When Susan was a freshman in college, she had a dinner she will never forget. She was sharing a meal with her boyfriend and his family when his dad, a physical therapist, noticed something in her neck and encouraged her to get it checked out. She had numerous scans done and faced a terrifying time when her doctor believed she had cancer. She underwent surgery and, thankfully, miraculously, did not have any evidence of cancer.
We fight for those who are fighting this horrible disease and those who will fight in the future. We will fight until we find a cure! But we need Congress to continue fighting with us.
Twenty-two years later, she began struggling to breathe when she was lying flat. She started sleeping in a recliner and continued to visit the doctor in search of an answer. Despite numerous tests, no results – but her problem persisted. Every time she received an ultrasound, her breathing got worse. She was finally able to get into a specialist and pick up her medical records. Reading her own report, she knew she was in trouble.
The report explained how large the cyst in her neck had grown, and they moved forward with a second thyroid surgery. Thankfully, the surgery was a success, and the cancer they found was encapsulated. As an extra precaution, Susan was given a dose of radiation. As she shared: “My boys were young, and I was relatively young. I wanted a second step to prevent spreading.”
While she has not again faced another cancer diagnosis, cancer has touched her life in too many ways. She’s lost too many family members to cancer, and many members of her family have received genetic testing. She advocates for cancer research so her sons and grandkids will never receive the dreaded call, “I think you have cancer.”