(EDITOR'S NOTE: October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. On the Sundays in October, the Gazette will feature those who have survived and are thriving despite their battle with the disease. The stories will be told in each woman's own words. Today, sisters Jean Trichel and Sherry Hood share their stories.)
Jean Trichel
It's hard to believe that it's been 22 years since I first received my breast cancer diagnosis.
How vivid it is still in my memory. I had waited all day for a call from the physician's assistant for my biopsy results.
It came at five o'clock on Friday the 13th, just a week after my 49th birthday.
I can remember my husband and daughter walking into the room about that time and we just hugged each other and cried.
It can be devastating to first hear that word because you don't know if it will become a death sentence.
I like to tell new cancer survivors that there is "life after cancer," but you won't be the same.
You find that inner strength that you need and maybe never knew that you had.
For me, my faith in my God and Savior, Jesus Christ, sustained me through that time.
I had the surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation treatments.
Losing all your hair can be depressing, but I was blessed when my hair came back naturally curly. No more perms for me!
It is so important to get your mammograms regularly, because it is curable if detected early. It feels really good to say that I have been cancer free for 22 years.
Sherry Hood
My story begins at age 71 on October 2020 when I was having a stress test for my heart.
I passed out at the facility and was rushed to the hospital.
The hospital ran an MRI that showed 2 brain meningiomas (1 large and 1 small).
Then the doctor recommended a mammogram to see if the tumors had metastasized from somewhere else in my body.
The brain tumors were not malignant, but the mammogram revealed a small mass in my right breast. My breast biopsy came back with my cancer diagnosis.
Then my doctor recommended a genetic screening test for hereditary cancer since my sister had also had breast cancer 22 years earlier.
The genetic test revealed a mutation of the ATM gene, which causes breast and pancreatic cancer at a higher rate of occurrence.
The genetic counselor recommended that my sister Jean and her daughter also have the genetic testing done. It revealed that both my sister and her daughter have the same ATM gene mutation.
My successful breast surgery was performed in February 2021 after a successful brain surgery in December 2020. Because of the ATM gene, chemo was recommended instead of radiation after surgery.
I recently finished my last chemo treatment at the end of August 2021.
I am so thankful for the great care of all my physicians and for the loving and healing grace of my God! I am a Cancer Survivor of 2021!
