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She is a 78-year-young mother, grandmother, great
grandmother and was a caring, with unconditional love wife to her
late husband Ray. “I know I was very lucky to catch my cancer when I
did. My calendar was always full of appointments for one of us.
"We didn’t know at the time, but soon my husband
would be diagnosed with myeloproliferative neoplasm, and the
prognosis wasn’t good.”
Myeloproliferative neoplasm is a severe, rare type of blood cancer,
something you would never wish upon your worst enemy. There can’t be
anything much worse than battling your own severe sickness while you
watch your partner of over 45 years do the same. “He wanted to drive
me to my surgeries, but I couldn't see him in the waiting room
because of the pain he would feel sitting in those chairs and how
weak he was getting. At home he would have been physically
comfortable, but at the hospital I couldn't take care of him.”
Katie held suspicion over the years about the pain in
her breast, of whether it was natural changes with age or her heart.
She has been getting routine mammograms and has always worked hard
on keeping up with her health. She goes on routine walks and trips
with her family to stay active, as well as keeping a close eye on
her cholesterol, blood sugar, diet and weight. Nothing was ever
found in any of her mammograms, so when she brought up her concerns
of occasional pain in her right breast, she was told not to worry
about it. Many professionals shared that milk glands and hormones
change as people get older; she should be fine because her
mammograms looked great.
Katie let her intuition fall under the radar for many years until
she noticed her right nipple had collapsed. She did not rush to make
a doctor’s appointment as she had her six month checkup approaching.
Katie was unsure of why it might have collapsed, but she did not let
it break her spirit. She remembers laughing about it with Ray,
joking that her “nipple turned into a valley!”
By the time she made it to her appointment, she almost didn't
mention anything, remembering how many nurses and doctors told her
that her mammograms were clear. She decided to speak up after some
of her own research had revealed that a nipple collapse could be a
sign of breast cancer. The doctor listened intently to her story and
promptly completed a breast exam. He said he didn't feel a bump but
scheduled her for an ultrasound within the coming week.
To Katie and her family’s dismay, the biopsy revealed
a small, one centimeter cancerous mass. In late 2022, Katie was
diagnosed with stage two HR+ HER2- cancer. Luckily, this cancer is a
slow grower and not commonly aggressive. “I wasn’t initially very
scared; many of my friends are cancer survivors; it is what it is.
The hardest part was making up my mind about breast removal or
balancing them.”
After several appointments, Katie was on her way to her partial
mastectomy and left breast reduction. After an entire day in the
hospital, Katie was taken home by her granddaughter, Devyn, to rest.
Katie went back after she was healed up to get her left breast
checked and her right rechecked, and unfortunately a larger mass of
six centimeters was discovered. She spoke to a radiologist and the
surgeon once more and was encouraged to get a full mastectomy. Katie
was against removing her right breast, as she still had “one good
sized breast.”
“I was pissed when he told me I needed to go back into surgery to
get my breast taken off because I already had gone through the
recovery process. I had perky boobs like I was young again! I had to
go in just to ruin what a great job they did.” At first she was
certain radiation would finish the job. Yet, the more Katie thought
about it, she knew it would be better to make sure and go through
with the full mastectomy.
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When she returned to the surgeon, he was pleased she
had decided to remove the full breast and joked that it would have
been easier to go this route the first time around. Katie looked
back warmly on the memory of breaking the ice with her stoic
surgeon, now being able to joke together and talk about family. “I
didn't find anyone that wasn’t nice in this whole process.” In their
appointment, the surgeon mentioned that the plastic surgeon could
give her implants or an LD flap reconstruction to take some fat from
her back to reform her right breast. She declined the implants as in
rare cases people can develop lymphoma, but with the option of
reconstruction, she was thrilled! “I’d always wanted these things
really reduced! I just wanted to be down to a B or C-cup, which was
going to be a big change for me.”
Katie was entering her third surgery with a fourth ahead of her, and
she would hopefully come out a cancer-free woman. She was dropped
off by her son, Eric, and stayed in the hospital to recover for
three days. “I remember it being nice to be the one being taken care
of; I haven’t had much of a break since before I had my kids.” Once
she made it home, her friend Judy (a former nurse) would come over
every morning for three weeks to help her drain the fluid from her
LD flap and measure the liquids until the drainage was low enough
that she could return to the doctor to get the tubes removed.
After healing from the mastectomy and breast
reconstruction, Katie was referred to St. Johns in Springfield for
radiation treatments. However, her radiation was postponed for
almost a month due to a cybersecurity attack on St. John’s. Once she
was finally able to start, she was given three gas cards to help
with her appointments and a few free bras to get her started.
“Everyone was super friendly. I couldn't have asked for a better
crew. I went Monday through Friday for five weeks and I showed up
early every day. We told stories and really became friends. They
said they would truly miss me and that I was such a sweet, fun
lady.” Katie had perfect results from radiation, “I had no
blistering, my skin didn't change a bit. Many people said they hated
the idea of radiation because of that.” Katie laughed and said, “I
put on all my creams and Aquaphor through radiation, sometimes I
wondered if the machine was working because my skin wasn’t changing!
It wasn't really stressful for me; I was really lucky to be healing
so well.”
When asked about her last day of radiation, she
exclaimed, "Oh, that day was great! I said, ‘You gotta take my
picture while I ring this bell! Ring ring ring, I'm free!’ They are
the best group of ladies at St. John’s. Sometimes it feels like I
still have my nipple even though I don't. Since my boobs are
smaller, they don't choke me when I sleep at night,” she laughs,
“and I can wear button downs!”
Now, Katie only has to worry about yearly mammograms and a breast
exam every few months. She feels that with her own at-home checks,
it's hard to tell what might be a lump or scar tissue, but now that
she is on her doctor’s radar, she can relax. “If I could have done
anything differently, I would have reported nipple collapse sooner
and maybe caught the cancer sooner. But when you’re my age you think
these changes are age-related. I wish there would have been a bone
marrow test on Ray long, long ago, but no one thought of that.” Ray
would pass just under a year later, and while Katie misses him
dearly, she carries on with her family and friends. Katie is a force
to be reckoned with and has stood the test of time over and over
again. There is not anything she cannot overcome, not even breast
cancer.
[Lovingly written by her granddaughter Devyn Fry] |
