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The Pantagraph • Tuesday, October 2, 2012 www.pantagraph.com
National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Talking important for dealing with cancer in a familyBy Paul Swiech
NORMAL — Emily and Ali Maysknow their mother has cancer, it’s notgoing away and she will die.
Emily is 7 years old. Ali is 5.Their mother, Marcia, 42, has in-
operable, stage IV breast cancer.“Mommy has cancer. It makes me
sad,” Emily said recently in the Mayshome in Normal before dinner. Thefirst-grader, sitting beside her father,Jeff,continued to do her homework atthe kitchen table as she answeredquestions.
Ali, sitting on her mother’s lap, lis-tened as the kindergartener did herhomework.
Asked what they thought aboutcancer, both girls gave thumbs down.
“Mommy gets really sick some-times,” Emily said.
Who takes care of mommy whenshe’s sick?
“God takes care of mommy,” Emilysaid. “But Ali and I bring mommyblankets. We help mommy feel bet-ter.
“Sometimes we can’t go to the poolbecause mommy’s booby hurts,”Emily continued. Instead, they go tothe museum or play at home.
“We pray to God that mommy isbetter,” Emily said.
Marcia and Jeff, also 42, haven’tkept secrets from their daughterssince Marcia was diagnosed withbreast cancer on Aug. 31, 2010. Theyalso haven’t overwhelmed them withinformation, have made their talks
appropriate to their girls’ ages andtried to keep their lives as normal aspossible.
In difficult circumstances, theyhave provided a good example of howto communicate with your childrenabout a cancer diagnosis and treat-ment, said Candi Gray, licensed clini-cal social worker at the CommunityCancer Center in Normal.
Marcia, a special education teacherin Morton, began experiencing ab-dominal pain in May and June 2010.During the next couple of months,she had several tests and her appen-dix was removed. At first, doctorsthought she had Crohn’s disease, aninflammatory bowel disease that Jeffhas.
Next, doctors suspected signet ringcancer of the small intestine. Furthertests revealed stage IV, inoperablebreast cancer that had spread to thesmall intestine, stomach, colon andbones.
“The doctor told Marcia, ‘Maybewe’ll be able to get you to five years,’”Jeff recalled. “So I said, ‘What do wedo after five years?’ And she said,‘That’s the life expectancy.’
“I thought ‘This can’t be.’”“It was devastating,” Marcia said.“It hit me: this is cancer. You can’t
just take a pill and make it better. Thiscan kill her,” Jeff said.
“I realized that I needed to keep ittogether for her,” he said. “Then Ithought, ‘Oh my God, the kids! Howare going to explain it to them?’”
Marcia is creating memories for her daughters with simple activities, such as reading to them,
going for bike rides or styling their hair, as she is doing here for Ali.
Football team goes pink for the causeBy Patti Welander
BLOOMINGTON — Unlike some boys his age,10-year-old Dylan Tracy of Bloomington thinksit’s “cool” to wear pink.
This month, he will get the opportunity tosport the color as he and his Bloomington Car-dinals youth football teammates join the fightagainst breast cancer.
“It’s fun because the pros wear it in football inOctober, too” Tracy said.
But the real reason he wants to wear pink ismore personal than imitating NFL players. “Mymom had it,” he said.
Dylan Tracy isn’t the only one in the Cardinalsorganization with a personal connection to thedisease. The Cardinals’ campaign to raise
awareness and money for the Susan G. Komenfor the Cure’s Passionately Pink for the Curecampaign began last year as a way to supportlongtime Cardinals’ volunteer Beverly Camp-bell, who was diagnosed with breast cancer ear-lier in the year.
At home games in October, the 114 players onthe Cardinals’ teams will wear pink socks andpink ribbons on their helmets.
The 48 cheerleaders also get in on the action,sporting pink bows in their hair. And nearly 100fans and coaches purchased special Cardinalspink ribbon T-shirts and sweatshirts.
Pink ribbons are even painted in each endzone, and pink cupcakes are sold at the conces-sion stand.
Inside
Get involved: Find area events
that support the cancer fight.
Page 2
Get inspired: IWU’s women’sbasketball coach details her fight.
Page 3
Get informed: Dr. KatherineWiderborg details medical progress.
Page 5
Get support: Find an groupto help bear the load.
Page 4
SEE FAMILY / PAGE 2
The Pantagraph/LORI ANN COOK-NEISLER
Marcia and Jeff Mays discuss Marcia’s cancer with their daughters Ali, 5, left, and Emily, 7, right, in their kitchen on Sept. 17.The couple has been honest with their children since Marcia was
diagnosed with inoperable, stage IV breast cancer, but they haven’t overwhelmed them with information.
FAMILY MATTERS
SEE PINK / PAGE 3
The Pantagraph/STEVE SMEDLEY
Bev Campbell of Bloomington is a longtime volunteer with the
Bloomington Cardinals Youth Football team,is shown Thursday at
Ewing Park II in Bloomingtonwith information.
A variety of breast cancer-related events and servicesare happening in CentralIllinois during October, whichis Breast Cancer AwarenessMonth.
Look Good…Feel BetterWhen: By appointmentWhere: OSF Saint James-JohnW. Albrecht Medical Center,PontiacWhat: For women cancerpatients, cosmetologiststeach how to cope with skinchanges, hair loss and otherappearance-related sideeffects of cancer treatmentCost: FreeRegister: 815-842-4545SOURCE: Rhonda Hodges
Wig BankWhen: Open year-round, 8a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday
through Friday; 8 a.m. to 3p.m. SaturdayWhere: Fox & Hounds HairStudio & Day Spa,BloomingtonWhat: Wigs, hats and scarvesfor people who have lost theirhair because ofchemotherapy or anothermedical reasonCost: FreeSponsored by: Fox & Hounds,Community Cancer Center inNormal, American CancerSocietySOURCE: Denise Grazar
Share ‘n Care ClosetWhen: Open year-round byappointmentWhere: ComprehensiveProsthetics & Orthotics,formerly Peters Orthopedics,Bloomington
What: Gently-used breastprostheses and mastectomybras for women with limitedfinancial resourcesCost: FreeSponsored by:Comprehensive Prosthetics &Orthotics, Community CancerCenter, community donorsFor appointment: 309-664-6930SOURCE: Janet Peters
Helping You Help YourselfReduce Breast Cancer RiskWhen: 6:30 to 8 p.m. Oct. 4Where: Community CancerCenter, NormalWhat: Program onimplementing goals to reducebreast cancer riskCost: FreeRegister: 309-451-8500SOURCE: Becky Powell
Fourth Annual African-American Women TakingSTEPS (Screening, Treat-ment and Education Pro-gram) TogetherWhen: 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct.13Where: The Chateau Hoteland Conference Center,BloomingtonWhat: Screeningmammograms by OSF,classes on breast healthCost: FreeSponsored by: CentralIllinois Chapter of The LinksInc., Susan G. Komen for theCure Memorial Affiliate, The100 Black Men of CentralIllinoisRegister: www.centralillinoislinksinc.orgSOURCE: Wilma Bates
Weighing in on Women’sHealthWhen: 5:30 to 6:45 p.m. Oct.16, 23 and 30Where: OSF St. JosephMedical Center’s Businessand Conference Center,BloomingtonWhat: Three-week series onwomen’s health at variousstages of lifeCost: FreeRegister: 888-627-5673.SOURCE: Christy McFarland
The Glitz & Glamour BoutiqueWhen: 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct.23Where: Advocate BroMennMedical Center, NormalWhat: Pink (for breastcancer) and teal (for ovariancancer) items for sale,
temporary glitter tattoos,refreshments. Proceedsbenefit Susan G. Komen forthe Cure and NationalOvarian Cancer Coalition.For more information: 309-268-2661SOURCE: Eric Alvin
The Sparkle ShopWhen: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct.25Where: Advocate EurekaHospital, EurekaWhat: Pink (for breastcancer) and teal (for ovariancancer) items for sale,refreshments. Proceedsbenefit Susan G. Komen forthe Cure and NationalOvarian Cancer Coalition.For more information: 309-268-2661
SOURCE: Eric Alvin
2 • The Pantagraph • Tuesday, October 2, 2012 www.pantagraph.comTHINK PINK
Breast cancer awareness month events
Telling the kids
The diagnosis came onEmily’s first day ofkindergarten. Marciawondered whether she’dlive long enough to takeAli to her first day ofkindergarten.
“Luckily, we havestrong faith in God,” Mar-cia said. “We figured Godlaid out a journey for us.My goal became to walkthat journey with dignityand grace for my 3-year-old and my almost-5-year-old.”
At first, Marcia and Jefftold their daughters,“Mommy’s sick.” Medicaltreatments already were apart of their lives becauseof Jeff’s Crohn’s diseaseand because Emily occa-sionally has seizures. Hercondition has no clear di-agnosis.
The girls called thehospital “the doctor’shouse.” When someoneneeded an IV, it was be-cause “their arm needed adrink.”
Their exposure to doc-tors’ offices, emergencydepartments and hospi-tals helped. But Jeff andMarcia were careful neverto say that Marcia wasgoing to get better.
“Emily took it in stridebecause she had beensick, had been to the doc-tor and she’s OK,” Jeffsaid.
The couple spoke withGray at the cancer centerand read informationavailable in the center’slibrary.
“Candi said, ‘You’llknow what to tell themand when,’” Marcia re-called.
Over time, the coupleshared more information.
“Later we said, ‘Mom-my has this disease andit’s never going away,’”Jeff shared. “Emily said,‘Can the doctors makeher better?’ I told her,‘The doctors will try.We’ll never give up,’”
“Ali follows Emily’slead,” continued Jeff, co-manager of Schnucks inBloomington. “If Emilyhad made a big deal of it,Ali would have made a bigdeal of it.”
Despite Emily’s matu-rity, her parents admittedit wasn’t easy. Emily hadto repeat kindergartenand one reason was be-cause during thosemonths following the di-agnosis, “we couldn’ttake care of her as muchas we wanted to,” Jeffsaid.
Last year, Emily beganattending Cool Club, acancer center support forchildren ages 5 through 12who have a loved one withcancer. This year, Ali be-gan attending.
The group meets twicea week after school.
“We talk about cancer,”Emily said.
“Who has cancer?” hermother asked.
“You have cancer,”Emily responded.
“It seems to have reallyhelped Emily,” her fathersaid. “She understandsthe concept of cancer.
“They know mommy
has cancer, it’s not goingaway and she will die,”Jeff said.
Maximizing their time
But the girls don’t talkabout death. They talkabout “mommy being inheaven” with other rela-tives who have died.
“When they said that, Iwas relieved,” Jeff said.“The fact that they un-
derstood that when wedie we go to heaven madeit easier.”
He added, “But we did-n’t tell the kids that Mar-cia has only five years tolive. I don’t believe it. Wewill fight this disease andthe reason is our twogirls.”
Marcia had a lumpec-tomy to remove the origi-nal tumor in her right
breast, took medicine tofight breast cancer, had afull hysterectomy, shotsto put her intomenopause, took anti-depressants and had 33radiation treatments atthe cancer center.
“I’m in clinical remis-sion,” she said. “I neverget to fully celebrate re-mission because it’s stageIV. But nothing’s going on(there is no more cancer),so we celebrate the timebetween scans.
“We also know thatcould change at anytime.”
She takes Femara, a pillused to treat breast can-cer in postmenopausal
women. “When Femarastops working, we’ll tryanother drug.”
“In the meantime, wejust try to make every dayspecial,” Marcia said.
Special time with the girlsisn’t anything elaborate. It’sreading a book, saying de-votions, coloring, helpingwith homework or going forbike rides.
“We try to maximizetime with the girls,” Jeffsaid.
Marcia doesn’t wastetime worried about herprognosis.
“We truly believe that we already have ex-perienced medical mira-cles.”
Talking to your kidsA cancer diagnosis is upsetting to any family, but isespecially profound for a family with young children orteenagers. Here are some tips on how to communicateinformation about diagnosis, treatments, side effects andprognosis with children:
Talk at their levelExplain in terms they understand.
Be honestDon’t lie. Don’t be afraid to use the word “cancer.”Reassure them that they can’t “catch cancer” and thatthe cancer is no one’s fault.
Share information without being overwhelmingAfter your opening, let them take the lead. Answer theirquestions as they arise. You’ll know when it’s time toshare more.
Explain how treatments will affect you and themPrepare them for appointments and physical changes,but let them know that they will continue to be taken careof.
Be there for themListen to your children. Show them how much you lovethem.
Encourage communicationA family that communicates openly will find it easier totalk about cancer. Encourage children to express theirfeelings and that it’s OK if they don’t feel like talking at themoment.
Allow them to help youGive them age-appropriate tasks such as bringing youwater or a blanket.
Create a support networkMake sure others (family members, neighbors, friends,teachers) know what’s going on so they can keep an eyeon your kids, too, and support them as needed.
Get help from professionalsFind counselors, support groups and resources to assistyou and your children. Such help is available at theCommunity Cancer Center in Normal.SOURCES: Marcia and Jeff Mays, Candi Gray, www.cancercare.org
The Pantagraph/LORI ANN COOK-NEISLER
Marcia reads to Emily. She and Jeff have tried to keep their daily lives as normal as possible for
their children.
FAMILYFROM PAGE 1
Marcia and Jeff discuss how they have tried to talk about Mar-
cia’s prognosis with their daughters.
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While the effort mayseem “fun,” the impor-tance isn’t lost on Tracy,who still rememberswhen his mom was go-ing through treatmentsfive years ago. “I re-member coming homefrom kindergarten andher sitting on the reclin-er with my dog,” he said.
While his teammatesmight not have those ex-periences, they aren’tany less motivated tohelp.
“The kids go over thetop for it,” said Cardinalsboard member MarySieg. “Last year, theyeven wore pink tape ontheir ankles.”
All the enthusiasmmakes Dylan’s mom,Jacki, feel supported.“I’m not overly emo-tional, but I get chokedup when I see the pink allaround,” said Tracy, whowas diagnosed at age 39after experiencing sharppain in her breast.
For Campbell, whonever missed a practiceor game before her diag-nosis in the spring of2011, the outpouring ofpink gave her an extraboost during some diffi-cult rounds ofchemotherapy.
“I thought it wasneat,” she said of lastyear’s fundraising ef-forts. “It’s not just forme, though. I have adaughter-in-law andclose friend who also hadit,” said Campbell,whose cancer was diag-
nosed after a routinemammogram.
There also is a malesurvivor among the Car-dinal volunteer ranks:Mark Rusher, who runsthe scoreboard and as-sists with equipment,also is enthusiasticabout the Octobergames.
“It is phenomenal andwent over huge lastyear,” he said.
And the BloomingtonCardinals aren’t the onesin the area who will begoing pink this month.
From the Illinois Fu-sion soccer teams whowill sport pink soccersocks to the Illinois StateUniversity Redbird soc-cer team who will sportpink jerseys, a number ofarea teams — youth tocollege — will be raisingawareness and moneyfor different organiza-tions.
Jacki Tracy said sheappreciates all the com-munity efforts.
“Every time we canraise money for researchor awareness, it’s a greatfeeling because the patients benefit,” shesaid.
Still, Cardinals boardpresident Diane Edwardssaid the games aren’t justabout raising money.“This truly is abouttaking time to show oursupport,” she said.
“Donating the moneyearned is a bonus at theend.”
The Cardinals play onOct. 6 and Oct. 13. Gamesbegin at 1p.m. at EwingPark II, 1001 EthellParkway, Bloomington.
By Mia SmithI believe I have found a
cure for the negative ef-fects of breast cancer. Thetreatment plan should beto surround oneself with15 amazing young womenwhose daily work ethicand desire to succeedwould inspire the mostdesperate of cancer vic-tims. Inject family andfriends whose love andencouragement will neverfade. Add to that a therapyof prayer and doses ofcommunity support anddefying breast cancer be-comes a reality.
It also helps to win a na-tional championship dur-ing the middle of battle.
In June of 2011, I wasstill thrilled with the resultof the 2010-11 team’s suc-cess of finishing fourth inthe country, but some-thing wasn’t quite right.Fatigue seemed to be adaily struggle. That monthalso happened when I wasdiagnosed with HER2neupositive breast cancer. Idiscovered a lump in myright breast a month afterreceiving results of a clearmammogram.
The clear mammogramwas a false belief that I wassafe for another year. I wasnot one to regularly self-examine and so it was bydivine intervention that Istumbled upon the tumor.A long day at basketballcamp prompted me to hopin the whirlpool tub. In myhaste to get in, I forgot tograb the loofa sponge. Iimprovised by using myhands lathered with liquidsoap. In the instant myhand grazed across mychest I knew my life was infor a dramatic change. Thelump was distinctive.
Within five days, I wasscheduled for a biopsy. Theresults were quick and bythe following week I wasmeeting with Dr. Raines todiscuss surgery. I wouldhave surgery only to learnthat the type of cancer I hadwould require chemothera-py and radiation. I wouldneed the services of Dr. Sri-ratana and Dr. Woodhouseof the Community CancerCenter.
For the next two weeks, Iwent to appointments in adaze. I heard only the wordsI most feared: Chemo willcause your hair to fall out inabout 14-16 days. Forsomeone who has had longhair her entire life, losing itwas like losing an ap-pendage. One friendpromptly proclaimed, “Butyour hair will grow backand a wig is temporary. Youcan’t grow another arm.”How selfish of me to worryabout losing my hair.
My family has alwaysbeen a pillar of support. Inparticular, my grandmawas always the one weturned to when thingswere difficult. She camethrough by going with meto St. Louis to find a wigmade of real hair that wassimilar to the way I wasused to wearing my hair.That wig saved me.
If one has to have can-cer, Bloomington-Normalis the place to do it. Awonderful article writtenby (Pantagraph sportswriter) Randy Reinhardtallowed me to tell my storypublicly. I knew there wasa reason I was dealt thecancer card and in myheart I knew it was to helppromote awareness of thedisease — but more im-portantly it would bringawareness to my team ofyoung women.
As a result of the article, I
began to receive emails,gifts and cards from allacross the country. Themessage was always thesame: “You are in ourprayers.” I know that I am aproduct of the power ofprayer.
The women’s basketballteam at Illinois WesleyanUniversity has a mottothat we live by: “RespectAll, Fear None!”
The season opened.The determination and
work ethic the girls putforth was inspiring. OnNov. 23, we traveled toWhitewater, Wis., for agame against the 11thranked team. That gamewas the turning point. Iknew I was not fighting abattle on my own. As thelineups were announcedunder the spotlights thatpierced the (dark) arena, thestarters took the floor intheir green uniforms.
On their uniforms, pinkribbons had been embroi-dered to read “CoachSmith.” Emotion over-whelmed me. We lost thegame, but I knew I waswinning a bigger battle. Iwasn’t fighting alone. Iknow longer was fearful ofmy opponent (cancer).
Each day brought newdevelopments for me, somecancer-related, but mostwere IWU women’s basket-ball-related. As I watchedmy team battle and ulti-
mately play their way to thenational title, I realized thatfighting cancer is much likeplaying a basketball game.“Respect All, Fear None”applies to cancer fightersjust as it does to teamspreparing and battling op-ponents.
In a year that was boththe worst of my life and ul-timately the best, I havefound that God always has aplan for me. I feel veryblessed his plan was for meto fight cancer whilewatching my girls slidetheir way through multi-colored confetti piled onthe floor in celebration of abattle fought hard and won!
Smith is the head women’s basketball
coach at Illinois Wesleyan University.
www.pantagraph.com The Pantagraph • Tuesday, October 2, 2012 • 3THINK PINK
Respect all, fear none in fight
For the Pantagraph/ROB KURTYCZ
Illinois Wesleyan basketball coach Mia Smith and her team salute their fans after a win over St.
Thomas in the NCAA D-III semi-final game at Hope College’s DeVos Fieldhouse in Holland,
Mich., in March.
PINKFROM PAGE 1
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which offers a comprehensive program including on site cutting edge cancer treatments, social services,
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TECHNOLOGY: Current clinical research trials, offering our patients access to studies with new medica-
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COMPASSION: All aspects of our patients’ care are important to us. We feel that it is critical to not only
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Women ServicesWomen ServicesWomen Services Women’s ServicesWomen’s Services
The Community CancerCenter, 407 E. Vernon Ave.,Normal, has a variety ofsupport groups for peopleaffected by cancer. Allgroups meet at the cancercenter and the contactnumber is 309-451-8500with the exception of theSupport Group forCaregivers as noted below:
Cool ClubFor children ages 5 through12 who have a loved one withcancerMeets after school twice amonth
Courageous KidsFor children ages 5 through12 who have experienced thedeath of a loved one withcancerMeets after school twice amonth
Teen GroupFor teens ages 13 through 18who have a loved one withcancerMeets after school twice amonth
Teen Grief GroupFor teens ages 13 through 18who have experienced thedeath of a loved one withcancerMeets after school twice amonth
Advanced Cancer SupportGroupFor people with recurrent ormetastatic cancerMeets 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. thefourth Thursday of eachmonth
Living with CancerFor people with any cancerand all stagesMeets 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. thefirst Tuesday of each month
Breast CancerFor people with breastcancerMeets 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. thesecond Tuesday of eachmonth
ReNew Nutrition Exercise& WellnessFour-week series of classescovering nutrition, exerciseand wellness for breastcancer survivorsMeets several timesthroughout the year
Support Group for CaregiversFor caregivers of people withcancerMeets noon to 1 p.m. thethird Monday of each monthat Advocate BroMenn AdultDay Center/Life EnrichmentCenter, 207 Landmark Drive,Suite C, NormalCall Kathryn Johnson, 309-
827-4005
US TOO Prostate CancerFor people with prostatecancer and their familiesMeets 7 to 8:30 p.m. thesecond Tuesdays of January,April, July and October
Spiritual PathwaysFor cancer patientsinterested in discussingspiritualityMeets 6 to 7:30 p.m.Thursdays every two weeksthrough Dec. 6
SOURCE: Community Cancer Center
4 • The Pantagraph • Tuesday, October 2, 2012 www.pantagraph.com
Learn moreBe vigilantWomen should get a clinical breastexam by a health care provider at leastevery three years beginning at age 20— and yearly if there’s a family historyof breast cancer. All women 40 andolder should have a yearly clinicalbreast exam.Women should get an annual screeningmammogram beginning at age 40, butyearly mammograms should beginearlier for women at higher risk ofbreast cancer.Women should begin performingmonthly breast self-exams beginning atage 20.
By the numbersDuring 2011, 161 women and men in theBloomington-Normal area werediagnosed with breast cancer. From1998 through 2011, 2,012 people werediagnosed with breast cancer.
Help is availableMammograms are performed at:The Women’s Center at AdvocateBroMenn Medical Center (309-268-5705)Advocate BroMenn Outpatient Center(309-268-5705)OSF St. Joseph Medical Center (309-661-5160)Gale Keeran Center for Women (309-452-9001)OSF Medical Group-College AvenueImaging Services (309-661-5160).Financial assistance to cover the costof a mammogram is available forwomen with no insurance coverage orfor women who can’t meet a highinsurance deductible. More informationis available at the Community CancerCenter, 309-451-8500.SOURCE: Jolene Clifford, Community CancerCenter
Support groups
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — Scien-tists have reported thatthey have completed amajor analysis of the ge-netics of breast cancer,finding four major classesof the disease. They hopetheir work will lead tomore effective treat-ments, perhaps withsome drugs already inuse.
The new finding offershints that one type ofbreast cancer might bevulnerable to drugs thatalready work againstovarian cancer.
The study, publishedonline by the journal Na-ture, is the latest exampleof research into the bio-logical details of tumors,rather than focusing pri-marily on where cancerarises in the body.
The hope is that suchresearch can reveal can-cer’s genetic weaknessesfor better drug targeting.
“With this study, we’reone giant step closer tounderstanding the genet-ic origins of the four ma-jor subtypes of breastcancer,” Dr. Matthew Ellisof the Washington Uni-
versity School of Medi-cine said in a statement.He is a co-leader of theresearch.
“Now we can investi-gate which drugs workbest for patients based onthe genetic profiles oftheir tumors,” he said.
The researchers ana-lyzed DNA of breast can-cer tumors from 825 pa-tients, looking for abnor-malities. Altogether, theyreported, breast cancersappear to fall into fourmain classes whenviewed in this way.
One class showed simi-larities to ovarian can-cers, suggesting it may bedriven by similar biologi-cal developments.
“It’s clear they are ge-netically more similar toovarian tumors than toother breast cancers,” El-lis said. “Whether theycan be treated the sameway is an intriguing pos-sibility that needs to beexplored.”
The report is the latestfrom the Cancer GenomeAtlas, a federally fundedproject that has producedsimilar analyses for brain,colorectal, lung and ovar-ian cancers.
New breast cancer cluesfound in gene analysis
A step toward a cure
The Pantagraph/STEVE SMEDLEY
Above: Members of the
King's Warriors team walk
in honor of cancer survivor
Tina King of Heyworth, dur-
ing the second annual Su-
san G. Komen Race for the
Cure on Sept. 8.
Left: Runners and walkers
set out at the starting line
of the Susan G. Komen
Race for the Cure at State
Farm Insurance Co.'s Cor-
porate South Campus in
Bloomington.
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BREAST CANCER AWARENESS
By Dr. Katherine Widerborg
Well, it’s breast cancerawareness month, October2012. This marks anotheryear of fighting a diseasethat strikes fear into thehearts of many women. Isthere anything to allaythose fears? Most certainlythere is! The improve-ments in treatment andbenefits of early detectionare always evolving.
Back in the 1980s, whenI was in general surgerytraining at Loyola Univer-sity, modified radical mas-tectomy was the standardof surgical care for almostany woman diagnosedwith breast cancer. Thatmeans the entire breastand lymph nodes of thearmpit were removed. Thiswas an improvement overthe original radical mas-tectomy that removed thebreast, lymph nodes andchest wall muscles.
Even then, studies werebeing done that showedthat less surgery was nec-essary. By the 1990s,breast conservation wasbecoming a standard op-tion. This meant we wereonly taking out the tumorand some surroundinghealthy breast tissue.When this was followed byradiation to the breast,this was an equivalent op-tion to mastectomy. Breastconservation now can beoffered to most women di-agnosed with breast can-cer.
By the early years of thenext decade, we were do-ing less invasive surgery ofthe armpit nodes. Sentinelnode biopsy was nowavailable and decreasedthe risk of lymphedema.Lymphedema is swellingof the arm, a possible sideeffect of any surgery onthe lymph nodes. It is of-ten debilitating when itoccurs and we try hard toavoid it.
Another change was oc-curring during this timethat made the experienceless discouraging forwomen burdened by thediagnosis of breast cancer.While breast reconstruc-tion sometimes was avail-
able to women after mas-tectomy, it was performedonly after waiting at leastsix months after surgeryand sometimes much later.But studies were showingreconstruction could beperformed safely at thetime of the mastectomy.This is almost always donenow. Even the technique ofmastectomy has improvedwith the ability to performskin sparing mastectomy,where as much skin aspossible is preserved. Thisallows for a better cosmet-ic outcome after any re-constructive surgery.
Accompanying the im-provements of the surgicalapproach to breast cancerare refinements in thetechnique of radiationtherapy and the medicinesadministered for breastcancer. Exciting new med-icines to treat breast can-cer are also being intro-duced into our armamen-tarium. Increases in effi-cacy and reduction in sideeffects are coupled bymore exacting treatmentfor each patient.
The best thing availablein the care of any patientwith breast cancer is themultidisciplinary ap-proach where the suggest-ed treatment is tailored forevery individual. EveryThursday morning, severalof us meet at the Commu-nity Cancer Center to dis-cuss our patients who havebreast cancer. Presenteach week at Breast Can-
cer Conference are med-ical oncologists, radiationoncologists, pathologists,radiologists, surgeons, ourbreast health navigator,our tumor registrar andancillary personnel. Wereview the history, physi-cal exam, imaging andpathology of each patientand discuss our thoughtsregarding options in ourfield of expertise. Then,applying the NCCN (Na-tional ComprehensiveCancer Network) guide-lines, we make our bestrecommendation for thecare of that patient.
For my practice, I havefound this multidiscipli-nary approach the mostimportant thing I can of-fer my patient. By coordi-nating care and discussingpros and cons of the dif-ferent alternatives — in-cluding surgical — thecare is tailored for eachpatient. I can then give mypatient the reassurancethat we are doing every-thing possible to defeather cancer.
Dr. Katherine Widerborg is a general
surgeon in Bloomington-Normal.
She has a special interest in breast
health, is a member of Community
Cancer Center’s Breast Leadership
Committee and has been active in
Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
www.pantagraph.com The Pantagraph • Tuesday, October 2, 2012 • 5
Science getting better at fighting breast cancer
Dr. Katherine Widerborg
The Pantagraph/STEVE SMEDLEY
Breast
Cancer
Conference
members
examines a
patients
mammography
during an early
morning
meeting held
Sept. 20 at the
Community
Cancer Center
in Normal.
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