Breast cancer survivors urge other women to be proactive and positive

By Lynn Taylor Rick, Journal Staff Writer | Sunday, October 29, 2006

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Editor’s Note: In observance of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Rapid City Journal is taking a look at the disease and its affects on women’s health. Today, two Rapid City breast cancer survivors tell their stories.

On Monday’s Body & Mind page, find out the answers to these and other questions: What’s happening in breast cancer treatment? How do women guard against the disease? And exactly how important are self-

exams and mammograms?

Laurie Johnson and Sandy Studer both faced breast cancer, but the disease showed itself to them in very different ways.

In May 1997, the then-42-year-old Johnson leaned against a pickup to place yard waste in its bed. Suddenly, she felt a prick of pain in her left breast. Reaching for the source, Johnson discovered a lump the size of a nickel.

With little family history of breast cancer and a casual knowledge that breast cancer lumps are usually painless, Johnson wasn’t particularly worried.

She made an appointment with her doctor that week, just in case.

Johnson also felt comfort knowing that a mammogram the previous year had been clear. By the end of the week, however, that calm began slowly washing away as Johnson underwent a biopsy. The results were not good: a diagnosis of an intraductal breast cancer categorized as fast-growing. “I was in la la land or in denial,” she said.

By contrast, Studer was only 36 in June 2005 when a baseline mammogram showed calcifications in her left breast. She had never felt any kind of lump, nor would she have at that stage.

A biopsy showed DCIS, or ductal carcinoma in situ. With DCIS, the cells lining the milk ducts are cancerous, but contained within the ducts.

Studer’s doctor gave her two alternatives: mastectomy or lumpectomy.

“I was blown away,” said Studer, who always considered herself low risk for breast cancer. She is slim and active. As an adolescent, she began menstruation late, which lowers a women’s risk for breast cancer. She also had two children, both of which she nursed for a year, another benefit since it interrupts the body’s usual estrogen production.

“I seemed to be the poster child for someone who wouldn’t get breast cancer,” she said.

After the shock of the diagnosis wore off, Studer made the decision to go ahead with a lumpectomy, a procedure that removes only the area around the cancer, preserving the breast.

Then, Studer got a second surprise. She was pregnant, which meant she would not be able to undergo the prescribed radiation.

Studer went ahead with the lumpectomy, but doctors weren’t able to get “clear margins” or complete removal of the cancer cells.

During this time, Studer suffered a miscarriage.

Doctors ordered a second lumpectomy, which also failed to get clear margins. It gave Studer no choice.

On Aug. 26, 2006, she underwent a mastectomy followed by immediate reconstruction. Today, she sports a scar on her back from reconstruction and a positive attitude about her future. She also recognizes that the support she received from family and friends was a blessing she could never have expected. “It wasn’t all a negative experience.”

Johnson also underwent a mastectomy followed by breast reconstruction after her breast cancer diagnosis. She followed the surgery with four rounds of chemotherapy and 35 radiation treatments.

Now, 9-1/2 years later and still cancer-free, Johnson serves as a coordinator for the Friends Against Breast Cancer support group at Rapid City Regional Hospital.

Although Johnson is reluctant to talk about her experience, she acknowledges that her story is an important reminder for other women. Mainly, Johnson believes that if she would have been doing regular breast exams, she may have caught her tumor before it reached nickel size.

Regular monthly self-exams and annual exams by a physician are critical, as are the mammograms, she said.

Studer can attest to the need for mammograms. Since her cancer would have been undetectable with a self-exam, the mammogram saved her life. She has become an advocate for women around her. “To all of my friends, I always say, ‘Have you gone for your baseline?’”

Together, Studer and Johnson demonstrate the importance of vigilance when it comes to breast health. And as survivors, they demonstrate the promise of treatment.

Breast cancer support group

The Friends Against Breast Cancer support group meets from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. the second Tuesday of each month in Classroom 2, in the education area of Rapid City Regional Hospital. Everyone is invited. To find out more about the group, call Laurie at 718-5656, Ellen at 341-6493 or Julie at 347-0094.

Lynn Taylor Rick can be reached at lynn.taylorrick@rapidcityjournal.com or 394-8414.