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HEALTHY LIFE: CANCER
August 29-30, 2012
Continued
progress
in battling
cancer
This Healthy Living sec-
tion, the third in a series
being published by Pamplin
Media Group, addresses
the most complex topic of
all — the various types of
cancer that touch so many
families within our commu-
nities.
Cancer is such a complicat-
ed subject because every
form of the disease is differ-
ent. Individuals who are fac-
ing a cancer diagnosis enter
a confusing world of testing,
tumor staging and treatment
options that can be over-
whelming to navigate.
It is a frustrating and
frightening experience, but
the encouraging news is that
the Portland area has tre-
mendous resources available
for cancer patients and their
families. Local hospitals, clin-
ics and foundations offer up-
to-date technology, compas-
sionate and knowledgeable
physicians, excellent support
services and the latest in
cancer research.
Portland is also a good
place to learn about preven-
tion and lifestyle changes that
can help avoid cancer or make
its recurrence less likely.
In this section, we high-
light many of the services
available in Portland. We also
recount the stories of cancer
survivors who offer proof
that cancer is increasingly
becoming a treatable disease
— life-altering but certainly
not always life-ending.
Portland-area residents
are battling cancer on many
fronts — through research,
treatment and support
groups, and through the
money they donate to cancer-
related charities. It is a battle
no one asks for, but one in
which noticeable progress is
being made right here in
Portland.
— J. MARK GARBER
President and publisher
Portland Tribune and
Community Newspapers
Cancer services strive to treat
THE ‘WHOLE PERSON’
By NANCY TOWNSLEY
Pamplin Media Group
Even before she received her diagnosis in
August 2011, Valerie Day was not at all naive
about her chances of someday getting cancer.
“My mom had breast cancer when she was a lit-
tle older than I am now,” Day, a Portland resident,
said. “I knew cancer was in the family.”
Still, Day—amarried 52-year-oldwith a teenage
son at home—didn’t give her hereditary predispo-
sition to the disease a whole lot of thought. That is,
until her annual mammogram turned up some-
thing suspicious.
“My life was going along fine, and I wasn’t really
at all concerned,” noted Day, a Portland State Uni-
versity adjunct professor who formerly sang lead
vocals with Nu Shooz, the 1980s dance band she
started with her husband, John Smith.
Just about a year ago, Day went in for a second
mammogram after something on the first one
looked “a bit funny,” she said. A day or so later, her
radiologist called to say she needed to have a biop-
sy.
While waiting nervously for the results of that
diagnostic test, Day’smindwas crowdedwith ques-
tions. Who should she tell if the news wasn’t good?
What course of treatment would be best? Would
insurance cover everything?
An optimistic person by nature, Day decided that
— other than confiding in her husband — she’d
stay mum on the subject, just in case there was
nothing to worry about.
But the lump in her breast turned out to be ma-
lignant. In an instant, thingswere in “total turmoil,”
Day said. “Life as I knew it had been turned on its
head.”
She immediately phoned a friend who had re-
cently undergone treatment for breast cancer. “She
said, ‘The first call you should make is to the nurse
navigator at Providence,’” Day recalled.
Hardest part
Her friend’s advice became a lifesaver for Day,
who contacted Providence Health & Services in
Portland right away. She connected with Sue Cook,
manager of the health care provider’s breast center,
who steered her toward Cheri Wick, the center’s
main nurse navigator.
Cook, who pioneered the nurse navigator con-
cept at Providence, calls it a “one-stop shopping
model” for patients just beginning to enter the
maze of choices and issues that come with a breast
cancer diagnosis.
“We know what a woman goes through,” said
Cook, whose work takes her between Providence
PortlandMedical Center on the east side of the city
and Providence St. Vincent Medical Center to the
west. “We think of the word ‘navigating’ as being
guided toward your next steps.”
For Day, the hardest part, at least at first, was the
unknown. But Wick took her hand and walked her
through the difficult, confusing initial weeks.
“She has this great combination of insight, car-
ing and the big picture,” noted Day. “I had so many
questions.”
Critical period
Many women meet with staff at Providence’s
breast center even before they’re diagnosed. “If
they present to the doctorwith a breast lump, we’re
there,” Cook noted. At the moment a biopsy enters
the equation, patients are offered the opportunity
to meet withWick, which typically happens within
48 to 72 hours.
ToWick, it’s a critical time period.
“We know women are rightfully anxious about
what their results will be,” she said. If she tests
positive for cancer, awoman is introduced to an im-
aging nurse navigator, who handles x-rays and ul-
trasounds, and an oncology nurse navigator, who
works closely with the oncologist on the case.
OnceWick knows a patient has been informed of
a malignancy, “I call her to let her know what we
can offer her in terms of help,” she said.
That’s a key point, added Cook. “We reach out to
the patient instead of the other way around,” she
said. “We knowthey’re in shock.We can’t take away
all the fear and anxiety, but we do what we can.”
One way to soothe a newly diagnosed woman’s
jitters is to match her with a cancer survivor who
had a similar diagnosis.
“We have many well-trained volunteers who
have beaten cancer,” Wick said. “They can help fill
in some of those blanks so you’re not out there
floundering. It’s kind of magical.”
In Day’s case, her cancer was Stage 1, with no
lymph node involvement, an illness that’s generally
considered highly curable.
Still, she underwent an “aggressive” treatment
regimen, including chemotherapy and radiation.
Day’s surgeon gave her a great boost when she de-
clared, after successfully removing her tumor last
fall, that she’d “have to find another way to die,”
Day noted. “I loved theway she injected humor into
a serious situation.”
And, Dr. Ken Weizer, a naturopath with Provi-
dence’s integrative medicine clinic, provided Day
with other forms of helpful care — smoothies for
gastrointestinal upsets, for example — to ease her
way as she moved forward.
“I lost my hair and my fingernails got weird, but
I still was living the rest of my life,” Day said. “Ken
was just wonderful. His care through my treat-
ments just helped me to get along beautifully.”
PMG PHOTO: JAIME VALDEZ
Valerie Day, who was diagnosed with breast cancer one year ago in August, recently went to Providence St.
Vincent Medical Center for a post-treatment mammogram.
CONTINUED / Page 4
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Helping patients
navigate the maze
of treatment options
is a goal at area centers
Who to call
■
Providence Health & Services’ Cancer Center:
503-215-6014
■
Legacy Health Cancer Healing Center:
503-413-650
■
Adventist Health Cancer Care Services:
503-257-2500
■
Tuality/OHSU Cancer Center:
503-681-4200