Sunday, April 1, 2007
Staff photo by Gordon Chibroski
Meg Wolff of Cape Elizabeth adds asparagus to a plate of carrots and cabbage that she will use to create a stir-fry. Wolff, a survivor of both breast and bone cancer, follows a macrobiotic diet.
In the days following her March 22 announcement that cancer had returned to her body, Elizabeth Edwards said she was buoyed by all the messages of support she received from around the country.
One of the thousands of e-mails Edwards got was from Laurel Bezanson of South Portland, who was diagnosed with breast cancer 18 years ago.
Bezanson was 38 and her children were 4 and 11 when she was diagnosed. She underwent a bone marrow transplant and says she is now in remission.
Edwards is 57 and her youngest children are 6 and 8.
"I just sent an e-mail to say I'm really sorry, and all that stuff you say, and that I just want you to know that I'm an 18-year survivor, and that you and John decide what to do based on the essence of who you are," said Bezanson, a past president of the Maine Breast Cancer Coalition.
"Many survivors live full, rich lives, and I say that we are all survivors, because none of us fail. We may die, but we never give in to the disease. Elizabeth and John are the only ones who can choose how to live their lives."
Bezanson and several other Maine cancer survivors reacted similarly to the news of Edwards' cancer recurrence, just as her husband is starting his second campaign for the presidency.
FIGHTING ANEW
Edwards was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004, near the end of her husband's campaign as running mate to Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. She underwent several months of radiation and chemotherapy.
Edwards, a lawyer, also wrote the memoir "Saving Graces" in which she talks about her first bout with cancer, and the loss of the couple's son Wade at age 16 in a car wreck. After their son's death, the couple decided to have more children with the help of fertility treatments.
In the past weeks, Edwards' very public recurrence of cancer - which has been called incurable has been front-page news. Just days after Edwards' announcement, presidential spokesman Tony Snow announced that cancer has returned to his body, after being treated for colon cancer in 2005.
Edwards' condition has been more of a topic for public debate because of her husband's continuing campaign, and the fact that she has young children. But cancer survivors, because of their own experiences, may have a different take on Edwards' situation than the rest of us.
For instance, several Maine cancer survivors said that the constant development of new cancer drugs continues to make it more likely that someone with incurable cancer can live for a long time. They acknowledge that most treatments for cancer are physically demanding, and that
undergoing them in the middle of presidential campaign would certainly be trying. But while people have debated whether John Edwards should give up his campaign and care for his wife, some cancer survivors say that might not be the best thing, given that Elizabeth Edwards has said she didn't want her husband to leave the race.
They say that it's important for a person dealing with cancer to have positive things happening in their life.
"For each person it's different, but for her, maybe the fact that he is running helps her will to live," said Meg Wolff of Cape Elizabeth, a survivor of both bone and breast cancer. "Anything you can do that makes you feel better, diet or other things you do for yourself, is important. It can raise your endorphins, and that helps strengthen your body's immune system."
Edwards' recurrence struck a chord with Wolff, because her own children were 8 and 12 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998. She had lost a leg to bone cancer eight years earlier. For her breast cancer, she underwent a mastectomy and received chemotherapy, but says her prognosis was "grim."
So being a mother of two young children, she decided to try whatever she could to live longer, and she eventually learned that a macrobiotic diet - based on whole grains, beans and vegetables, with no dairy and no meat - was found by some cancer patients to help greatly. Now, after years of strictly following the diet, Wolff says she is healthier than ever.
"I was highly motivated," said Wolff of her finding and following a macrobiotic diet.
LIVING WITH THE DISEASE
Carmen Darkis of Bangor, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1988, said it is important for people to realize that Edwards' cancer recurrence is "not a death sentence" but that there is "no magic cure" either.
"I've been living with it all these years and she will too," said Darkis, 64. "Treatment is a lot different than it was even five years ago."
Darkis can relate to Edwards because cancer has recurred with her as well. After being diagnosed in 1988, she had a mastectomy, and was told she didn't need further treatment. Then in 1993, a tumor was found on her chest wall and she underwent radiation treatment. A couple years later, she noticed her sternum getting larger, and a bone scan showed her condition was worsening.
"I figured I was doomed," said Darkis.
Then she started using a new drug, and began improving. After several years, that drug stopped working and for the past four years she's been on another drug.
"I'm still here, I'm where I should be," said Darkis, who bowls three times a week and volunteers with the Maine Breast Cancer Coalition.
Darkis can see both sides of the Edwardses' dilemma, but leans a little more on the side of John Edwards not running.
"It will be important for her to concentrate on her disease. She has little children and she will get tired," said Darkis. "Having a positive attitude helps, but maybe this isn't the right time for him. Maybe he should see how she does in treatment first."
Anne Palmer of Belfast was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1989, and went through treatments that were largely successful. Then in 2004 she found that the cancer had come back.
But Palmer, 66, says that because of constant improvement in drugs, cancer is "becoming a chronic disease" that people live with for years.
She said that she attended a breast cancer conference in Texas in December and heard about a drug that had just been approved. A short time later, she took the drug herself and says that it already has helped improve her condition.
Palmer says it's important for Edwards or any cancer patient to always be aware of the chance for recurrence, even when allowing themselves to be happy with successful treatments.
As for whether Edwards would be better off if her husband was not running for president while she undergoes treatment, Palmer says that's a "decision they have to reach together."
"I imagine she would feel guilty" if her husband gave up his campaign on her account, Palmer said. "Now whether or not she can deal with the stress (of a campaign), the answer is probably yes. But it'll be about knowing yourself, your limits, and having faith in her (doctors.)"
Palmer said that Edwards' openness about her battle can only help people.
"I give her tremendous credit for being open. It helps all of us," said Palmer.
Bezanson, who is 56, agrees that Edwards is helping to bring attention to cancer, but she hopes that people will take the time to think about all the other people dealing with breast cancer as well.
"When you look at Elizabeth Edwards, I want you to think about the hundreds and hundreds of grass-roots volunteers, survivors, who don't want their lives to be defined by the disease, just as she doesn't," said Bezanson.
Staff Writer Ray Routhier can be contacted at 791-6454 or at:
rrouthier@pressherald.com
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Seriously. Catching cancer early on and getting after it is critical. Avoiding lifestyle issues that appear related to cancer is also wise, although some people do get this who live "perfect" lives...
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