Survivor Spotlight: JOANNE D'ALTON : Breast Cancer Survivor
Summer, 2007

Survivor Spotlight: FRANK YINKO : Colon Cancer Survivor
April, 2007

Survivor Spotlight: NANCY LAARMAN : Ovarian Cancer Survivor
January, 2007

Survivor Spotlight on MIKE LEMAHIEU : Colon Cancer Survivor (with liver metastisis)
December, 2006

Survivor Spotlight on MARY LICHTERMAN : Breast Cancer Survivor
September, 2006
Note from Tim: Working in cancer care can, at times, be very difficult and trying. Thankfully, we are surrounded by many cancer survivors who make our work far more enjoyable than it might otherwise be. In this “Survivor Spotlight” Mary talks about the people she has met through cancer as being a real blessing… but she must know that she is the blessing for many of us! I hear so many comments about Mary from fellow cancer survivors because she is such an inspiration. I also hear many comments from the staff because Mary is simply a joy to be around and she makes caring for her such a pleasant experience. Personally, whenever I walk through the treatment room and see Mary’s smiling face… I too smile! Granted, I hate that time spent here is time she is unable to spend doing the many other things she loves… but I know that my day and the day of all those in the treatment room will be blessed by her presence!

I can’t say that learning that I had cancer was a terribly negative experience.

It was more like, “Okay, I have cancer. Now we have to deal with it.” It was the spring of 2000. I was at that age, around fifty, that menopause starts. I was getting out of the shower one morning and noticed my breast felt kind of like when you have a baby and your milk lets down and I knew I didn’t just have a baby (smile). I was going through a lot of information, I checked the books I had at home, I went to the library, and I really couldn’t find anything. After a few days it became painful so I made an appointment with my doctor who found a good sized mass. From there things kind of took off - an ultrasound, all kinds of tests the next day, and surgery about a week later.

I didn’t have a history of breast cancer in my family at the time I was diagnosed. Since then, however, I have an aunt who was diagnosed and a sister. The good news is they were both diagnosed early and they didn’t need chemo. And they both are doing well!

I had chemotherapy and radiation followed by three good years.

Then in March of 2004 I woke up with a really bad backache. I wondered, “What did I do? Did I bend wrong?” I have always been a very active and busy person and I figured I just moved wrong or overdid it so I didn’t pay much attention to it thinking it would go away. But it didn’t. A few days later I went shopping with some friends and spent the day hunched over because that was the most comfortable position I could find. A few days later I woke up with so much pain I went in to the emergency room. After a bunch of tests they couldn’t find anything and gave me a shot for the pain and some pain pills and told me to call my family doctor. I did that but all I got from them was, “He’s really booked and really busy right now!” I told them I wouldn’t have gone to the emergency room if I really didn’t have a problem but that didn’t seem to get me anywhere.

By Saturday I was in tears from the pain and I called Dr. Bettag. He wasn’t available so I had a choice to go to the hospital or wait until Monday to talk to Dr. Bettag. I had enough pain pills so I decided to wait until Monday. I called his office on Monday morning and he saw me already that afternoon. It took almost three weeks before we found what was wrong – the cancer had come back and fluid was seeping into my chest cavity and collapsing my lung.

I have been on different chemo drugs; some worked pretty well for a while before the cancer would start to spread and others didn’t do much at all. But the fluid has stopped draining into my chest cavity so I haven’t had to go through that anymore and that’s a really good thing. It was really the pits when my lung collapsed. Recently, we found the cancer was spreading a little bit so we have changed drugs and now I am on an oral medication that I take for two weeks and then I’m off for two weeks.

I can’t say that I have gotten angry because of the cancer… but I do get scared and sad.

I get scared because of the unknown… what will happen between now and the end, whenever that may be. I don’t like the unknown! Granted, none of us knows what our tomorrows will bring, but cancer just seems to make you more aware of the unknown.

I get sad because I can’t do the things I used to do. And because I can’t do as much as I used to do I seem to have more time on my hands than I used to have. That can be a good thing but then when I’m not as busy I seem to think about things more… and that’s not always good. But that’s the way it is.

I just think this is all part of my life plan.

I think we all have a life plan that we really don’t have a lot of control over. Do I think if I ate more broccoli that this wouldn’t be happening to me? No, I don’t think that’s it! I am a firm believer that EVERYTHING, and that includes accidents and illnesses, is a part of this life plan. Things just happen the way they are supposed to happen… and it is up to us to learn how to deal with whatever comes our way. But, for the most part, it is a life plan that is not determined by us. Even the decisions we make. Could there be another force that leads us to make the decisions we make that lead us to the things that we do and the things that happen to us? It’s just one of the many mysteries of life that we may never know the answer to. And I think the mystery is a good thing!

What do I have control over?

Well, maybe I have control over whether or not I get out of bed in the morning. Or, like this morning when I thought, “Oh my back hurts… do I really want to walk to the clinic?” But then I had to tell myself, “Oh, it’s a beautiful day and there’s really nothing wrong with you so just put on your shoes and start walking! You’re perfectly healthy so just do it!” So I did! And I’m glad I did! It was a nice walk! But then I have always liked to walk. When we lived on Camelot Boulevard and I worked at the mall I would walk to work on occasion. It was about five miles one way. I would walk because it is great exercise and I like to walk. I still walk… but I don’t walk as far or as fast.

We lost our home in the flood of 1998. That was just another one of those things that we simply had no control over. We just had to find a way to deal with it. We started throwing away the things that couldn’t be repaired, we pulled what we could out of the soot and mud, and then we started over… because that’s what we had to do! Flooding wasn’t the worst thing in life… just another thing we had to learn to deal with.

I have bad moments… so I have a good cry!

Being sick gets old. But it really doesn’t last that long for me because I think how we look at things is a choice. Do you want to see the glass half empty or half full? I choose to see it half full! If you think the little everyday things are insurmountable, what are you going to do when the big things come along? Sooner or later, the big things are going to come. And hopefully, when they do, you’ll find like I did that the same things that get you through the little things will also get you through the big things!

It’s not been a bad trip at all.

I have done some things that I otherwise might never have done. I have met some truly wonderful people along the way. I have had opportunities to meet others that have cancer and I hope I have helped them accept their life plan. That, in and of itself, is a great blessing. What are we here for if not to help each other get through this thing called life! That’s the single most important thing we can do!

It’s actually been a really good trip. Without cancer I would have missed out on a wonderful portion of my life. It’s kind of a trade off… you can’t get some things but instead you get others!

I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy, however. Chemo isn’t fun! But then again, look at a burn victim and think about what they have to go through. My God, that has to be a lot worse! I can’t imagine that. So we all have to keep our troubles in perspective. When I look at the troubles that others have… I realize mine are not that bad!

My advice to others would be to:

Make ever day the best it can be. When you wake up in the morning know that you have been blessed with a new day. Now make it the best day that it can be. Get out there and try and touch somebody else’s life. Help those around you through this thing called life. I really feel that is our greatest purpose for being here. And by helping others we help ourselves. By making other people happy we make ourselves happy. And at the end of each day you have to be ready to hand it over. You better have done your best to make it the best day that it could be… and then just hand it over because you have to be fresh for what’s coming your way tomorrow!

Survivor Spotlight: JIM HAMMERLING : Multiple Myeloma Survivor
July, 2006

Survivor Spotlight: LORI SCHULTZ : Breast Cancer Survivor
May, 2006

Survivor Spotlight Update: BOB SHAROT : Head & Neck Cancer Survivor
May, 2006

Survivor Spotlight on MATT RILEY : Medullablastoma Cancer Survivor
December, 2005

Survivor Spotlight on MARTY TEN PAS : Breast Cancer Survivor
September, 2005

Survivor Spotlight Update on RALPH LEMP : Prostate Cancer Survivor
September, 2005

Survivor Spotlight Update on SANDY AMWEG : Breast Cancer Survivor
June, 2005

Survivor Spotlight on STEVE PHILIPPS : Prostate Cancer Survivor
June, 2005

Survivor Spotlight on IONE HEINEN : Breast Cancer & Colo-Rectal Cancer Survivor
April, 2005

Survivor Spotlight Update: DON FICKETT : As Told By Caregiving Champion: LINDA FICKETT
March, 2005

Survivor Spotlight Update on AUDREY SWITA : Breast Cancer Survivor
January, 2005

Survivor Spotlight on BOB SHAROT : Head & Neck Cancer Survivor
January, 2005

Survivor Spotlights on DIANA BRAY & MARY SCHMEISER : Diana - Lung Cancer, Mary - Breast Cancer
October, 2004

Survivor Spotlight Update on GENE TE WINKLE : Melanoma Survivor
October, 2004

Survivor Spotlight Update on MARY ANN HAMMES : Breast Cancer Survivor
August, 2004

Survivor Spotlight on ART WESENER (Colon Cancer) : with Caregiving Champion JOANNE WESENER
August, 2004

Survivor Spotlight on JUDY FRIEDERICHS : Breast Cancer Survivor
June, 2004

Survivor Spotlight Update on PAT JENKINS : Breast Cancer & Hodgkin's Disease Survivor
June, 2004

Survivor Spotlight on: DR. PHIL WALKER : Prostate Cancer Survivor
March, 2004

Survivor Spotlight Update on: Rollie Huibregtse : Leukemia Survivor
March, 2004

Survivor Spotlight on: PEGGY KERR : Colon Cancer Survivor
January, 2004

Survivor Spotlight on EUGENE TEWINKLE : Melonoma Survivor
November, 2003

Survivor Spotlight Update on LINDA BURKART : Thymoma Cancer Survivor
November, 2003