Cancer Survivor Thankful
Susan Trueworthy says experience was a good reminder
As Susan Trueworthy prepares to enjoy the holiday season, she does so with a new perspective and a new appreciation for each day. This time last year the Hamilton resident finished rigorous cancer treatment, nothing she’d ever considered happening to her given that she has no history of cancer in her family and there was nothing about her that put her at risk for cancer. So she was quite taken aback by a diagnosis of triple-negative breast cancer at the age of 44.
“I’m a registered nurse and so I immediately set about learning all I could about the disease,” remembers Trueworthy. “From my research, I learned it was a more aggressive form of breast cancer, but that it also responds well to chemotherapy.”
As a registered nurse, Trueworthy is also well aware of the benefits of self breast exam, and it was during a self exam that she discovered a small but painful lump on her breast in January of 2010. Her primary care provider, Dr. Ellen Larson at Bassett Healthcare Network-Hamilton Health Center, immediately referred her for follow-up testing at Bassett Medical Center in Cooperstown. An ultrasound revealed a suspicious lump that was biopsied.
“I got a call 7:30 in the evening from Dr. Bernadette Ryan who performed the biopsy. She knew I was anxious about the results and would want to know as soon as possible that it was positive for cancer,” says Trueworthy.
Ryan, a surgical oncologist at Bassett and head of Bassett’s Breast Care Center, explains that, “Triple-negative breast cancer means that the cancer’s growth is not supported by the presence of too many HER2 receptors nor by the hormones estrogen and progesterone. That means it doesn’t respond to hormonal therapy or those typically used to target HER2 receptors.” However, Trueworthy’s type of cancer, estimated to affect one out of every 10 women diagnosed with breast cancer, is known to respond very well to chemotherapy. “And, because it responds very well to chemotherapy, we chose to treat Ms. Trueworthy with the chemo first to shrink the tumor and then perform surgery to remove the tumor,” says Ryan.
Less than a week later Trueworthy began eight weeks of chemotherapy, followed by surgery to remove a tumor that had shrunk to just over one centimeter as a result of the chemo. In fact, it was small enough that Dr. Ryan was able to perform a lumpectomy. However, further testing revealed a small amount of cancer in Trueworthy’s lymph nodes. She underwent 12 additional weeks of chemotherapy followed by six weeks of radiation to kill any remaining cancer cells.
The journey from diagnosis to survivor was tough at times says Trueworthy.
“I worked through the first course of treatments and even went to Disney in Anaheim with my family and hiked the Grand Canyon (see photo of Susan and her husband Tim)," she said. "But, by my last treatment in early June I was getting very fatigued and did stop working. I lost my hair, was nauseous quite a bit of the time, but overall I tolerated it pretty well.”
Trueworthy says she sees a variety of specialists for follow-up every few months and is doing well. “My experience is a good reminder to us all not to sweat the small stuff. Spend all the time you can with family and friends because we just never know how much time we have. Enjoy every day.”
Source: Bassett Healthcare Network
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