hurt? Will I have any scars? For more information on breast cancer please contact your American Cancer Society toll free at 1-800-227-2345 or online at www.cancer.org.
Source: American Cancer Society
GloryHope&Life Sugar Hill, GA
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WinstonSalem, NC
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Navigating her fight
Sunday, October 9, 2016
N W
E S
Patient advocate battled breast cancer in December 2014 BY BEKAH PORTER For The Times
Jennifer Roberts thought she knew just about all there was to know about cancer. As a cancer care provider, she had held her patients’ hands through everything from scans to surgeries to chemotherapy to choosing a wig after hair loss. But in December 2014, she experienced something that forever changed her understanding of the disease. “I got that diagnosis,” she said. “I was told that I had cancer.”
PATIENT NAVIGATOR PROGRAM Since its inception in 2008, the Patient Resource Navigator Program at Northeast Georgia Medical Center has helped nearly 2,500 cancer patients maneuver the obstacle-ridden path that is cancer treatment. However, no one anticipated one of its staff members dedicated to guiding individuals through the health care system would need her own services. Yet everyone involved expressed a belief that Roberts’ diagnosis produced something special. “Honestly, when I was diagnosed, it almost felt like it was meant to be,” Roberts said. “Everything sort of just fell into place.” Roberts initially applied for the patient navigator job after relocating to the area. With a background in social work and experience focused on elder care, she was drawn to the idea of connecting cancer patients to resources that could make the process more manageable. “I really thought, ‘I could be a great fit for this,’” she said. “These people are at their most vulnerable time, and they really need someone to advocate for them and navigate them through the system, and I knew I could do that and do it well.” Plus, she always wanted a career where she could help people. “I don’t know why that is, but it is,” Roberts said. “It’s just part of my DNA.” But so was cancer. “Both my mother and grandmother had (skin cancers),” Roberts said. “But nobody in my family had breast cancer, so I was surprised to find a lump.”
crying. I had seen patients go through this, but then it changed. Suddenly I was the patient. It was so surreal.” For the next several months, Roberts experienced the things she’d watched others endure. She underwent chemotherapy. She lost her hair. She sorted through her medications. She survived surgeries. She juggled countless appointments. She communicated with her health insurance providers. And she did it all with the help of her own patient navigator. Lisa Bridges remembers when Roberts joined the patient navigator team and knew she had found a quality ally in the fight against cancer. She just didn’t expect to be offering her co-worker her services on the opposite side of the table. But Bridges, a nurse for 34 years,
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knew the thing Roberts needed most was a wellversed, well-educated navigator dedicated to the job. “The job description is simple enough,” Bridges said. “Our job as a navigator is to reduce barriers that patients may have to receiving their treatments. Barriers could be anything from ‘I don’t understand enough about this procedure, so I don’t know enough to make the best decision’ to ‘I struggle to pay my bills, so I’m afraid to come back to the doctor’s office because of the cost.’” Navigators attend procedures, take notes during appointments, connect patients with foundations that can help with financial obligations. Perhaps most important, patient navigators listen. “There’s a whole person besides the cancer,” Bridges said. “We try to understand that whole person.” Roberts said Bridges and the rest of the patient navigators at Northeast Georgia Medical Center helped her feel understood from the first moments with the disease. “ T h e y took turns coming to my appointments,
holding my hand, sitting down and hearing my concerns,” she said. “It was an immense comfort to have somebody there with me who knew exactly what I would need to know after the initial shock wore off.” And although Roberts had helped walk countless patients through the process during her year and a half in the patient navigator role, she often found herself asking questions she’d never encountered on the job. “Cancer is just a massively complicated thing,” she said. “And to me, knowledge is power. I wanted to know how this was going to impact my life and my family’s life and my job. And every step of the way, the (navigators) helped educate me.”
RECOVERY AND CONTINUED CARE Roberts is cancer-free now, but her life is far from free of cancer. She remains at her post as a navigator. In fact, she never left it, not even when she was receiving her own treatments. She’d go in for chemotherapy on Thursdays and return to work on Mondays. But now she is able to better do the job that she says changed her life for the better. “I think that I can really and truly empathize now and have a significant amount of compassion for what my patients are going through,” Roberts said. “When I go into a consult now and share my personal experience, they instantly let their guard down and make that connection. They know that I’ve been scared. They know I’ve been sick. They know I’ve lost my hair. They know I’ve had those side effects. They know I’ve been where they are, and that makes a big difference.” J.K. Devine | The Times
Jennifer Roberts’ job as a patient navigator is to help cancer patients maneuver through the process of cancer treatment. She also offers access to programs and services within the community and those available via the American Cancer Society in Gainesville. Little did she know, she would have to use them herself. In December 2014, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Now she is cancer-free and said she is able to do her job better.
CANCER DIAGNOSIS, TREATMENT Mammograms, scans, biopsies — numerous medical tests and procedures passed in a flurry until doctors finally called Roberts and confirmed she had cancer in her breast and lymph nodes. “When you hear that, in that instant, your world stops,” Roberts said. “And then I was
Program helps patients stay beautiful during treatment BY BEKAH PORTER For The Times
Judy Ann Barrett corrected herself mid-sentence. “If — no, when I get through this ...” For four months now, the Cleveland resident has lived with the title “breast cancer patient,” but she still finds herself doubting this new existence. “Sometimes I find myself thinking, ‘I don’t belong here. This isn’t me,’” Barrett said. She had spent her life making the right choices. “I did everything you’re supposedly supposed to do,” she said. “I ate right. I exercised. Truly, I’ve been healthy as a horse my whole life. I never had a sick day hardly in my whole life. And then I had that mammogram, and everything changed. And now I have to focus on not ‘if’ I get through this, but ‘when.’” With this focus and determination, Barrett found herself seeking fortitude in a place not necessarily expected: a beauty class. In anticipation for dealing with her body’s reaction to chemotherapy, she recently attended a session of the Look Good Feel Better Program in Gainesville where volunteer beauty professionals talked about treatment’s impact on hair, skin and nails. Barrett and her fellow cancer patients and classmates learned about everything from choosing the right wig to how to tie a headscarf to moisturizing meth-
LOOK GOOD FEEL BETTER
This nonmedical, brand-neutral public service program teaches beauty techniques to women in active cancer treatment to help them manage the appearance-related side effects of treatment. During group workshops, volunteer beauty professionals teach simple techniques to women to help them cope with skin and nail changes and hair loss. The program is a collaboration of the American Cancer Society, the Personal Care Products Council Foundation and the Professional Beauty Association. For more information, visit lookgoodfeelbetter.org, call 800395-LOOK (5665) or contact the American Cancer Society office.
J.K. Devine | The Times
Master cosmetologist Becky Loggins, 49, demonstrates to women in the Look Good Feel Better program how to tie a scarf around their heads. Acting as her model is Northeast Georgia Medical Center Patient Navigator Jennifer Roberts. Marian McGill, 74, of Hoschton watches.
ods to applying eyelashes to wearing clothes in ways that minimize weight changes. “When I first heard about (Look Good Feel Better), I thought, ‘Oh, that’s interesting,’ but I wasn’t really too excited about it ... until I got there, and then I was so impressed and had so much fun,” Barrett said. “It was just wonderful.” She explained the tips and tricks about hair and clothes and makeup was fun, but it was the camaraderie that made it worth it. “You all have the same hurdles to cross, and when you were there with other women who are going
to lose their eyebrows or have all these other side effects, then you didn’t feel alone,” Barrett said. “It wasn’t a support group, at least not in the typical sense, but I felt so supported.” Jennifer Roberts said that’s exactly the goal. And she’d know. Although she participates in The Look Good Feel Better program as a patient navigator with the American Cancer Society, she was a student not that long ago. In December 2014, doctors diagnosed Roberts with breast cancer, and she quickly found herself hearing all of the words that had once
only been heard by her patients. “It was like, ‘OK. I’m on the other side now. I’m the patient now,’” she said. “And it was just weird. It was a shock.” Where she once helped women too weak from their chemotherapy to tie their headscarves at the Look Good Feel Better Program, she now had someone helping her when her own hands wouldn’t do the work. “I don’t even have the words for how wonderful of an experience it was,” Roberts said of the class. “We just had a really good time. We laughed. We joked. We just had a really, really good time. And to be there, laughing and watching other people laugh with you about the side effects, to find the humor of it all, it was just really special. It’s just not something that happens in other situations. (Look Good Feel Better) gave us permission to just have fun and laugh, and we needed that.” Barrett agrees. “A lot of people, when they find out they have cancer, they don’t know if they’re going to live or die,”
she said. “And you need to have confidence to be able to dig yourself out of that hole of doubt. And if you don’t have confidence about yourself, if you don’t feel good about yourself, then you can’t make it.” For this reason (and, she admits, the generous goodie bag of free makeup products), Barrett wholeheartedly recommends the class. “When you’re feeling down, you need to be uplifted, and this class will do just that,” she said. “This is one of those things you can do to feel good about yourself, and if you feel good about yourself, then you can make it, and you need to make it, because you have a purpose.” She pauses, before adding, “If ...” She pauses again, before correcting herself, “No ... when I get through this, if I can help someone else, then that’s what I’m going to do. Go to this class. Get uplifted. You can make it. I can make it. I know I’m going to live, because I have a purpose so why not go get that confidence? Because if you don’t, you’re sunk. It’s that important.”
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en to paper Survivor chronicles her treatment in a journal BY KRISTEN OLIVER
koliver@gainesvilletimes.com Some women attend support groups. Some reach out to their families. Ashley Williams reached for her journal. “I was diagnosed with breast cancer in June of last year,” Williams said. “I found out when I was 31. I started doing chemo and all that, and people would say, ‘You’re a little young to have breast cancer.’ But it doesn’t pick an age.” Williams didn’t have any of the typical signs that led to her diagnosis. It was a small lump felt five months before her diagnosis that first raised questions. “In January 2015, I went for my yearly, and I hadn’t noticed it,” she said. “During the breast exam, my doctor felt a little knot, but we just thought it was at most a fibroid. It continued to grow, and that’s when I went back for another opinion.” She was referred to The Longstreet Clinic for a mammogram and ultrasound. It came back negative. But a final biopsy confirmed it was cancer. Williams praised her doctor, Dr. Pierpont “Pepper” Brown with Northeast Georgia Physicians Group, for giving her the confidence she could beat the cancer. “He made me feel like I could do it,” she said. “When he first told me, I was looking around at my family like, ‘Is Ashton Kutcher going to jump out?’ But he was sincere, and he was great.” Williams didn’t feel that confi-
dence and assurance through her whole treatment, however. Stress with work and the disease itself left her feeling confused, even angry. “I was teaching, going to school at Brenau University for my bachelor’s,” she said. “Everything in my life was working good for me. When I found out, everything changed. I got to a point when I wanted to throw in the towel.” Years before, Williams had been given a journal by some of the women at her church. She called it her prayer book. While she was struggling with treatment, she turned to some of the other patients at the Longstreet Cancer Center and resources online to find out how others handled the stress. “I thought, “Well, if I’m journaling about my day-to-day activities, why don’t I journal about what I’m going through with cancer?’” she said. “The nurses were great at the cancer center, and they thought it was the greatest thing.” Her journal entries covered everything from the treatment itself and how it made her feel physically, to how she felt emotionally. It was “an every night thing,” she said, and for months she filled hundreds of pages. “Every day that I felt bad, that I just wanted to lash out, I’d just do that in my journal,” she said. “Some of it was anger. Some of it was frustration. I had those moments, but I would always put it down on paper.”
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Some women attend support groups. Some just reach out to their families. Ashley Williams reached for her journal. She used it to write down her feelings at that very moment.
Williams said while she has a great family who she relied on during that time, she didn’t have people to talk to per se. None of her friends or family had experienced cancer firsthand. So she wrote. She kept up the habit through 16 rounds of chemo, 33 rounds of radiation, three surgeries and one blood transfusion.
Today, she operates her own day care, Creative Learners Child Development Center at 711 Dorsey St. in Gainesville, which she created while undergoing treatment. She’s been cancer-free since Dec. 23, 2015, what she called “the best Christmas present ever.” But she still writes in her journal. On the front of her journal —
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the same one she used during her treatment — are the words, “But without faith, it is impossible to please him.” The Bible verse, Hebrews 11:6, resonates with Williams today. “I can honestly say what I went through isn’t even half of what I see other people going through,” she said. “So I’m just grateful.”
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The power f family Women rally during niece’s treatment BY JENNIFER LINN
jlinn@gainesvilletimes.com When Ashley Williams discovered she had breast cancer in June 2015, her family helped her get through it. To them, there was no other way. For Williams’ aunts, Sophia Hunter and Diane Lawrence, it was especially important to help their niece since she is like a daughter to them. And Hunter and Lawrence, who are twins, were there with Williams from the beginning to the end. Lawrence went with Williams when she had the biopsy and was there when she received the news the lump was, in fact, cancer. She remembers leaving the meeting to go get Williams’ mother, who was in the waiting room. “I said, ‘Oh my God,’ yeah, I couldn’t believe it,” Lawrence said. “It was real devastating.” Hunter was at work, helping to clean a dentist office, when she received the call. “And of course, like anybody, there was the initial shock. I cried,” Hunter said. First, the sisters with the whole family came together and looked to God. “I was hurt, but I did not question God,” Hunter said. “We can question all day long, and it’s not going to change anything.” Instead of questioning why, both sisters focused on their faith and family. “It’s hard, but the weaker I sometimes feel, the more I pick up the Bible, the more I read, the more I pray. And everything that I pray for, it’s right here,” Hunter said. Lawrence knew she had to set an example. “Somebody had to keep the faith because a lot of times Ashley, she didn’t have it,” Lawrence said. “I
Photos by ERIN O. SMITH | The Times
Above left: Sophia Hunter talks about how she reacted when she found out that her niece Ashley Williams had breast cancer. Hunter started reading about the disease, contacting friends in the medical field and researching foods that had a reputation of helping fight cancer. Above right: Diane Lawrence speaks about what it is like having a close family member dealing with cancer.
just told her she’s just got to fight through it.” Second, the sisters began a plan of action for Williams. Hunter started educating herself on a disease. She was not going to take the diagnosis lying down. “I don’t like defeat in no way, I don’t,” Hunter said, describing herself as a strong member in her family. Therefore, she contacted friends who worked with cancer patients. She heard about juicing and bought a juicer. Next, she researched foods with a reputation of helping to fight cancer. Lawrence, in the meantime, accompanied her niece to every appointment and treatment. It included 16 rounds of chemo, a blood transfusion and radiation. Lawrence said it was tough to watch at times, especially at the end when
Williams wasn’t able to have chemotherapy because her blood cell counts were so low. That’s when the family’s resolve was so important to see and feel. “Family support is everything when you’re going through that. And I think that ... faith and encouragement, I think that’s what really got her through,” Lawrence said. During treatments is where Lawrence saw the power of her own family. “The sad part about it is when nobody doesn’t have any family members up there to sit with them,” she said. Williams always had at least one person — if not more — with her. “She (Williams) felt bad,” Hunter said. “She had too many people. She never went by herself.” But supplying their niece with healthy food and accompanying her to each
appointment was only the beginning. Two months after her diagnosis, Williams and her mother, Judith, lost their jobs at Smart Start Day School off Dorsey Street in Gainesville. “We came together as a family to make sure their bills were paid and we had to make sure she had everything she needed,” Hunter said. “But we needed to make sure she had an uplifted spirit, too.” Then last October, the Williams family organized a kickball tournament called “Kick Out Cancer” to help pay for the young woman’s medical bills. It succeeded. Hundreds of people participated in the tournament, which raised $2,500. The money exceeded expectations, allowing Williams to compile gift bags for other cancer patients. The bags contained items
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family learned the value of love. “You’re going to go to bed and you’re going to wake up tomorrow, but it might not be on this side,” Hunter said. “It’s so petty why people argue, why people don’t speak, why people don’t get along. But with Ashley going through this it has really taught us the meaning of family and the meaning of unconditional love.” For Williams, though, she has come through the battle with a fighting spirit. She continued to attend college and worked to open her own business, Creative Learners Child Development Center at the site of her former job on Dorsey Street. She accomplished it all while undergoing cancer treatments. Her resolve left her aunts astounded. “I’m proud of her. She’s just got that will in her, she does,” Lawrence said.
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Williams found useful during her treatment such as water, protein shakes, a journal and a Bible. Based on its success, a second kickball tournament is planned for this month. It’s expected to grow to a two-day event. Hunter pointed out Williams’ battle with cancer gave the community a single purpose that day. It was a silver lining to the hardship their family had faced. “With everything you go through in life, there’s always a positive,” Hunter said. “Family is so important, and it is, but life is so important. You can be here today and gone tomorrow.” Fortunately, Williams is still here. She has been cancer free since Dec. 23, 2015. Her ordeal has had ripple effects within her own family. Lawrence said one of the biggest lessons she learned was to expect the unexpected. Hunter said the
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Mother, daughter help women with fertility issues Team Maggie for a Cure raises money, awareness BY HAILEY VAN PARYS hvanparys@ gainesvilletimes.com
When cancer comes knocking at your door, the last thing on a woman’s mind is how it might affect her reproductive health. But once the shock of the diagnosis has diminished, the effect cancer treatment will have on a woman’s reproductive system is an element to think about when considering treatment options. Chemotherapy is known to drastically reduce a woman’s egg numbers or even make her infertile. It also can kick start menopause in women as young as 30. Plus, most oncologists don’t discuss a patient’s options for starting a family in the future, according to breastcancer.org. Breast cancer survivor Maggie Davis and her mother, Mary Jones, have been fighting to change this. “(The doctors) are just so busy to begin with, the options are not always told to you,” Jones said. Bringing more awareness to the fertility concerns that come with battling cancer is one of the goals of Team Maggie for a Cure. And the nonprofit’s mission is to help women with cancer fund their own fertility treatments and egg retrievals. When Davis chose to go through with the process, she realized how expensive
Resources for Cancer Patients Support Groups
■■ Lung Cancer Support Group is designed for lung cancer patients, caregivers and survivors. Northeast Georgia Medical Center’s lung cancer patient navigator, Alicia Harrison, hosts the support group. It has two meetings: 4:30 p.m. third Monday of the month at NGMC Braselton’s Education Center in Braselton; and noon second Thursday of the month in lobby of 1285 Sims St. in Gainesville. ■■ The Longstreet Cancer Center Support Group addresses all types of cancers and is designed for patients, caregivers and survivors. It meets at 6:30 p.m. the last Tuesday of every month in Longstreet Cancer Center lobby at 725 Jesse Jewell Parkway on the third floor. ■■ Breast Cancer FaithBased Support Group is for breast cancer patients, caregivers and survivors. It meets at 2 p.m. the fourth Saturday of every month at Flat Creek Baptist Church, 5504 Flat Creek Road in Oakwood. Call Robyn Chambers at 770-4014893 to attend.
Patient navigators
Northeast Georgia Health System Oncology Patient Navigators is a free service that provides cancer patients with guidance and support throughout their cancer journey, including helping to navigate the health care system and any challenges that may impede treatment. Navigators can be reached from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. ■■ Registered nurse Alicia Harrison assists patients with lung, brain or head/ neck cancer. Call 770219-5804 or email Alicia. Harrison@nghs.com ■■ Registered nurse Lisa Bridges assists patients with breast cancer. Call 770-219-5857 or email Lisa.Bridges@nghs.com ■■ Elida Lopez assists patients with digestive, gynecologic or urological cancer. Call 770-219-6055 or email Elida.Lopez@nghs. com All NGMC navigators are STAR (Survivorship Training and Rehabilitation certified.
American Cancer Society local assistance
■■ Patient navigator Jennifer Roberts Provides access to programs and services within the community and those available via the American Cancer Society. Call 770219-5812 or email Jennifer. Roberts@nghs.com
it was and how insurance didn’t cover some of the costs. She knew she couldn’t be alone in her struggle to pay for her chance at having a family. In its experience working with reproductive practices, the organization has learned most offices require its clients to pay several thousand dollars upfront. After every appointment or egg retrieval, the funds are debited from the account. “(The doctors) give you the resources, and they leave it up to you to decide,” Davis said. “It doesn’t have to be a huge conversation, we are just appreciative of getting the information.” The resources include the information needed to decide whether or not to go through with the fertility process, the cost and the procedure itself. For the women who are considering their fertility options, Team Maggie for a Cure has an expert to access. Davis has first-hand knowledge of going through the fertility process before undergoing chemotherapy. She elected to have her healthy eggs retrieved for possible future fertilization. When it was time for her fertility treatments to begin, Davis’ oncologists gave her a list of the names of reproductive specialty clinics nearby. Davis chose the Reproductive Biology Associates as her main fertilization center, and her primary doctor was
STAR Program
■■ The STAR Program, which stands for Survivorship Training and Rehabilitation, provides hospitals with the tools and training needed to minimize the debilitating side effects of cancer treatment. Northeast Georgia Medical Center’s Cancer Services partners with The Rehabilitation Institute at NGMC to provide STAR Program certified cancer rehabilitation. Call 770-2198200 or visit www.nghs. com/cancer-rehabilitation
Clinical Trials
■■ Northeast Georgia Medical Center partners with many national oncology groups to provide patients the opportunity to participate in nationwide clinical trials sponsored by National Cancer Institute and other established cancer institutions. Call 770-219-8820 or visit www. nghs.com/clinical-trials
Financial Assistance for Cancer Patients
■■ Northeast Georgia Medical Center’s Financial Assistance helps patients with applying for public health coverage programs, discounts, payment plans or free care to eligible uninsured or underinsured patients for medically necessary care. Call 770219-1898 or visit www. nghs.com/financialassistance ■■ Cancer State Aid provides financial assistance for cancerrelated diagnostic testing, evaluations and treatment planning support, as well as cancer treatment support for patients whose prognosis and planned treatment are medically eligible for program funding. Contact Lisa Hunsbusher at 770219-5473 for eligibility requirements or visit dph.
To donate to Team Maggie for a Cure, visit www. teammaggieforacure.org
The Times file photo
Maggie Davis, left, and her mother, Mary Jones, created Team Maggie for a Cure to help women with cancer fund their fertility treatments and egg retrievals. Jones was inspired to establish the organization when Davis underwent fertility treatments before begining cancer treatments. Almost a year after Davis went into remission, her daughter Layleigh was born.
Dr. Monica Best. “They were so nice and friendly, and they checked in with me,” Davis said. “The connection was really nice to have.” At her first consultation, Best conducted an ultrasound. “The ultrasound just made (sure) everything was fine, that there were no underlying issues,” Davis said. Next, the doctors decided to start the treatment immediately since she had about 20 to 30 positive eggs. “The doctors stopped
counting because she had so many,” Jones said. After that, she was put on hormone treatments, which were not a cinch for Davis. “The process is grueling,” Jones said. She started off by swallowing pills the first day and moved to needles the next day. Twice a day, Davis injected herself with a shot of hormones into her stomach. “There was no other option for me,” Davis said, pointing out she had an ultrasound every morning
to have her mature eggs counted. “It was just something I did every day. It was quick and easy, and I’m not afraid of needles.” The needles and the pain did not bother her. It was the emotional toll, since the hormones affected her moods. “I was crying every other day,” Davis said. She said she often called her mom and cried, telling her she couldn’t do it anymore. “It’s hard to remember everything,” Davis said. “I was just in the mindset of,
georgia.gov/cancer-stateaid-2 ■■ Cancer Foundation of Northeast Georgia assists patients in Northeast Georgia with rent/ mortgage, prescriptions not covered by insurance, utility bills, nutritional assistance, durable medical equipment and gas cards ($500.00 cap per patient each year). Call 706-353-4354 or visit www. cancerfoundationofnega. org/ ■■ Glory, Hope, and Life assists cancer patients, caregivers and families with a variety of financial, physical and emotional support services through resources, programs and activities. Call 770-5334705 or visit http://www. gloryhopelife.org/ ■■ Sid Weber Memorial Cancer Fund assists Rabun County residents with resources designed to help patients through their cancer journey, including partnering with the American Cancer Society’s Road to Recovery to help provide rides for patients to and from their treatments. Call 706-746-3350 or visit www.sidwebercancerfund. org/ ■■ Ninth District Opportunity provides a wide range of services (housing programs, community services, heating assistance) designed to help lowincome families in Hall County. Call 770-532-3191 or visit www.ndo.org/web/. ■■ Salvation Army - Project SHARE assists people affected by illness, job loss or other unfortunate circumstances with utility assistance. For Hall County, call 770534-7589; For Rabun County, call 706-7824283; For Habersham and Stephens counties, call 706-866-5293. Or visit projectshareinfo.com/
where-to-apply/
hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. ■■ Gainesville office: 770-219-5077; afterhours:770-219-1873 ■■ Braselton office: 770848-4928; after-hours contact: 770-848-0735
Chaplain Services
Northeast Georgia Health System offers chaplain visits, contact with personal pastors, devotional literature and Sunday chapel services. Located at NGMC Braselton and NGMC Gainesville, chapels are available 24 hours a day, seven day a week. Office
Hospice of Northeast Georgia Medical Center
■■ Hospice of Northeast
‘Let’s just do this.’” While the emotional burden was intense, she was happy to have the option of starting a family later on in her life, she said. The process and procedure is different for each person. Since Davis’ tumor was estrogen-positive, she had a much lower dosage of the chemical than others. The length of time of the treatments also changes for each person. For some, it could take 10 days. For others, it could be 21 days. Once her hormone treatments were over, it was time for the egg retrieval surgery. Before the surgery, Davis was given one more shot to “make sure all the eggs stayed in place,” she said. Altogether, the surgical process took less than three hours. She recuperated at home for two days. In the end, nine eggs were collected. The number sounded disappointing to Davis. “I didn’t feel like that was enough,” she said But doctors reassured her nine eggs could lead to one or two babies. Davis attempted a second round of treatments, but quickly decided it was too intense and stopped the shots. Her grueling process did produce results, however. Davis is now mother to Layleigh, and doesn’t regret going through the treatments. She just wants to help other women with their journeys.
Georgia Medical Center provides inpatient and outpatient hospice services for patients with life-limiting illnesses. Call 770-2198888 or www.nghs.com/ hospice
Other General Resources
■■ American Cancer Society’s National Support Services: 1-800-227-2345
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The Times, Gainesville, Georgia |
gainesvilletimes com
Sunday, October 9, 2016
11
Which mammogram recommendation to follow
For decades, the American Cancer Society has recommended women have yearly mammograms beginning at age 40. The ACS recently changed the guidelines, stating women now may wait until 45 to begin mammograms screening and discontinue annual mammograms at age 55, opting instead for every other year. Many other health care experts, however, including the American College of Radiology and the Society of Breast Imaging, disagree. They continue their recommendation of women having yearly mammograms starting at age 40 or sooner in certain circumstances and continue annually as long as their health is good. So what do you do when you receive conflicting recommendations?
Mother ■■ Continued from 1 “Coming home to (my daughter) is the best thing,” she said, describing her daughter, Madelyn, as the best medicine. She also said her daughter is one of the reasons she is fighting so hard. “Obviously, I want to be here as long as I can for her and I’m not just fighting for my life for myself, it’s for her mainly,” she said. “She keeps me going along with my husband. I mean they’re my rocks in all of this.” Dallas also believes Madelyn saved her life, explaining she would not have realized something was wrong without her. “I found this after having her,” she said. “I could have gone on with my life and not have known, but I found out early because I had her.” And Dallas certainly does not take each day or her family for granted. “I just want to keep living my life the best that I can for them and for myself,”
Mammograms
dr. julie pardue presley Medical director of Women’s Imaging at Northeast Georgia Medical Center
As a woman and a radiologist, I think there’s something extremely powerful about taking control of our own health care choices. And that starts with gathering medical recommendations, talking with your physician and using the information to make an educated choice. In my own profession, it has become readily apparent to not wait until 45 to begin screening. The number of breast cancers we
The Imaging Center at Northeast Georgia Medical Center offers mammograms in three locations for patient convenience: Braselton, Dawsonville and Gainesville. To schedule your mammogram, call Imaging Services at 770-219-7666.
have identified at Northeast Georgia Medical Center in women who are in their 30s and early 40s supports this. So why is the ACS recommending a later start date? Dr. Kevin Offenger, who chaired the independent panel that created the new guidelines, said one of the reasons behind the delayed age is the density of younger women’s breast tissue. He points out as a woman ages, her breast tissue tends to get less dense, making a reading easier.
But thanks to the new digital tomosynthesis technology — which is available at the Northeast Georgia Medical Center Imaging Center in Braselton — scanning dense breast tissue is easier than ever because of the multiple views or “slices” offered by the mammogram. More commonly known as a 3D mammography, digital tomosynthesis exams take only a few seconds longer than a traditional mammogram and the 3D images are proven to detect 41 percent more invasive breast cancers than traditional mammograms. Traditional mammograms give radiologists a flat, two-dimensional representation of the breast. The new technology creates a 3D image using many layers of the breast, so fine details are more visible and
no longer hidden by the tissue above or below. This means radiologists have to do fewer callbacks for repeat exams because what appeared to be questionable in a traditional image may be very clear in a 3D image. The patient experience for 3D mammography is similar to a traditional mammogram: no additional compression is required, and the exam takes only a few seconds longer for each view. Very low X-ray energy is used during this exam, so radiation exposure is minimally increased when receiving a traditional mammogram along with a 3D mammogram. Medicare and Medicaid fully cover the new technology, and some commercial payers are beginning to do so as well. Early detection of breast cancer in the past few
‘I like to think that God has a plan for me and I’m just going to see it through.’ Dallas Sage Breast cancer patient
she said. “I wouldn’t want to miss out on anything because of this.” Therefore, she does not focus on being sick. “I don’t think that I could go through each day thinking that,” Dallas said. “So I just try to count my blessings and think of the positives and just live life as I would.”
SUPPORT SYSTEM Since the diagnosis, the Sages have received an outpouring of support from the community as well as their friends and family. Many people have dropped off meals, offered child care and lawn care and prayed over her. The West Hall High School community, where Chad is a
ERIN O. SMITH | The Times
Chad and Dallas Sage play with their 6-month-old daughter, Madelyn, at their Gainesville home Sept. 22. Dallas discovered she had a rare, aggressive type of breast cancer known as inflammatory breast cancer after her daughter was born.
teacher and baseball coach, has gone above and beyond to show their support. “It’s just been insane how much West Hall has done to make her comfortable and everything else,” he said. Dallas threw out a first
pitch at one of West Hall’s baseball games and the staff all wore pink shirts in her honor. Dallas’ employer Full Media has also been supportive. She has continued working at the internet
marketing and web development company throughout her treatment. But it is her husband who has been her major source of support. The couple have known each other for 12 years since they were
decades has dramatically increased breast cancer survival rates, with a 98 percent 5-year survival rate of localized breast cancer cases. Eight out of nine women diagnosed with breast cancer have no family history, and a woman’s chance of developing breast cancer in her lifetime is 1 in 8. Whether you opt for a 3D or traditional mammogram, early detection is vital. It means we can catch things earlier. And the sooner we identify a problem, the less invasive the treatment will have to be. Take the first step to protect yourself today.
Dr. Julie Pardue Presley, MD, is with the Gainesville Radiology Group and the medical director of Women’s Imaging at Northeast Georgia Medical Center.
juniors at Chestatee High School. They married three years ago. Dallas said he helps her stay positive and makes treatment decisions. “When my mind does go into the negative, I’ll always just ask, ‘Am I going to be OK?’ and he promises that I am,” she said. Overall, Dallas tries to find the silver lining. “I like to think that God has a plan for me and I’m just going to see it through,” she said. One thing she hopes to see through is educating other women about IBC. In fact, Chad urges women not to take mastitis lightly. He said if symptoms don’t improve after a round of antibiotics, women should not be afraid of getting a biopsy sooner rather than later. His wife agrees. “I would love to help someone else not go through what I have, and maybe that’s my calling. Maybe that’s what my plan is ... to prevent someone else from getting as far as I did and just spread the word about it.”
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Sunday, October 9, 2016
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia |
gainesvilletimes com
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