News, Self Examination and VA Care Help Veteran Overcome Cancer by Tom Cramer – VHA Communications Feature Writer How many people can claim that watching TV saved their lives? “I can,” said Air Force Veteran Debbie Nelson of Buffalo, NY. “There’s this morning news show I like to watch called AM Buffalo. One morning they had a guest, Susan Banks, who was a popular anchorwoman from Channel 7 Evening News. During the program she announced she was battling breast cancer… “I did a self-examination right then and there,” Nelson said. “I found a lump on the right side of my breast, under my armpit.” Just Like That Nelson, 57, discovered her lump on a Friday. By early Monday morning she was walking into the Buffalo VA to get it checked out. Her healthcare team was waiting for her. “They got me in there just like that,” she said. “They told me they take lumps very seriously. “I wasn’t too worried,” she added, “because breast cancer doesn’t run in the family.” But following a series of X-Rays, Nelson was advised to hang around for a little bit. “I knew something was wrong when they wouldn’t let me go home,” she said. “After I went and got some lunch, the doctor told me they’d found something called a cluster tumor. She said it was no bigger than a speck, and I said, ‘This little thing is a tumor?’” It was, indeed, a tumor. And the news got worse: Nelson’s tumor was malignant. “I met the surgeon that same day,” she said. “Everything was moving very fast. He told me he was concerned about where the tumor was. He said it was near my lymph nodes, which meant it might spread.” No Sugar for You Nelson said that despite the unsettling news, she wasn’t yet scared. “I like information,” she said. “So I told him, ‘Give me the best case scenario, and give me the worst case scenario, and don’t sugar coat it.” The surgeon didn’t sugar coat it. “He told me that in the worst case, the tumor metastasizes and spreads everywhere--my lungs, my kidneys, my brain--everywhere. He said the best case is if they get in there and remove all of the tumor. He said if they catch all of it, the survival rate is about 98%.” Nelson said she still wasn’t scared at this juncture. Just bewildered. “I thought I was healthy as a horse,” she said. “I’m not a smoker. I exercise. I’m a fruit and vegetable eater. How did this happen to me?” The VA surgeon then informed Nelson that her tumor was a progressive one, and that surgery would need to be done immediately. “He didn’t even do a biopsy,” Nelson said. “He said there’s no point. He said we’re going to do the surgery ASAP.” The Air Force Veteran was scheduled for surgery, but then fate intervened and she came down with the flu. “I was in bed sick for a week,” she said. “But I didn’t worry about it. I was in God’s hands now.” Toward the end of that week a nurse from her surgical team at the Buffalo VA gave Nelson a call to see how she was doing. “I told her I was feeling a little better, that I wasn’t as bad as before,” Nelson said. “Then she told me she didn’t want me to put off surgery any longer. She told me to get my butt down there. So I did.” Nelson said she had her surgery on March 9. She remembers the date because it was her son’s birthday. “They were in a hurry to operate because they knew there was another tumor somewhere in addition to the cluster tumor,” she explained. “This tumor was deeper in, near the armpit, and they needed to find it. I called it the ‘mother tumor.’ They went in and got both tumors, and a lot of lymph nodes. They wanted to make sure they got everything.” The Waiting Game The surgeons had done their job, but the results still weren’t in. “My spirits were a little down after the surgery because I didn’t know what to expect,” Nelson said. “They had to examine the tumor to figure out how far the cancer might have spread. I had to wait 10 to 14 days. That was tough, waiting like that. But I just kept myself busy.” Then came the good news: Nelson was between stages one and two of breast cancer. There had been no spread. “When I walked into the VA for my follow-up appointment, some of the staff actually applauded me because I’d done a self-examination,” Nelson said. “They were all so happy for me.” But the battle was far from over. There would be five months of chemo therapy, followed by 33 days of radiation treatment. “This is the part where you have to be strong,” Nelson said. “All your hair falls out. Other things happen. So this is where it becomes mind over matter. “One person told me that when they do chemo, it’s like pouring Drain-o into your body,” she continued. “They’re trying to slow the cancer until it’s time to do the radiation. The chemo slows it down; the radiation burns it up. But all that can wear on you.” Nelson’s ordeal occurred eight years ago, and today she’s still exercising, eating her fruits and vegetables and faithfully watching AM Buffalo every morning. “They saved my life,” she said. “Today I’m trying to stay healthy. I’m a survivor. And I don’t take a single day for granted.” In addition to Susan Banks and AM Buffalo, Nelson also has high praise for her team at the Buffalo VA’s oncology unit. “Those people are miracle workers,” she said.
Posted on: Thu, 20 Nov 2014 20:32:06 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015