Grove Sentinel Cottage | Breast Cancer Awareness Month: In Their Words

Susan Jeppesen has never been scared. She was not afraid when she went on December 5th for her routine mammogram, something she never misses. She was not afraid when they asked her to come back and tell her that something was wrong. And she was not afraid when a patient advocate was called to her examination room or when the phone call from her own doctor told her the news.

At that time, Jeppesen crossed the line between those of us who have always had breast cancer and who wore the rose in October – and those of us who have been victims of the disease and wear the scar from a port of chemotherapy. .

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 242,476 new cases of breast cancer in women were reported in 2015 – the most recent year data is available; 2,954 of these cases were reported in Oregon. More than 40,000 women in the country have died as a result of the disease.

October is breast cancer awareness month and draws attention to a disease that does not need to be presented; It's the best-funded cancer research, with a budget of $ 519.9 million in 2016, according to the National Cancer Institute. She has been widely sponsored and despised non-profit organizations and organizations such as the Susan G. Komen Foundation and has made the pink retail aisles colorful with products designed to raise awareness and raise funds.

To mark the month, The Sentinel allowed breast cancer survivors, current patients and those affected by the disease to tell their story. And because these stories are personal and extremely intimate, they will be told to those who lived them, with their words, with very little interruption – because they are their stories.

C & # 39; Susan's…

"I've been in Cottage Grove for 30 years. I am very active in the room, with greeters. This year, I spoke to Travis (Palmer, director of the Chamber of Commerce) and I had my diagnosis in January and I just decided that it was the year of the doctor. So, I just did not go out because this year, with chemotherapy, your immune system is weakened and I thought: 'You know, I'm already up there, not with people, just stay here, not around people.

[[[["Up here" is Jeppesen's house, hidden in a long winding driveway, guarded by her dog Sunshine, who, according to Jeppesen, helps visitors find the way to the house, which contains grassy patches. green protected from the sun by red. yellow and orange autumn leaves.]

"I had a mammogram on December 5th and there was something suspicious, it was in December. They therefore prepared a second mammogram and an ultrasound on December 26th. On January 5th, I underwent a biopsy. I believe it was Monday or last Tuesday [Oct. 8 or 9] that I had the diagnosis – and the … it's not just shocking that you have something that eats you, but the kindness of people. The incredible kindness. "

[[[[In 2016, PeaceHealth unveiled its new 3D mammography device. The purchase was the result of a community fundraising campaign after the previous machine was deemed obsolete. The hospital said 3D technology would allow patients to scan at Cottage Grove instead of going to Eugene. The machine would also be able to detect potential health problems at an early stage. This is the machine on which Jeppesen made his first exams.]

"From the beginning, you are not left alone. My own doctor, Dr. Peterson, called me with the diagnosis and it had to be difficult, very difficult for someone. My surgeon was wonderful, my oncologist was wonderful. The very first time I met him, I said, "What should I do? What is the process? And he says, "Well, you answer the phone and come in when you're supposed to. So, I did not have to make my own appointments. Willamette Valley Cancer Institute in Eugene, you save once and you take care of everything.

"An MRI is almost extended on a bed, in a tube with a jackhammer. It's just noisy. It does not hurt, it's just noisy. Clank, clank, clank, clank. After the biopsy, you must have an MRI to accurately locate your position. So you are lying on your stomach with a 2×4 sensation between the breasts and then they put you with the jackhammer. But there was just, you're just taken care of every inch of the way.

"I have never been late for my mammogram. My husband died almost 10 years ago. My job – so my children are not orphans – is to do what I'm supposed to do. They caught it so early and it grew very fast. "

[[[[According to the National Cancer Institute, breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in America, but the number of women who die from this disease has been steadily decreasing since 1989 through early detection.]

"There are different types of breast cancer and I have two different types. It's called triple negative because it's not this or that. Three bad points and here you are. It spreads at the cellular level and is very aggressive and it does not need a tumor to begin with. You just need a little escapee. They did the operation, they do very rarely mastectomy, they will do partial, everything has improved a lot.

[[[[The US Department of Health and Human Services reported that the number of double mastectomies tripled between 2005 and 2013, but has since declined and the patient has asked for a higher percentage of mastectomies in cancer cases. ]

"But 20% of what I've had – is HR2, which is hormone-related. The estrogen receptor and its writing are readable, so much better than mine. A doctor wrote this, is not it amazing?

[[[[On a sheet of paper in the binder, Jeppesen is full of meal delivery options, all of her medical diagnosis and contact information is a white sheet of paper with black ink on which she explains her diagnosis. The phrasing removes it from multi-syllable medical terms and leads to a simple conclusion written at the end of a line of explanation: "You are curable".]

"I started every two weeks, two different types of chemotherapy, so eight weeks in total, then I went to a drug and it was supposed to last 12 weeks, and then I was irradiated. It makes you very sick. The very first treatment, they have seats and I was told that I would be in this chair and that it was a nurse who was turning my back and that the seat of his pants was saying "rebel", then I knew I would be fine. This is because not everyone gets all the side effects. The only thing that has missed me, is nausea. I had bleeding, nails, skin, shortness of breath – I do not think I missed too much. Wounds in the mouth, the food was not good. If it had not been for VanGorders, I could have starved because I literally could not cook.

"I finished chemotherapy and radiation. I was just starting to recover all my energy when I had to start the hormone blocker, which has its own side effects. "

[[[[The American Cancer Society reports that some types of breast cancer are affected by hormones in the blood. Some cancer cells have receptors that attach to estrogen, which helps them to develop. Hormone therapy is a way to prevent estrogen from attaching to these receptors.]

"They caught it very early and the treatment was aggressive. I've had a port, you can still see the scar a bit. You have this little bump under the skin and they hit it with a bug to be able to feed you without having to look for a vein every time. It's already there, it's a hole, it's ready to go. I ended up with a blood clot in the jugular vein, but I kept taking a blood thinner and everything was healed. I'm pretty easy with blood thinners – I've had a few falls. In February, we had black ice and I walk my dog ​​every morning. I think I missed a morning since I got sick, but I stepped on the metal bulkhead on the bridge and went there.

"What they tell you when you have your last treatment and what you do not really believe before it is," Congratulations, it's your last day but it will continue to burn and worsen over the next two months. of weeks and my God, he does.

"We do not have an old family history of cancer, so it's, you know," oh, breast cancer, yes, it's too bad, "and suddenly you're there. But my sister and three daughters had their mammograms a month after the diagnosis. It is that you go through the door and you are no longer the same person as you.

Editor's note: This interview has been modified for its length and clarity. If you or someone you know would like to share your breast cancer story with The Sentinel, please send an email to the following address: [email protected]