A diagnosis years in the making

When Meg Barker was diagnosed with breast cancer in August, she was relieved. After years of waiting for the disease to show up, she finally had a path to dealing with it.

Barker’s feelings on her cancer diagnosis differ from most. However, after watching her mother Janice Schultz lose the battle with breast cancer in 1994, she knew it could eventually happen to her.

Schultz was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1980 at the age of 45. A mastectomy was performed and she did well for a few years, but almost a decade later, symptoms began to come back.

“She was having pain in her back, and she had the misfortune to have an oncologist who did not believe her. He wasn’t seeing anything in the MRI and told her he was suffering from empty nest syndrome and just to go take a walk when she was feeling blue,” Barker said. About two years later, around 1991, Schultz saw a new doctor who found a tumor. “It was like, thank God, [because] we knew she had cancer.”

Schultz went through chemotherapy and radiation, and doctors thought she was good to go. However, in 1993, cancer cells related to the breast cancer showed up around her lungs.

“She battled that through most of ‘94 and was not considered terminal, but the treatments back then were really hard on the body and she could not keep anything down, so she just did not have the strength to fight it,” Barker said. “She had the will and continued to give piano lessons into September of ‘94, and she died right after Thanksgiving of that year.”

When Schultz died, all of Barker’s children were under the age of 5, with one not yet born.

“When your parent has cancer, the fear that you feel, the helplessness that you feel... and when you have little kids? The first thing I told my dad when I saw him when she died was that my kids got screwed because she was a wonderful grandma,” Barker said.

This played heavily into the treatment Barker sought for herself when she got her cancer diagnosis.

“Barrett and Nellie - and the two grandbabies we’re expecting before Christmas - are a big reason why I made the decisions I did and why I wanted to have the surgery and start recovering as soon as possible,” Barker said. “I want my grandkids to have the time to create memories with me that my kids were denied with my mom.”

Diagnosis

Barker had abnormal results on her Aug. 5 mammogram. From there, it didn’t take long to get a diagnosis. At 62 years old, Barker was ready to do whatever was necessary to expedite her healing process and reduce the risk of cancer returning in the future.

“I told my husband, ‘I want to have the bilateral mastectomy,’ and he said, ‘that’s exactly what I would do,’” Barker said. “As soon as I told him that’s what I wanted to do, all the fear that I’d had for the past 31 years was gone and I was calm.”

According to the Mayo Clinic, surgery to remove both breasts reduces the risk of recurrent breast cancer by 90% to 95%. Barker said that though her cancer was caught at a very early stage, she wanted to take every option to lessen the chance of it returning in the future.

“If I did just the one side, I would still be worrying every year when I went for a mammogram, ‘OK, am I going to have it on the other side?’ I can’t live like that,” Barker said.

Less than two months after the mammogram, Barker had her bilateral mastectomy Oct. 1. By Monday, Oct. 6, she found out the cancer was completely gone.

“The lymph nodes showed nothing and there was nothing in the margins around the tumor. It’s just such a relief,” Barker said. However, her situation could have been much worse if the tumor hadn’t been caught so early.

The year prior, Barker accidentally skipped her mammogram due to her busy schedule. However, when she got a reminder from her hospital in late spring, she knew she had to get in for an appointment.

“All I could think of was, what if I’d done that this year? Self-exams are important, but [with] the location of the tumor, I could not feel it,” Barker said. “That’s why it’s so important to go in there and get that done.”

Just a week after her surgery, Barker said she was feeling great.

“I’ve had no pain from the surgery. I was really tired the first three days,” Barker said. “Saturday, I told my husband, I feel like I did when I had COVID, just so tired. I love to read, and I couldn’t get through two pages. Sunday, I felt like nothing had happened to me. I felt almost 100%.”

Though Barker’s situation turned out well, she knows firsthand that this isn’t always the case. She is using her diagnosis as a reminder for the importance of mammograms.

“Just get in there. Get your mammograms done. Don’t let anything cause you to put it off,” Barker said. “It’s so easy to let our busy lives get in the way and we can’t do that. It’s just too important. Don’t wait another day.”

Self-exams

The earlier cancer is caught, the better the outcome is likely to be.

Most medical organizations suggest women begin doing breast self-exams every month starting at about 20 years old. Breast self-exams are used as an early detection tool, combining physical and visual examinations of the breasts to check for signs of breast cancer.

“The purpose of a breast self-exam is to become familiar with the way your breasts normally look and feel,” explains the National Breast Cancer Foundation. “Knowing how your breasts normally look and feel will help you identify any changes or abnormalities in your breasts, such as a new lump or skin changes.”

The best time to perform a self-exam is a few days after a women’s period ends. Post-menopausal women should do a self-exam on the same day of each month for hormonal consistency.

The National Breast Cancer Foundation provides a step-by-step guide on how to properly perform a breast self-exam. Each step should be performed every month.

Any changes discovered should be reported to one’s healthcare provider. While 8 out of 10 lumps are not cancerous, caution is key to catching cancer early.

Mammograms

Starting about the age of 40, it is recommended women begin getting annual mammograms as well. A mammogram is a low-dose X-ray of breasts that can detect many changes that are too small or deep to feel in a self-exam.

Creston’s Greater Regional Health is able to perform mammograms thanks to their radiology department.

“You can see your provider and discuss with them your breast health. They will put in an order for a mammogram and either you can call radiology and schedule it at your convenience or your provider’s nurse will schedule it with us,” the hospital explains. “If your provider is not with Greater Regional Health but you would like to get a mammogram scheduled, please call radiology at (641) 782-3508 to make an appointment.”

Assistance is also offered for those without insurance and/or unable to pay. Those interested are encouraged to contact Union County Public Health at (641) 782-3545 to learn about the various cancer screening programs available.