idahopress.com
BREAST CANCER AWARENESS
Idaho Press-Tribune • Sunday, October 7, 2012
Breast cancer awareness
Striding for a cure S Breast cancer survivor Sherri O’Larey plans 60-mile trek to support research WANT TO HELP? O’Larey has a goal of raising $3,000 for breast cancer research and community programs. Her other teammates in the Avengers Against Ta Ta Thieves are also striving to hit fundraising goals as they walk 60 miles as part of The Susan G. Komen 3-Day Nov. 9 – 11. You can help by visiting their team page at tinyurl.com/ AvengersTeamPage.
INSIDE Idaho lags in breast cancer screenings...........................................2 Breast self exam.............................................................................2 Post-cancer treatment not easy.....................................................4 Kathy Ward talks the talk and walks the PINK walk.......................4 Radiation may up breast cancer risk in some women....................4 Boise company makes ‘Bosom Buddy’ breast forms.......................6 Breast cancer glossary....................................................................6 Local health care professionals weigh in on mammograms ���������7 Canyon County breast cancer care advances..................................8 Pink-a-palooza: Breast cancer products to support research ��������8
From left, Susan Maund, Margaret Hemry and Sherri O’Larey walk at the Canyon Hill Cemetery in Caldwell Sept. 27. The three were training for the Susan G. Komen 3-Day, where they will walk 60 miles in three days to raise money for the fight against breast cancer. Aaric Bryan/IPT
C M Y K
By JORDAN GRAY jgray@idahopress.com
© 2012 Idaho Press-Tribune
ometimes, being a breast cancer survivor means putting one foot in front of the other. For Sherri O’Larey, it will mean joining her family to put one foot in front of the other for 60 miles to raise breast cancer awareness. O’Larey’s experience with breast cancer started in 2004, when she went in for her regular mammogram. The mammogram showed a mass of fibrous tissue and O’Larey was referred to her doctor, who referred her to a surgeon. In between, she said she waited, assuming it wasn’t really something she needed to worry about. A biopsy proved her wrong — O’Larey had breast cancer. Within a week, she was scheduled for a right mastectomy. At the time of her diagnosis, the then 43-year-old mother of five had a lot on her plate. Between the diagnosis and her surgery, her husband went to jail for DUI. “It was really hard,” she said. “I’m proud of myself, because I definitely am the type that, you know, ‘I can do this and I don’t need help,’ although I took as much help as I could. But a lot of it I just did on my own.” She said her family and coworkers were a great source of support. The staff that gave her radiation treatments also made a difference. “I really did look forward to going to my treatments,” O’Larey said. “They were always so upbeat and fun that it was something to look forward to rather than be depressed about.” She went through 41 radiation treatments, more than usual because of her unique lymphatic system. Just after finishing her radiation, the annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure came to Boise. The breast cancer survivor, still with oozing sores from her treatment and having a difficult time healing, signed up. “I walked with my open sores because I was determined to walk.” O’Larey said she has done Race for the Cure every year since then. When O’Larey mentioned wanting to do a Susan G. Komen 3-Day — a three-day event where participants walk 60 miles — her son, Justin Deibert, agreed that they should. Years went by, with Deibert bringing up the walk each year. This year, Deibert said he told his mother, “We just need to do it now. If we were to wait ‘til next year, we would be getting started at this time anyway, so let’s just do it.” The pair signed up for the Arizona event. O’Larey’s sister, Susan Maund and her sister-in-law, Margaret Hosclaw Hemry, joined the walk as well. The “Avengers Against Ta Ta Thieves” team was formed (named by O’Larey and Deibert because Deibert is a fan of the Marvel characters). Training to walk 20 miles in a day is something the team has had to work up to. Deibert trains with his dog in Chicago. O’Larey joins Maund on weeknights in Caldwell and all the ladies join forces on the weekend to walk the Boise Greenbelt. ”I am really looking forward to spending time with my mom and I am just so thrilled that we are able to do it together,” Deibert said. O’Larey, who has a pink ribbon tattooed on her wrist, a match to her eldest daughter’s, said she opted for that instead of reconstruction. “Sometimes, I think if I can be an advertisement, ‘Get your mammogram,’ you know, it does happen,” she said. “It seems like we kind of fix everything and everything’s normal again and no one knows. We have to be reminded all the time that you’ve got to get your mammogram, get it checked, because it really does happen.” O’Larey, who has survived thyroid cancer as well, is now cancer-free. But she said the thought of her cancer reoccurring is always on her mind. It’s why she now recommends that both women and men get tested, that they get fully informed if they are diagnosed and that they act immediately when told to get further screening. She doesn’t, however, let it keep her down. ”I think the most important thing now is to live for every moment.”
Sherri O’Larey, survivor
1