Sheila Bolton talks about having breast cancer
Episode Stats
Words per Minute
184.21053
Summary
My wife Sheila was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, and we have a long way to go to beat this thing. On August 17th and 18th, I ll be riding in the Ride to Conquer Cancer in Calgary, and I ll tell you how you can help support Sheila and help fight cancer in just a moment.
Transcript
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Hello, it's John, and I'm doing right now what I'd normally be doing when I have some time off.
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I'm riding my bike. Very often people ask me why I ride, and I tell them it's because it's good for
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my mental and physical health, and it's fun. But this year I'm riding my bike for another reason.
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I'm riding to fight cancer. My wife Sheila was recently diagnosed with breast cancer,
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and she, we, have a long way to go to beat this thing. On August 17th and 18th,
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I'll be riding in the Ride to Conquer Cancer here in Calgary, and I'll tell you how you can help
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support Sheila and help fight cancer in just a moment. But first, I'd like you to take a couple
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of minutes to hear Sheila's story. I found out I had breast cancer at the end of March this year.
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I was in the shower, noticed that my nipple wasn't really reacting the same way as the other one was,
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so I started doing a lump check. I was actually afraid to tell my husband that I'd found a lump.
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I'd actually gone back to work, which I was working up north at the time, and called my doctor, made an
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appointment, and then called my husband to let him know why we were going to see the doctor.
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It was very scary for me at that time. Well, after we talked to the doctor, I had a biopsy done,
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mammogram, ultrasound. I think the most worrisome part was when they came in and they told us that
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there was a worrisome lump in my ultrasound pictures. So we went and had the biopsy done.
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That was, I won't say painless, but it was a procedure that was very difficult. We waited for
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our 10 days for our results to come in, and I was told I had cancer. Given I had 10 days to
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listen to my brain in regards to what was going to happen, I figured with family history, I was ready
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for double mastectomy. I was ready to have them both gone. I thought of cancer as a parasite. I
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wanted it out of my body, and I didn't want it to have any opportunity to come back. So family history,
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all of my aunts on my mom's side of the family have had breast cancer. In fact, they've had breast
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cancer more than once, most of them. My aunt Ardeth passed away from breast cancer. It had gone
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elsewhere in her body. I don't know that I can say that I've always checked for breast cancer,
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because I don't, and I don't think any woman can tell you she does her monthly check like she should.
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I think I was more surprised that I noticed a change and that I realized I was actually looking
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for changes in my breasts than actually checking for lumps on a regular basis. So we went in and saw
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our oncologist surgeon. There are more than one type of oncologist, one thing I've learned since I've
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had cancer. The oncologist surgeon advised that we didn't need to do a double mastectomy. We didn't
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even need to do a single mastectomy. He advised, because of the research over the last five years,
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with this type of breast cancer, I could have a lumpectomy and a lymphectomy, and that should
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provide us with all of the information we needed to proceed with cancer treatment.
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We received the pathology reports, and I have been cleared for the breast cancer. The breast cancer
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lump and all of its surrounding tissue has been removed. However, there were cancer cells found
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in my lymph nodes. That doesn't mean I have cancer in my lymph nodes. It means there are cancer cells
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that have gotten out of the breast and are in the body. First place that they would be seen would be in
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the lymph node. So next step is I'm going to have chemotherapy. After chemotherapy, I'll have
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radiation. At the same time as radiation, I will have drug therapy because my cancer is fed by hormones,
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which is another thing that they found with this specific cancer with the research they've been able
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to do. My advice to women is get checked. Get checked regularly. Do the tests you're supposed to do.
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Do your mammograms. I found a cyst. I didn't find the cancer. They found the cancer by the mammogram
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because I found a cyst. Make sure you're getting your tests done. You know, I had wonderful treatment
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so far. I would love to have other people have that type of treatment. Please help us help them.
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Chances are you know somebody, or sadly, somebody you know has passed away because of cancer.
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But luckily, because of donations by people like you, more people are surviving this terrible disease.
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By clicking the link below, you can help people like Sheila and others who are trying to survive cancer.
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You know, I love every bike ride I go on, but this year I'm going to be riding for the woman I love.