Worthy Women 2014

October 15, 2014 A supplement of Suburban Newspapers Inc.

WORTHY WOMEN OF DISTINCTION

These women are worthy

THE 2014 WORTHY WOMEN OF DISTINCTION AWARD HONOREES ARE:

Eileen Boslaugh Kay Burggraff Shannon Falkinburg Tami Gast-Kohrell Kristi Miskimins Gina Simon Martha Todd

Through their struggles and triumphs this group of fighters has stories worth sharing.

BY TOM KNOX

Suburban Newspapers Inc. This special section is designed to recognize women battling and surviving breast cancer.

The honorees, whose stories are throughout this section, were

Eileen Boslaugh’s son and husband shaved their heads in solidarity when she lost her hair during her battle with cancer. Find her story on Page 15.

nominated for their courage, their zest for life, their attitude and their sense of humor.

Their stories are varied, compelling and important.

This group of women has thrived, survived and given back to their communities.

Kay Burggraff counts the support of her husband, Terry, for helping her get through her battle with cancer.

Find her story on Page 7.

Shannon Falkinburg learned she had breast cancer following a visit to an emergency room after she passed out at home. Find her story on Page 6.

Tami Gast-Kohrell isn’t a person who sits still, and that spirit has carried her through her fight with cancer. Find her story on Page 12.

Kristi Miskimins sees breast cancer survivors as a sorority, sharing a bond that was formed out of their battles.

Find her story on Page 14.

Gina Simon credits her faith and taking life one day at a time that got her where she is today.

Find her story on Page 10.

Martha Todd, who earned a Ph.D in nursing while fighting breast cancer, has her sights on the future.

Find her story on Page 13.

2013 HONORESS Honorees for the 2013 Worthy Women of Distinction were, from left, Terri Alberhasky, Vanessa Wheeler, Twila Stuhr, Sherry Slater, Tammy Kleymann and Chris Tucker.

S U B R U B A N N E W S PA P E R S I N C .

MORE INSIDE Make exercise a priority after breast cancer treatments to help fight fatigue and depression. Page 4

WORTHY WOMEN OF DISTINCTION Special Sections Editor: Shelley Larsen • Section Editor and Designer: Tom Knox • Retail Advertising Manager: Dan Matuella • Special Projects Manager: Paul Swanson

Breast cancer genetic screening offers vital information and uncertainty. Page 8

What are your breast cancer risks? Page 11

This special section is published by Suburban Newspapers Inc. To advertise in future sections, contact Marie Douglas at 402-444-1202.

JOIN US

Recognizing the 2014 breast cancer fighters and survivors Suburban Newspapers Inc. will honor seven women from throughout Sarpy County who have shown tremendous courage and grace while battling breast cancer.

The 2014 Worthy Women of Distinction event will be held on Oct. 23 at Bellevue Berry Farm and Pumpkin Ranch.

Hor d’oeuvres and drinks will be served beginning at 4:30 p.m., with the presentation and honoree recognition starting at 5:30 p.m.

Honorees will receive an Ashley Arthur Pink Crystal Ribbon Pendant.

Sherry Wachtler will again be the emcee for the evening.

SAVE THE DATE • Oct. 23 — Social gathering begins at 4:30 p.m.; program from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

• Bellevue Berry Farm and Pumpkin Ranch at 11001 S. 48th St. • Tickets are $30, of which $10 is donated to Susan G. Komen Nebraska.

• Admission includes hors d’oeuvres, dinner and two free drink tickets.

• Order tickets by Oct. 17. Email echo@ bellevueleader.com or call 402-505-3624.

• Presented by Suburban Newspapers Inc. and Red Ribbon Sponsor: Shadow Lake Towne Center. Floral sponsor is Town & Country Floral from Gretna.

Honorees will receive an Ashley Arthur Pink Crystal Ribbon Pendant.

THANK YOU! Thanks to the generosity and support of sponsors, participants and volunteers for the 2014 Race for the Cure® held on October 5, Susan G. Komen Nebraska® continues to advance the fight against breast cancer.

LOCAL IMPACT • •

•

Seventy-five percent of Race for the Cure® net funds support local programs in Nebraska.

In 2014, Komen Nebraska awarded more than $541,000 to Nebraska organizations for education, screening and treatment programs for women and men in need.

Over the past five years, programs have touched more than 76,000 Nebraskans.

GLOBAL IMPACT • • •

Twenty-five percent of Race for the Cure® net funds support groundbreaking national research.

Susan G. Komen is the largest private funder of breast cancer research.

Since its founding, five-year breast cancer survival rates have risen from 74 percent to nearly 99 percent in the U.S.

Thanks to your support, we are one step closer to our mission to end breast cancer forever.

Presenting Sponsors

Platinum Sponsors ($20,000) Methodist Health System Impact Merchandising Nebraska Cancer Specialists Silver Sponsors ($10,000) Omaha World-Herald Marathon Ventures Waitt Outdoor Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center Bronze Sponsors ($5,000) Mutual of Omaha Centris Federal Credit Union Oriental Trading Company The Old Mattress Factory Abe’s Trash Service Metro Magazine CHI Health Hancock & Dana Blue Cross Blue Shield Nebraska Werner Enterprises Westroads and Oakview Mall First Impressions Photography The Reader Sunbelt Bakery

Crystal Sponsors ($2,500) Borsheims Celgene Hilton Omaha The Scoular Foundation Veterinary Eye Specialists of Nebraska Finish Line sponsor: Kiewit Mailing Sponsor: Kohll’s Pharmacy Friend Level ($500- $1,000) J&S Audio Visual SimplyWell Genentech Rochester Armored Car Company, Inc. Kids for the Cure sponsor: Bounce U Survivor Area sponsor: Westfield Plastic Surgery Water Station Sponsors: Bravada’s and Raising Cane’s Survivor photo sponsors: Valley Boys and Hilton

Connect with us! komennebraska.org

Make exercise a priority to help fight fatigue and depression after breast cancer treatment

BY DANIELLE BRAFF

The Chicago Tribune While going through treatment for breast cancer, many women are nauseated, sore, hormonal and cranky — and exercising is not on the top of their to-do list.

But doctors are recommending that they prioritize it to increase their chances of beating breast cancer, improving their mood and making sure the cancer doesn’t return.

“The largest study to date followed survivors over five years and found that one to two hours of brisk walking per week was associated with 40 percent lower risk of death overall compared with those who were less active,” said Susan Brown, managing director of health and mission program education at Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

A 2011 meta-analysis of studies found that the mortality rate for breast cancer was 34 percent lower for women who were very active when compared with women with breast cancer who weren’t active.

“It can increase your energy, which sounds a little backward. You’re expelling energy to gain more. If you increase your calorie burn, it can decrease the fatigue.”

Julie Everett

M E T R O C R E AT I V E C O N N E C T I O N

See Exercise: Page 5

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The key is figuring out how to get back into exercising — or even to start a fitness routine from scratch — after a woman is undergoing breast cancer treatment or has had a mastectomy.

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Exercise: Fend off depression, fatigue Continued from Page 4

Still, a 2013 study found that breast cancer survivors aren’t meeting national exercise recommendations.

“Someone who is in active treatment may not feel like walking nine hours a week, but walking a small amount of time can help,” Brown said.

Even though much of the research has focused on the long-term effects of exercise, many of the results can be felt right away, said Julie Everett, physical therapist at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, and a certified lymphedema specialist.

“It can increase your energy, which sounds a little backward,” Everett said.

“You’re expelling energy to gain more.

If you increase your calorie burn, it can decrease the fatigue.”

She said that exercise also combats depression, which is common with cancer patients.

The key is figuring out how to get back into exercising — or even to start a fitness routine from scratch — after a woman is undergoing breast cancer treatment or has had a mastectomy.

Most people who have had a lumpectomy or minimal surgery should be able to start an exercise regimen within six weeks, after getting approval from their doctor, though those who have undergone a more extensive surgery may have a longer wait, said Lidia Schapira, assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and staff oncologist at Massachusetts General Hospital.

If the person undergoing treatment is fit and already used to exercising before she was diagnosed, she can continue her

routine, simply running a little slower if she was a runner or lifting weights that are a little lighter, Schapira said.

Everett said she recommends beginner yoga and tai chi for breast cancer patients because both forms of exercise will start to stretch the patient’s arms, targeting the areas that were affected through the treatment.

She said that patients would also benefit from simply lying on a bed on their back, arms outstretched with a cane or an umbrella overhead, reaching their arms overhead to get a good stretch.

Those who are sore and are having trouble moving their upper body can simply walk, do steps or ellipticals without arms or stay on a stationary bicycle where the focus is on the lower body, Schapira said.

However, certain forms of exercise are not recommended to breast cancer patients.

“Stay away from Bikram yoga,” Everett said, warning that the heat from this style of yoga increases the blood flow, which is especially bad for breast cancer patients who are already at an increased risk for lymphedema, a swelling in the arms or legs caused by a blockage in the lymphatic system.

Regardless of the type of exercise that patients choose, Everett said that the key is to not exercise too ardently, which may be the case if someone wants to take a spin class or to train for a marathon at this point.

“You should still be able to hold a conversation, to talk on the phone,” she said. “If you’re not able to communicate, you’re working too hard.”

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With family by her side, Falkinburg learns to celebrate every victory I

K AT H E R I N E L E S Z C Z Y N S K I S U B U R B A N N E W S PA P E R S I N C .

By Katherine Leszczynski Suburban Newspapers Inc.

t all started with a cry in the middle of the night.

In 2011, Shannon Falkinburg went to soothe her 10-month-old son in the middle of the night when she passed out on his bedroom floor. She wanted to brush it off, but her family wouldn’t allow it.

“My in-laws and parents were on me,” she said.

After a trip to the emergency room and some scans, Falkinburg was given the OK from her doctors to leave. It was on her way out that she figured she would ask one question.

“As we were leaving I asked, ‘I don’t know if you normally look at this kind of thing, but I have a lump.’”

After being sent to a specialist and a biopsy, Falkinburg got the diagnosis: an early stage of breast cancer.

Falkinberg was worried about how life would change for her. “I was really worried about my job,” she said.

Falkinburg, who owns Hearing Data Inc. in Papillion, started teaching her husband, Brian, how to do her work just in case.

But she wasn’t going to lie back and let the cancer take over. Falkinburg, who was just 36 and had children ranging in age from 10 months to 9 years, was ready to fight.

“I said that even if it’s early, I wanna

Shannon Falkinburg was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2011. After seven surgeries in two years, her cancer is under control.

“I still go see an oncologist every three months. They’re keeping an eye on me,” she said. Falkinburg lives in Papillion with her husband, Brian, and her four children — Alison, Colin, Connor and Owen.

do everything for it to not come back,” she said.

After her initial surgery, Falkinburg received a bigger shock: Her cancer had jumped from stage 1 to stage 3.

“That was a roller coaster,” Falkinburg said. “My doctor told me because of staging, history and age, they were gonna ‘throw the kitchen sink’ at me.”

Falkinburg’s family was shaken by the diagnosis.

“It’s hard when your kids ask you to stop going to the doctors,” she said.

“I could’ve laid on the couch. I felt trapped. Every day you still feel icky.

But they kept me going.”

Her family was a great support system, but friends that Falkinburg made during her chemotherapy sessions had a special understanding.

“I didn’t go to any organized support groups, but I had the girls I went through chemotherapy with,” Falkinburg said. “We would go to dinner once a month and say ‘Are we ever gonna not talk about cancer?’”

It was the special connection Falkinburg had with these women that helped fill a spot others couldn’t relate to.

“Unless they’ve gone through it, they don’t totally know.”

After seven surgeries in two years, including bilateral mastectomy, removing her ovaries and reconstruction surgeries, Falkinburg’s cancer is under control.

“They never consider breast cancer

in remission,” she said. “I still go see an oncologist every three months. They’re keeping an eye on me.”

Falkinburg’s breast cancer diagnosis changed everything, including her family.

“We became so much more compassionate as a family,” she said. “There’s a lot of love. Instead of doing everything, we slowed down. We were more conscious about making memories for the kids.”

One memory Falkinburg and her family won’t soon forget is Creighton basketball coach Greg McDermott inviting them to a practice and game after reading a letter her son Colin wrote Doug McDermott.

“That was so special to me because he’s very quiet,” she said, tearing up.

“That was just a huge, huge deal.”

Through her journey, Falkinburg has overcome so much. To others who are diagnosed, she has advice.

“One day at a time,” she said. “And sometimes it’s literally one hour at a time. You have to celebrate every victory.”

Writing down thoughts and the process can also be a helpful tool when looking back on a battle with cancer.

“Keep a journal. Your mind is in such a fog,” Falkinburg said. “Write down hard days and good days. When you look back, you can say, ‘Wow! Look what I’ve done.’ ”

“We became so much more compassionate as a family.

There’s a lot of love. Instead of doing everything, we slowed down. We were more conscious about making memories for the kids.”

Shannon Falkinburg

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Focused on getting past cancer, months passed before diagnosis sunk in

By Kristan Gray Suburban Newspapers Inc. Kay Burggraff’s life was like everyone else’s — that is, before “The Big C,” as she refers to her breast cancer diagnosis.

With three breast biopsies in a number of years, Burggraff got a positive report in January 2008. The Ralston woman was wrapped up in her career as a corporate security manager for Omaha Steaks when she learned she had invasive ductal carcinoma.

“When you hear the word ‘cancer,’ you’re pretty much lost to time,” Burggraff said. “I have maternal aunts who had breast cancer and helped care for my Aunt Irene during her illness, but that cancer wasn’t in my genes. It was a surprise.”

Burggraff believes she could have never made it through the experience without the support of her husband, Terry.

“He was my rock,” she said. “He, and my family and friends. People said something good would come out of it; the good was that I’d never felt so loved in my life.”

“Going through cancer is frightful.

You have to make life-threatening decisions, research, talk with doctors … it’s a real tailspin,” Burggraff said. “But I had support from Omaha Steaks to take the time I needed and was able to go back to work afterward.”

“I decided March 3 to have a mastectomy,” she said. “After that, I had four chemo treatments, one every three weeks. I should have had a port, be-

cause I had trouble with my veins, and got an infection in my arm, but it was minor. ” However, her reconstructive process was quite painful, and medicinal side-effects spurred her body into menopause, caused extreme bone pain and left her with even more to deal with.

“The hair loss, the wigs, the scarves, the hats, whatever you choose is really a hard piece,” she said.

Chemotherapy claimed even her eyelashes, eyebrows, and the fine hairs inside her nose, causing it to continually run.

Burggraff also had a hysterectomy after ovarian cysts were discovered.

“The mental piece of it all is huge,” Burggraff said. “I wanted to get through it on fast speed ahead so I could get on with life.”

The impact hit hardest in October while reading her journal.

“I said, ‘Oh my gosh, I have cancer!’

I was so focused on getting past cancer, that I didn’t totally deal with the fact that I had cancer.”

She then went to her first Susan G. Komen breast cancer awareness walk.

There, she learned of the organization called A Time to Heal.

“That’s when my healing process began. It’s a 12-week rehab program for survivors and caregivers to get back your best life. The program and the ladies (founding doctors Stephanie Koraleski and Kay Ryan) were truly a gift to me,” Burggraff said. “It was a time to work out relationships, cope with the process, the illness, spirituality, exercise, relaxation, mental attitude, sex-

ual functioning, and all types of topics.”

She was determined to help others, and to make good come out of the trouble.

“Well by week two, I realized I needed to help myself before I could help anyone else. A Time to Heal helped me focus on my best life. Caregivers go through as much, or more, and need support too, so they’re encouraged to attend the meetings,” she said.

“I’m also a graduate of a Brain Fog course. (Up to 50 percent of cancer survivors are affected by cognitive loss.)

Even without chemo, the brain can have side effects of memory loss, etc. from cancer,” she said.

Now Burggraff serves on the foundation, A Time to Heal, and is a co-organizer of an upcoming event in May called the Art of Living with Cancer.

Dr. Ed Creagan, author of “How Not to Be My Patient,” will be the keynote speaker.

“In the beginning I was set on getting past it, but I had to realize I needed to focus on my best life,” she said. “I’ve always cherished relationships, but the relationship value has increased. Try to keep stress down — my grand-daughters are always singing, ‘Let it Go.’ That’s important. ” “I know some who have metastatic cancer but are living full lives,” she said.

“Stay positive, and fight it. The sooner you get that mind-set the better. Don’t let cancer take everything from you — don’t let it win or define you — cancer is not who you are.”

K R I S TA N G R AY S U B U R B A N N E W S PA P E R S I N C .

Survivor Kay Burggraff has been cancer-free for six years. “Don’t let the cancer take everything away from you,” Burggraff said.

“It’s not who you are.”

“In the beginning I was set on getting past it, but I had to realize I needed to focus on my best life. ” Kay Burggraff We are happy to honor & recognize the 2013 Wor Worthy Women recipients! Keep up the Fight! ght!

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Breast cancer genetic screening offers vital information, uncertainty

BY JUDY PERES

The Chicago Tribune

New technologies, and a little help from the U.S. Supreme Court, have made it possible for large numbers of women to find out whether they carry genetic mutations that increase their risk of breast cancer — a development warmly welcomed by experts in the field.

But the availability and relative affordability of multigene-panel tests can also lead to anxiety and confusion about what course of action to choose, because the risk associated with many of those genes remains unknown.

“Genetic testing holds a lot of potential and a whole lot of uncertainty,” said Beth Peshkin, a professor of oncology and senior genetic counselor at Georgetown University’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center in Washington.

“The more genes we test, the more variants we’re likely to find,” Peshkin said. “A recent study found that about 40 percent of people who underwent panel testing had variants, or genetic changes, that we don’t know how to interpret.”

In 2013 the Supreme Court invalidated Myriad Genetics’ patents on the two major genes that predispose women to breast and ovarian cancer, ruling that human genes cannot be patented.

Since then, several companies have

TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

Twin sisters Kristen Maurer, left, and Kelly McCarthy were diagnosed with breast cancer several years ago, and genetic testing for both sisters showed no BRCA mutation.

begun testing for mutations in those genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2, which are responsible for about 80 percent of hereditary breast cancer cases; and the genes have been incorporated into panels that use so-called next-generation sequencing to test for multiple genes simultaneously.

The problem arises because some of

the mutations detected in those panels are relatively rare and scientists do not yet know how much additional risk they confer, if any.

In August, the New England Journal of Medicine published a study showing that certain mutations in a gene called PALB2 were associated with a lifetime risk of between 33 percent (for carriers

with no family history of breast cancer) and 58 percent (for those with a strong family history). That’s similar to the risk associated with a BRCA2 mutation, but lower than that for BRCA1.

The average lifetime risk for an American woman is about 12 percent. The vast majority of breast cancer cases are not linked to any known hereditary factor.

“Investigators from 14 centers around the world pooled data from all of their families with PALB2 mutations,” said Dr. Jane Churpek, co-director of the Comprehensive Cancer Risk and Prevention Program at University of Chicago Medicine. “So, for the first time, we had a large enough series to get an estimate (of risk) for carriers of mutations in this gene. The hope is we’ll see similar efforts for each gene on these panels.”

When actress Angelina Jolie announced last year that she carried a BRCA1 mutation, her choice was relatively straightforward. She decided to have a preventive double mastectomy after her mother died of ovarian cancer and Jolie learned she herself had up to an 87 percent chance of getting the disease.

Some breast cancer experts noted that the “Angelina Jolie effect” — the dramatic upsurge in testing for breast cancer genes that followed her story — was a good thing. It raised awareness of

See Screening: Page 9

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Screening: Treatment path not always clear after BRCA testing Continued from Page 8

a problem about which something could be done. A study presented in early September at a meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology found that referrals for genetic testing at one large medical center doubled in the six months following Jolie’s announcement.

But BRCA1 is a well-studied gene for which there is good evidence of the associated risk. Although there can be many different mutations in that gene, and they don’t all confer the same risk, researchers have investigated most of them and have a pretty good idea how they affect a person’s chances of getting breast cancer.

“Over a million women have been tested for BRCA,” said Peshkin. “Very few variants (of unknown significance) remain.”

Geneticist Mary-Claire King, who discovered BRCA1, stirred controversy recently by calling for all American woman over 30 to be tested for BRCA1 and BRCA2. (Current guidelines for healthy women say only those with a family history should be referred for genetic counseling and testing.)

But King added that women should be told only about mutations that are associated with known cancer risk.

Many of the newer gene mutations have not been studied in enough carriers

for scientists to be able to quantify the risk associated with them. So learning she has one of those mutations would almost certainly cause a woman concern and anxiety, but it wouldn’t provide enough information for her to make an informed decision about how to proceed.

Only by knowing the likelihood that someone who carries a given mutation will actually develop breast cancer can a doctor help a patient decide whether it’s appropriate to take certain risk-reduction steps. Those may include: • More intensive screening (typically, an annual MRI in addition to mammography) • Chemoprevention (taking a drug that blocks the effect of estrogen on the breasts) • Prophylactic salpingo-oophorectomy (surgical removal of the fallopian tubes and ovaries) • Mastectomy (surgical removal of the breasts) “It’s going to take a national, or international, effort to learn how to interpret variants that are rare, or found only in individual families,” Peshkin said.

Such efforts are already underway.

A number of labs and medical centers, including Georgetown, the University of Chicago and Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York, are participating in a new registry to collect genetic information and outcomes data on patients who

“It’s going to take a national, or international, effort to learn how to interpret variants that are rare, or found only in individual families.”

Beth Peshkin, oncology professor undergo multigene-panel testing and consent to be followed.

The registry will focus on the kind of genes for which cancer risk is uncertain and no clinical management guidelines are currently available.

Even after the level of risk is known, however, good genetic counseling is needed, Churpek explained, because that estimate may be affected by other things, including lifestyle factors, other genetic factors, family cancer history and country of residence. “It’s why those of us who practice cancer risk make sure testing is done by someone who knows how to interpret the results,” she said.

Churpek stressed that genetic testing is only one component of estimating someone’s cancer risk. “We take into account personal factors — such as age at first period and first childbirth — as well as the family history,” she said. “If

genetic testing does not identify a mutation, but there is a strong family history of breast cancer, we take care of that woman differently.”

That was the case for Kelly McCarthy and Kristen Maurer of Crown Point, Indiana, twin sisters who were both diagnosed with breast cancer at age 32, shortly before their mother died of colon cancer. McCarthy, a nurse, had a very aggressive tumor; Maurer’s was less aggressive and less advanced.

Genetic testing showed no BRCA mutation and no conclusive breast cancer risk in any other gene on the panel. Nevertheless, both women opted for double mastectomies.

“It was a peace-of-mind situation,” said Maurer, now 35, who works in enrollment services at Indiana Wesleyan University and has two young daughters. “I didn’t want it to ever come back.”

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With a greater appreciation of life, Simon learns to live for now

BY CHRIS LEGBAND

G

CHRIS LEGBAND S U B U R B A N N E W S PA P E R S I N C .

Gina Simon was 41 when diagnosed with breast cancer. Among all the day-to-day struggles, there was always good sprinkled in with them, she said.

Suburban Newspapers Inc.

ina Simon was more than a soccer mom when she was diagnosed with breast cancer eight years ago. She was the coach.

“I was 41 and in the prime of my life,” the Fremont woman said. “With five kids and a full schedule, it blindsided me.”

Even though treatment wasn’t optional, Simon said, it was hard to add aggressive treatments to her heavy schedule.

“Trying to keep up with treatments, soccer and all, I didn’t miss a beat,” she said.

Support groups were extremely beneficial after she was diagnosed.

“I found camaraderie with other women who were going through the same thing, trying to work as a real estate agent and juggle soccer,” she said.

“It was difficult.”

She remembers the week she started chemo having tremendous ups and downs — some that had little to do with the disease.

“My daughter won the state championship that week, and then two days later she was offered a scholarship at Creighton,” she said. “It was the worst and best week of my life.”

Simon said among all of the day-today struggles with cancer, there was always good sprinkled in with them.

“Amongst all of the pain and suffer-

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go through this, too,” she said.

Simon credits her faith and taking one day at a time to get where she is today.

“My advice for others who have the same prognosis is to take things slow, seek those that can counsel you,” she said. “Sometimes with other women who have had the disease, the fear sets in and their husband or families don’t understand. It’s amazing how people who don’t have cancer don’t know how to talk about it. You need to talk about it, on both sides of cancer.”

Another life lesson she had learned prior to her cancer experience was to let others minister to her when she needed it.

“It can be hard for us to be humble, to ask for help,” she said. “Others don’t know what to do, but we need to let them help us.”

Simon has enjoyed getting to know many people who are in the same situation, those who are seeking out wisdom from cancer survivors, like Simon.

“It’s usually someone who knows someone who knows someone,” she said. “People have reached out to me through Facebook and other means. I usually give them my number, and we start communicating that way. It’s nice to have a network of others who can relate to it. You need to talk, talk and talk.

Women are really good at that.”

“I live differently now. I appreciate yesterday and today and look forward to tomorrow. The only difference is I don’t look too far in the future because you live for now.”

Gina Simon

Owned & Operated by Dave & Susan Zajac

ing, the chemo and surgeries, there was good, too,” she said. “Life goes on, and that’s how it’s remained since. You have good days, and you have bad days.”

Since the beginning of her diagnosis, Simon has developed a greater appreciation for life.

“I live differently now,” she said.

“I appreciate yesterday and today and look forward to tomorrow. The only difference is I don’t look too far in the future because you live for now.”

Simon looked at her children’s milestones and set goals for herself.

In 2006, her hope was to see her daughter graduate from high school.

“Then it became a matter of hoping to see her graduate from college,” she said.

She feels blessed that she’s had such an amazing recovery and has stayed well, but looking back, she watched her mother struggle and persevere with the same diagnosis.

“Back in 1975 she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and many years later she passed away from a non-cancer related illness.” she said. “Nearly 30 years to the day after my mother’s diagnosis, I came across the bill from when she was in the hospital going through the same thing. It made me reflect on what I had been through and showed me how far I had come and how far treatment had progressed.”

She’s confident with the radical treatment and early detection that the disease stops with her.

“I’d hate for my daughter to have to

What are your breast cancer risk factors?

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among American women, aside from skin cancers.

About one in eight women in the U.S. will develop invasive breast cancer during her lifetime.

Fortunately, 90 percent of patients diagnosed with breast cancer will survive the disease.

A diagnosis of cancer can be difďŹ cult for patients and their caregivers to receive.

David Moeckly, a specialist pharmacist in the Express Scripts Oncology Therapeutic Resource Center, helps patients understand the condition and manage the complex treatment regimens. “What most people may not realize is that men can get breast cancer as well, although it is 100 times more common among women,� Moeckly said.

Breast cancer usually originates in the linings of either the tubes (ducts) that carry milk or the glands (lobules) that manufacture milk. “The ďŹ rst symptom is often the most common one — a new lump or mass,â€?

Moeckly said. “A painless, hard mass that has irregular edges is more likely to be cancerous, but breast cancers can be tender, soft or rounded. They can even be painful.�

The answers could surprise you

“What most people may not realize is that men can get breast cancer as well, although it is 100 times more common among women.�

David Moeckly Getting annual mammograms can help detect breast cancer early and save your life, he said. “It is also important to have any new breast mass or lump or breast change checked by a health care professional because mammograms do not catch all breast cancer cases,� Moeckly said.

Treatment for breast cancer can be difďŹ cult and invasive, including chemotherapy and radiation.

Both the treatment and the stress can have a detrimental impact on your health and appetite. Ensuring proper nutrition during treatment is very important, he adds. Paying careful attention to what you eat can also help ease the side-effects of treatment.

RISK FACTORS FOR BREAST CANCER INCLUDE: Family medical history: About 5 to 10 percent of breast cancer cases are thought to be hereditary, meaning that they result directly from gene defects (called mutations) inherited from a parent. Having one ďŹ rst-degree relative (mother, sister or daughter) with breast cancer doubles a woman’s risk. Having two ďŹ rst-degree relatives increases her risk about three-fold.

Personal history of breast cancer: A woman with cancer in one breast is three to four times more likely to develop a new cancer in the other breast or in another part of the same breast. This is different from a recurrence (return) of the ďŹ rst cancer.

Ethnicity: Overall, white women are slightly more likely to develop breast cancer than are AfricanAmerican women, but African-American women are more likely to die of this cancer.

A FEW NUTRITION TIPS TO REMEMBER: Eat enough calories: Treatment can often result in a poor appetite. One way to offset the lower food intake is to ingest high-calorie foods such as hard-cooked eggs, peanut butter, cheese, ice cream, granola bars, liquid nutritional supplements, puddings, nuts, canned tuna or chicken, and trail mix.

Tempt yourself: Eat your favorite foods anytime of the day. Eating small meals or snacks every couple of hours rather than three large meals is usually more successful to increase food consumption.

Foods that offset nausea and vomiting: Many treatments can cause nausea and vomiting. Eat six-to-eight meals a day, consisting of easy-todigest foods such as soups, crackers, toast, dry cereals, broth, sport drinks, water, juice, gelatin and frozen fruit treats to help minimize these symptoms. Avoid spicy, greasy and overly sweet foods. Ginger and peppermint can also help reduce nausea.

Stay hydrated: Severe diarrhea during treatment can cause dehydration. Eating foods such as oatmeal, bananas and rice can help treat diarrhea. Fried, spicy or very sweet foods may make it worse. And remember to drink plenty of water.

Stay adherent: As always make sure to take your medication as prescribed by your doctor and do not self-adjust. — Brandpoint

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‘Goer’ Gast-Kohrell goes at cancer fight with passion, compassion

BY ADAM KLINKER

Suburban Newspapers Inc.

ADAM KLINKER S U B U R B A N N E W S PA P E R S I N C .

Tami Gast-Kohrell of Papillion holds a painting of a pink ribbon given to her by a nurse during the early stages of her treatment for breast cancer. Gast-Kohrell said that since her diagnosis last summer, not a day goes by that she doesn’t bear some article of clothing that’s pink, an outward expression of her own fight and, she hopes, an inspiration to women also battling their breast cancer.

By her own admission, Tami GastKohrell doesn’t do sitting still.

Nor does she do lying down, acquiescence, bowing, suffering in silence or waxing maudlin.

So when Gast-Kohrell’s Stage 3 breast cancer diagnosis last summer stopped her heart for a moment, there was only one thing to do: exactly what she does best.

“I’m a goer,” she said, remembering Aug. 16, 2013 — a day not quite three months after a crystal-clear mammogram had given her a clean bill of health. “And when you’re a goer, you don’t sit down very well or for very long. That’s been one of the challenges for me in this whole thing. Maintaining my patience level. But on that day, as any woman who has heard that news knows, your whole world freezes for a minute. Then, you say, ‘All right, let’s go get it.’”

Within a month, Gast-Kohrell, a vice president of sales for human resources specialists Robert Half International, underwent a double mastectomy and was into her early rounds of radiation and chemotherapy at the Nebraska Cancer Center.

There, her natural buoyancy, even in the face of a harrowing fight, continued to carry over. But Gast-Kohrell said she learned quickly that every cancer is different and every fighter battles in her own way.

“I go in, and I just want to hug everybody and say hello to everyone,” she said. “But that’s how I fight. You

fight like you have to fight. Everyone owns their cancer in their own way, and there’s no wrong way to fight it.”

And for Gast-Kohrell, the fight means having the right people in her corner.

“The right oncologist, the right radiologist, the right nursing staff,” she said. “I had the most phenomenal care a woman could ever have. And of course, there is the absolute and total blessing of my husband.”

Mike Kohrell said a good illustration of his wife’s breast cancer fight arises every time he goes out to cut the grass at the couple’s Papillion home.

“She does not like to see me behind a lawnmower,” Kohrell said with a laugh.

“Mowing the lawn is her job, always has been. Even when I tell her that she just can’t do it right now, it still makes her crazy because she wants to be out there, doing it. Doing something. She’s an incredibly strong woman. She is a goer and a doer.”

Another prominent presence in GastKohrell’s fight has been her longtime friend, Kathy Nettleton.

Though she lives in North Carolina, Nettleton has nevertheless been a fixture at Gast-Kohrell’s chemo sessions, a daily or, if needed, an almost hourly voice on the telephone.

In her friend, Nettleton sees the very embodiment of the pink army upon which Gast-Kohrell has called since the earliest days of her battle.

“Most people, when we’re sick, we just go home and lie down,” Nettleton said. “Tami, when she comes home from chemo, she walks around, she does things. She says, ‘I can’t sit still or this will make me even sicker.’ I call her

the poster child. Nobody wants to be the poster child for breast cancer, but if there has to be one, if there has to be someone who we should emulate in the fight, it’s Tami.”

Gast-Kohrell speaks of breast cancer in terms not typical to the illness.

Breast cancer is a “blessing,” an “opportunity,” she said. It’s something she’s given a deadline: the end of this year. A scan earlier this year revealed she was cancer-free. She now hopes to wind up her last treatments in the next two months.

Said Nettleton, that’s the language and attitude Gast-Kohrell uses in her approach to any situation, even a significantly less-than-attractive one.

“She’ll do it with a smile on her face and a ‘hello’ to everyone,” Nettleton said. “Because she is the most positive person I’ve ever met. That runs through her fight.”

If Gast-Kohrell can be a model and a voice for another woman going through it, it’s just the next job she has to go and do.

“Nobody wants to get cancer, but what are you going to do once you do have it?” she said. “It has blessed me to come into contact with a lot of incredible people. It has also revealed to me the blessings I have in being able to fight the way I’ve fought, with the best care imaginable, with good insurance from a good employer. Not every woman will get the blessings I have. Right now, there’s a woman with breast cancer who is deciding between her treatment and feeding her children. If I have an opportunity to call attention to that, why would I not use my situation to do it?”

“Nobody wants to get cancer, but what are you going to do once you do have it?”

Tami Gast-Kohrell

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Road to a Ph.D ran right through her breast cancer struggles

BY EUGENE CURTIN

A

Suburban Newspapers Inc.

tattoo ribbon runs across Martha Todd’s chest, and it is pink.

Breast cancer pink.

The ribbon weaves in and out of Japanese cherry blossom trees, chosen by Todd because in Japanese culture they symbolize the transience of life.

“They bloom, they’re beautiful for a short period, and then they’re gone from this world,” she said. “You bloom, you be a good person, and then you’re gone.”

Except that Martha Todd is by no means gone.

Some four years after her initial breast cancer diagnosis at age 46, during which she endured a bilateral mastectomy, bladder surgery, acute pancreatitis, gall bladder disease, implant surgery, and lost her mother and father, Todd is very much here — on the faculty of Creighton University, in fact, where she teaches undergraduate nursing and nurse practitioners.

No one could have complained if her astonishing run of bad luck since July 2010 caused Todd to hole up at home and question the fairness of the universe. Instead, despite the effects of “chemo brain,” a fog-like slowness that can affect the brain for up to five years, she earned a Ph.D in nursing, graduating this past spring from South Dakota State University.

“Graduating with a Ph.D was closure for me,” she said. “All the bad stuff

happened during the time I was going to school, so graduating was closure on a lot of stuff that needed to be closed.”

Todd, like her husband of 31 years, Rick, is a native of St. Joseph, Missouri, and moved around the globe during her husband’s 22-year career in the Air Force. He’s retired now, and the couple live in Bellevue. They recently saw their son, Levi, head to Ohio State University, where he is pursuing a Ph.D in neuroscience, and they await the pending graduation of their daughter, Rebekah, with a degree in art history from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Things are better.

The sun began breaking through the clouds about eight months ago, Todd said, when she woke up one morning and realized the brain fog had dissipated.

“I woke up and told my husband, ‘I’m back!’” she said.

It had been an arduous absence.

The first hardship was the bilateral mastectomy, although Todd said the decision came easily.

“Most definitely an easy call,” she said. “We knew the initial lumpectomy didn’t get all the cancer, and I had three other suspicious lesions. I was looking at MRIs every six to seven months, with all that stress and tension and the nerve-wracking tests. I just wasn’t going to do that for the rest of my life.”

So she accepted that she was one of the bad-luck people.

One woman in eight will get breast cancer, she said, most after the age of

60. Those are the bad-luck people. They often have no genetic predisposition to the disease. It’s just bad luck.

Women who are struck in their 40s usually have a genetic predisposition.

Todd had no genetic predisposition but was struck in her 40s nonetheless.

Particularly bad luck.

Like all cancer survivors, Todd said she awaits the day when she will be as mentally free from the disease as she currently is physically.

“It’s always there in the back of your mind, when something goes wrong in your body,” she said. “You just fear it’s cancer again. The doctors say that fear will fade with time.”

Having come so far, and survived so many dangers, toils and snares, Todd said her eyes are fixed on the future, where, as Grandpa Potts reminded us in “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” from the ashes of disaster grow the roses of success.

Todd’s roses are on display in north Omaha, where she is back serving as a nurse practitioner two days a week at a free clinic, in addition to her teaching duties at Creighton.

And then there is that tattoo, which Todd said plays a healing role as well as being a useful tool to disguise surgical scars.

“Every day now I can look into the mirror and see a work of art instead of really scarred breasts,” she said. “That is a healing experience. My entire chest is a work of art. It’s awesome.”

EUGENE CURTIN S U B U R B A N N E W S PA P E R S I N C .

Martha Todd, professor of nursing at Creighton University, embarked on a wideranging battle with a number of diseases after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010.

“Graduating with a Ph.D was closure for me. All the bad stuff happened during the time I was going to school, so graduating was closure on a lot of stuff that needed to be closed.”

Martha Todd

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Encouraging others helped restore Papillion woman’s motivation I

MIKE BELL S U B U R B A N N E W S PA P E R S I N C .

Kristi Miskimins of Papillion found motivation for a life after cancer through a progam at the YMCA.

By Mike Bell Suburban Newspapers Inc.

t’s a sorority that no one wants to join.

That’s how Kristi Miskimins of Papillion described surviving breast cancer.

“It’s a sorority you don’t want to join, but you would not believe the bond that is shared between survivors,” she said.

While working for the Sienna Francis shelter as a donations coordinator, she first began to notice she wasn’t feeling as well as usual.

A shortness of breath and lack of energy was apparent to her friends, who said Miskimins should get a physical.

Despite taking good care of herself and exercising regularly, Miskimins underwent a mammogram.

Which turned out to reveal a growth.

The news was devastating for her and her husband, Doug. It was love at first sight when they met at an airport in 2001. She was on a trip to Hawaii and noticed his Husker cap. And more than 10 years later, she was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer.

It was Oct. 3, 2011, a date she won’t soon forget.

“I was in total disbelief. Total shock,” she said. “This doesn’t happen to me. It doesn’t run in my family.”

A quick response for surgery was

assigned, and her doctor told her a double mastectomy would be the wisest course of action. The MRI showed what looked to be a 4-centimeter tumor, but the growth could be more extensive, so a lumpectomy wasn’t considered thorough enough.

It was a nerve-racking decision, she said, one that worried her she could be jumping the gun.

But it was the right one.

When the surgery was over, her doctors told her instead of a 4-centimeter growth, it was 9 centimeters, more than double the original estimate.

“There were hidden tumors that hadn’t been picked up on the MRI,” she said.

But the surgery was just part of her trial back to being cancer-free. January of 2012 meant four rounds of chemotherapy and 32 rounds of radiation. It damaged her tissue, drained her energy and made her sick.

But she kept going, relying on the strength lent her through God, family and friends.

“I got through by faith, the people in my life, and the support of my family,” she said.

Head bald, she wore a cover to work.

When she told others she was undergoing treatment, she tried to take a lighter side to it, joking about the fact she resembled the character Uncle Fester from

the “Adams Family.” She even stuck a lightbulb in her mouth as a joke, so of course that’s when her boss walked in.

“He tells that story to this day,” she laughed.

The Livestrong program at YMCA caught wind of her story, and she became a poster child for them. Literally, she was on a poster to promote the program.

“I participated in the 12-week Livestrong program at the YMCA, and continue to go to reunions and encourage other cancer survivors to sign up for the program,” Miskimins said.

Miskimins has also given talks at events to help raise money and awareness about the Livstrong program.

Working with other cancer survivors gave back a sense of being alive, a sense of motivation for Miskimins. Something she had lost in the mix after treatment had ended.

“When the treatment was going there was just this drive to live, but once it’s over you feel overwhelmed by what happened,” she said.

Miskimins has checkups every four months to make sure the cancer hasn’t come back. And it hasn’t.

“It was terrifying. It was absolutely terrifying, but now I meet other survivors and tell them they can make it,” she said. “And that helps me, as well.”

“It’s a sorority you don’t want to join, but you would not believe the bond that is shared between survivors.”

Kristi Miskimins

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Support group, family have kept her positive and motivated

By Toni Furmanski Suburban Newspapers Inc.

W

hen Eileen Boslaugh went bald during her chemotherapy treatments, her husband, Paul, and 8-year-old son, Max, shaved their heads so they could look like her.

Boslaugh was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007 at the age of 47. She was a stay-at-home mother of three, including 3-year-old twin girls, Rachel and Andrea.

“I think for me, that was my first fear,” she said. “‘What am I going to do with my kids?’ I guess it’s every woman’s thoughts, so that was probably one of the hardest things.”

She is originally from Arkansas, so her parents weren’t able to drive over whenever she and her husband needed help. Her in-laws, who live in Lincoln, were able to help, but figuring out what to do with her children when she was going to treatments and appointments was a huge concern for her.

“Unlike a working woman, I didn’t have my child care already set up,” Boslaugh said. “So it was like I had to figure that out at that point, and we didn’t have a lot of family here.”

She said it was amazing to her all the people who stepped up to help her and her family when they were in need, including her church family.

“My church was wonderful,” she said. Her church, St. James United Methodist in Bellevue, “was very helpful with the support there, as far as bringing meals and helping us with anything we needed,” she said.

Her doctor always made her feel very positive. Even though she had a tumor that was “considered rather large,” she didn’t have negative thoughts.

When someone hears the word cancer, she said, there is always a negative connotation, but she had to think about what having cancer meant for her.

She said during her treatments it was important for her to stay active.

“My children, of course, kept me very much motivated to keep going,” she said. “Just to be there for their activities and to feel good for those kinds of things.”

All her treatments took place in 2007, and then in 2008 she had reconstructive surgery. She was diagnosed in January but was done with active treatment by September of that year.

Boslaugh now takes a maintenance pill once a day, which reduces her risk of a recurrence of breast cancer.

It was after all of her treatments and surgeries that Boslaugh started going to a support group, A Time to Heal.

The group focuses on what is going to happen next.

She said about 18 women were in

the group. They did a 12-week program where they talked about certain topics.

She still meets with about half of those same women on a regular basis. This past May they even met for a weekend retreat.

“It was a weekend refresher coarse,” she said. “We make a goal with ourselves, and it’s healthy goal setting, I think, and so we went over that again.”

The support group encourages members to figure out where they are going to go after the disease. Her new way of life includes a new job as a facilitator at Gifford Farms, a job she got through a woman in her support group. She said not being sick anymore was strange at first. She had to readjust to this new way of life.

“It’s sort of scary at first when you quit going to the doctor,” she said. “I think you feel that that’s your safety net, so it is sort of like you have to remember you don’t have to go to the doctor every week now. I think it was just finding a new routine.”

MIKE BELL S U B U R B A N N E W S PA P E R S I N C .

Eileen Boslaugh was diagnosed with cancer in January of 2007. Married with three children, she stayed positive and active through her cancer battle. “My children, of course, kept me very motivated,” Boslaugh said.

“My children, of course, kept me very much motivated to keep going. Just to be there for their activities and to feel good for those kinds of things.”

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