Breast cancer survivors stress regular exams, taking control

MOSES LAKE — Stephanie Maiers-Chambers said the diagnosis of breast cancer was a horrible moment, but the outpouring of support after the diagnosis was overwhelming. “I’ve never felt so much love,” she said. Christin Boisse said she learned to speak up when she thought something was wrong. “Definitely be your own advocate when it comes to your health care.” Maiers-Chambers and Boisse were among the speakers on a panel of breast cancer survivors at “Breast Friends Forever,” a seminar Wednesday on breast cancer detection and treatment sponsored by the Samaritan Healthcare Foundation. A panel of physicians and an imaging technician talked about what patients can expect if they receive a cancer diagnosis. Stephanie and Christin were joined on the panel by Shirley Bartalle, a two-time survivor. “Real heroes,” said Angel Kneedler, director of the Columbia Basin Cancer Foundation. “My message to all of you is early detection,” Bartalle said. Early detection is the reason she was sitting there Wednesday night, she said. Bartalle said he first diagnosis came in 1999, when she was 53. “It showed up again on the other side” in 2011. Her doctors gave her a range of options for treatment, and she decided on a double mastectomy, with reconstructive surgery at the same time. In Shirley’s case, when the cancer recurred it was found before it spread to her lymph nodes. When the doctor gave her that news, “that was a huge day,” she said. Maiers-Chambers said her first indication something was wrong was being tired all the time. She had a mammogram, a follow up was required, then she received the diagnosis. “I couldn’t believe it was happening to me.” Her cancer had spread to some lymph nodes. “Nobody respects the lymphatic system until you have some removed,” she said. Her treatment included chemotherapy and radiation, and it was rough. But she received an outpouring of support. “My family was insanely amazing. Especially my husband,” she said. Friends rallied around, “people who didn’t know me very well sent me text messages.” Boisse developed inflammatory breast cancer, which affects about 1 to 5 percent of breast cancer patients in the U.S. It usually gets diagnosed later (stage 3 or stage 4), because it’s different from other breast cancers. She was pregnant when her symptoms appeared, she said, and her doctors suspected - and treated - other illnesses. That was when she learned, she said, that it’s important to find experts in her disease and ask as many questions as necessary. She ended up seeking treatment in Texas. “This is life or death stuff.” If people want to give to cancer causes, Christin said, she would suggest supporting research. Her type of cancer means “I will be in treatment for life,” she said, but advances in research mean the treatment won’t be as debilitating. “I’m here and can have a normal life,” she said. Support of family and friends has been vital while she was fighting the disease, she said. Christin and Stephanie said the support that helped them the most were the gestures people made - offering to care for their children for a few hours, volunteering to do some housework, fixing and dropping off a meal. “There are so many little things,” Boisse said. When people tell a cancer patient to call if they need anything, “we won’t call,” she said. “You just come.”

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.