Palo Alto staff overcomes cancer's challenge

Palo Alto staff overcomes cancer’s challenge

By Kristina Egert
Pulse Staff Reporter

One in eight American women develop breast cancer, the most common cancer among women. At least six women at Palo Alto College have experienced the disease.

October is breast cancer awareness month. An estimated 40,000 deaths from breast cancer are expected in 2002, according to the American Cancer Society. They recommend a breast self-exam each month and a clinical breast exam at least every three years if you are 20 to 39 years old. Women over 40 should do a breast self-exam each month and have a clinical breast exam and a mammogram every year.

Although every woman is at risk for breast cancer, alcohol use, family history of breast cancer, age, previous breast cancer and genetic mutations increase the chance of developing the disease, according to Yahoo! Health. Regular exercise, early pregnancy and breast-feeding may actually protect against breast cancer.

Men also develop breast cancer, but they make up only 5 percent of breast cancer patients.

These days, 83 percent of women survive breast cancer. Many survivors of breast cancer are here on campus, and each survivor’s story provides insight. One message is clear, however: Early detection is best, and mammograms are important.

In 1992, Julie Kern, chair of the Math Department at Palo Alto, found a lump in her breast. She then received a mammogram and a biopsy. Doctors gave Kern a choice between a lumpectomy and a mastectomy because the chance of reoccurring breast cancer would be about the same. After doing research, Kern decided to have a lumpectomy.

Math Department Chair Julie Kern works through a math problem for her students.
Photo by Michelle Tyler

After the lumpectomy, Kern went through six months of chemotherapy and five weeks of radiation. For five years she took Tamoxifen. Many doctors believe that cancer cell growth is sped up by estrogen. Tamoxifen is an antiestrogen medication that is part of hormone therapy for breast cancer.

Kern continued to teach during her chemotherapy, and she believes that it is helpful when you can continue most of your general activities.

Another breast cancer survivor at Palo Alto College is Sandra Hood, the Ozuna Learning Resources Center’s Coordinator of Automative and Access Services. Hood was diagnosed with breast cancer through a mammogram in the Spring of 2002. After surgery on April 8, she underwent six weeks of radiation. She is currently on Arimidex for five years.

Sandi Hood, coordinator of Library Automative and Access Services, assists a student in the Ozuna Learning Resources Center.
Photo By Michelle Tyler

She counts herself lucky that her breast cancer was caught in the early stages, and she believes that a good attitude and sense of humor were essential tools in her battle with breast cancer.

Hood recommends that every woman receive an annual mammogram after the age of 40. Self exams are important, but women should have regular mammograms, too. “I couldn’t even find the lump when I knew where to look,” said Hood.

Linda Myers, senior secretary, makes copies at the Ozuna Learning Resources Center. Photo by Michelle Tyler	Unlike Kern and Hood, Linda Myers, the senior secretary to the Dean of Learning Resources, has survived two battles with breast cancer. In 1991, Myers underwent a lumpectomy followed by radiation and Tamoxifen. In 1996, she received both chemotherapy and radiation. “It’s kind of like a cold,” Myers said. “You’ve had it, and you try to go on as normal as possible.”
Myers believes that having cancer was worse the first time because she knew what to expect the second time. During Myer’s first mammogram, doctors found cancer. She said, “Self exams are good, but you have to know what to look for.” She also recommends yearly exams and checking out suspicions with a doctor.

Senior Secretary of Sciences Bonnie Thompson posts a flier in the General Education Biulding.
Photo by MichelleTyler

The Senior Secretary of Sciences, Bonnie Thompson, discovered she had breast cancer from a mammogram in September of 2000. Doctors told her that it was so small that she couldn’t have felt it.

After having a lumpectomy, she had seven weeks of radiation and four treatments of chemotherapy. She is taking Tamoxifen for five years.

Thompson wants everyone at Palo Alto College to know how much their support meant to her. She said, “I just had a lot of support.” Three people on campus even shaved their heads to show their solidarity with Thompson. Many people also gave her scarves and hats.

Maria Antonieta Galvan, association professor of Spanish, looks through a book in the Foreign Language Lab in the GE Building.
Photo by Suzann Torres

Another breast cancer survivor on campus is Maria Antonieta Galvan, associate professor of Spanish. She suspected she had breast cancer and went to have a mammogram in April of 2001. She had a mastectomy and received chemotherapy and radiation. During her treatment, Galvan continued to teach. After her second week of chemotherapy, her hair started to fall out. Her students asked questions, and she never kept anything a secret. She believes that teaching aided her healing.

“Helping others has been proven by doctors to heal, both physically and mentally,” said Galvan, “I may be fooling myself at this stage of my life, but I like to think I’m helping people through my teaching, while actually I’m the one getting better.”

Doctors were shocked at Galvan’s reaction to the news of breast cancer. She simply asked what needed to be done next.

Galvan said, “The doctors have been quite surprised at the high level of my energy, even during chemotherapy and radiation.”

Dr. Dorothy Haecker, professor of Philosophy and chair of Behavioral Sciences and Humanities Department at Palo Alto, discovered she had breast cancer in 1989. After the breast cancer was found in a mammogram, she had a mastectomy because the cancer was advanced and big. After the surgery, she finished chemotherapy in December and started radiation treatments in February.

Dr. Dorothy Haecker, chair of Behavioral Sciences and Humanities, has been in recovery for 12 years.
Photo by Suzann Torres

Haecker, a San Antonio native, resigned her position at the University of Missouri at Columbia and returned home after her diagnosis. She devoted herself to completely healing. She did yoga, took alternative medicines and did everything the doctors told her. She believes that chemotherapy is really difficult because it essentially poisons cancer patients’ bodies. Haecker calls this period of her life “a time of really discovering what I was made of.” Haecker, who was given two years to live, has been in recovery for 12 years.

When Haecker started full time at Palo Alto College in August of 1990, she believes she was given her life back by teaching. Her students thought she practiced an alternative religion because she always wore scarves on her head. She did not talk to anyone about breast cancer during that time period.

When asked how often she thinks about the breast cancer now, she replied, “I believe that I will walk with cancer for the rest of my life, but now cancer walks beside me to remind me every day is precious, and every day is a gift.”

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