OCTOBER IS
BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH
‘Gotta have friends:’ Breast cancer patients forge bonds MELODY PARKER
melody.parker@wcfcourier.com
Breast cancer is a diagnosis no one wants to hear. It’s a club no one wants to join. Once it happens, there is an immediate connection with other members. Having a support system of family and friends can help cancer patients cope with the diease and treatment, experts say. But it also helps to know someone who has “been there, done that,” someone willing to share their story and offer encouragement and advice. “It’s tough stuff to wrap your head around — from the diagnosis and treatment to something like losing all your hair. Your perspective changes when you get to hear other stories,” says Sarah Corkery, who has battled both stage 0 and stage 1 breast cancer. She was diagnosed at age 36. Corkery was the first person Traci McCausland called when
she received her diagnosis of breast cancer in May. “I was on my way home from the clinic and texted one of our [mutual] friends to send me her contact number. She was the only person I knew in my age group who had had breast cancer, and she was the first person I reached out to,” recalls McCausland, 39. “She called me, and we spoke for 45 minutes on the phone. Mostly I cried.” Although Corkery herself was “dealing with my big fat reality” — living at Hope Lodge in Iowa City, where she was living while receiving daily radiation treatments for six weeks and eight weeks of chemotherapy, she wanted to be more than just a listening ear for McCausland. “I don’t sugar-coat anything. When I share my story, I just put it out there. I’m all for honesty,” says Corkery, who is naturally upbeat and forthright. “Breast cancer
have a history of cancer. Her maternal grandmother was 41 and her aunt was 39 when they were diagnosed with cancer, and her mom died of uterine cancer when Corkery was 14. In 2012, Corkery was referred to a high-risk clinic in Iowa City by her OB-GYN. The mother of three underwent a mammogram and breast MRIs, and something suspicious was found in her left breast. Later, a biopsy revealed stage 0 cancer contained in a single milk duct. Although she did not test positive for HER2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2), she chose “to be aggressive about it and opted for a double mastecMATTHEW PUTNEY, COURIER PHOTO EDITOR tomy and breast reconstruction in Traci McCausland, left, and Sarah Corkery bonded over their mutual the same surgery,” she says. “Evbattles with breast cancer. eryone’s choices are different, and that was mine.” patients need to have a support ence, but may have made different Chemotherapy or radiation was system, and it’s important to talk choices.” to women who share this experiWomen in Corkery’s family Please see BONDS, Page H2
BREA AST CANCER KNOWS NO AGE. Schedule your mammogram today. 319 9.272.7080 I WheatonIowa.org/mammogram 00 1