COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL • OCTOBER 10, 2018 •
CANCER
from A6
me up with a second mammogram
and an ultrasound Dec. 26 and, on
Jan. 5, I had a biopsy. I believe it was
either last Monday or Tuesday [Oct.
8 or 9] that I got the diagnosis — and
the … it’s not just shock that you’re
having something eating you, but the
kindness of the people. Th e unbeliev-
able kindness.”
[In 2016, PeaceHealth unveiled
its new 3D mammography machine.
Th e purchase had been the result of
a community fundraising campaign
aft er the previous machine was deemed
obsolete. Th e hospital noted that the
3D technology would allow patients to
undergo scans in Cottage Grove, rather
than travelling to Eugene. Th e machine
would also be able to detect potential
health issues at an early stage. Th is is
the machine Jeppesen had her initial
scans on.]
“From the very beginning, you’re
not left alone. My own doctor, Dr.
Peterson, called me with the diagnosis
and that had to be hard, very hard for
someone. My surgeon was wonderful,
my oncologist was wonderful. Th e
very fi rst time I met him I said, ‘What
do I do? What’s the pro-cess?’ And he
said, ‘Well, you answer the phone and
you show up when you’re supposed
to.’ So, I didn’t have to make my own
appointments. Willamette Valley
Cancer Institute in Eugene, you check
in once and you’re cared for all the
way through.
“An MRI is pretty much laying on
a bed, in a tube with a jackhammer.
It’s just noisy. It doesn’t hurt, it’s just
noisy. Clank, clank, clank, clank. You
have to have an MRI aft er the biopsy,
to pin-point exactly where you are.
So, you’re lying on your stomach with
what feels like a 2x4 between your
breasts and then they put you in with
the jackhammer. But, there was just,
you’re just taken care of every inch of
the way.
“I’ve never ever been late for my
mammogram. My husband passed
away almost 10 years ago, so my job
— so my children aren’t orphans — is
to do whatever I’m supposed to. Th ey
caught this so early and it was grow-
ing very quickly.”
[According to the National Cancer
Institute, breast cancer is the second
most common cause of cancer death
in America but the number of women
who have died from the disease has
been steadily declining since 1989
thanks to early detection.]
“Th ere are diff erent types of breast
cancer and I have two diff erent types.
One is called triple negative because
it isn’t this or that or this. Th ree neg-
atives and there you are. It spreads on
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a cellular level and it’s very aggressive
and it doesn’t need a tumor to get
going. It just needs one little escapee.
Th ey did the surgery, which they very
seldom do mastectomies anymore,
they’ll do partials, everything has
improved that much more.
[Th e U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, the number of double
mastectomies tripled between 2005 and
2013 but have since been on the decline
and a larger percentage of mastecto-
mies in the cases of cancer have been
requested by the patient. ]
“But 20 percent of what I have —
had — is HR2, which is hormone
related. Estrogen receptor and his
handwriting is legible, so much better
than mine. A doctor wrote that, isn’t
that amaz-ing?”
[On a sheet of paper in the binder
Jeppesen keeps full of meal delivery
options, all of her diag-nosis paper-
work and doctors’ contact information
is a sheet of white paper with black
ink scribbled over it explaining her
diagnosis. Th e phrasing takes it away
from the multi-syllable medical terms
and brings it to one, simple conclusion
written at the end of a line of explana-
tion: “You are curable.” ]
“I started every other week, two
diff erent types of chemo so that was
eight weeks total and then I switched
over to a medication and that was to
be 12 weeks and then I had radiation
af-ter that. It makes you very ill. Th e
very fi rst treatment, they have bays
of chairs and I was told I’d be in this
chair and it was a nurse with her back
towards me and on the seat of her
britches it said ‘rebel’ so I knew I’d
be fi ne. It is, not everyone gets all the
side eff ects. Th e only thing I missed
was nausea. I had bleeding, fi nger-
nails, skin, shortness of breath — I
don’t think I missed much. Sores in
your mouth, food didn’t taste good.
If it hadn’t been for the VanGorders,
I may have starved to death because I
literally could not cook.
“I have fi nished chemo and radia-
tion. I was just starting to get all my
energy back when I had to begin the
hormone blocker and that has its own
side eff ects.”
[Th e American Cancer Society
reports that some types of breast cancer
are aff ected by hormones in the blood.
Some cancer cells have receptors that
attach to estrogen, which helps them
to grow. Hormone therapy is a way to
stop estrogen from attaching to these
receptors.]
“Th ey caught it very early and
treatment was aggressive. I had a port,
you can still see the scar a little bit.
You have this little lump under your
skin and they hit it with a thumbtack
so they can feed the medication into
you without having to fi nd a vein each
time. It’s already there, it’s a hole, it’s
7A
ready to go. I ended up with a blood
clot in my jugular vein but I went on
blood thinner and it took care of it.
I got off pretty easy with the blood
thinners — I had a few falls. Th at
Feb-ruary we had some black ice and
I walk my dog every morning. I think
I’ve missed one morning since I’ve
been sick but I put my foot down on
the metal divider on the bridge and
down I went.
“What they tell you when you have
your fi nal treatment and what you
don’t really believe until you’re there
is, ‘Congratulations, this is your last
day but it’s going to continue to burn
and get a lot worse over the next
couple of weeks’ and my goodness, it
does.
“We have no family history of can-
cer and so it’s, you know, ‘oh breast
cancer, yeah that’s too bad’ and then
suddenly you’re there. But, my sister
and all three of my daughters got
their mammograms within a month
aft er I was diagnosed. It’s, you just go
through the gate and suddenly you’re
not the same person you were.”
Editor’s Note: Th is interview was
edited for length and clarity. If you or
someone you know would like to share
your breast cancer story with Th e Senti-
nel, please email cmay@cgsentinel.com.
Outdoor burning season further delayed until Oct. 20
Th e fall outdoor burning
season will open on Satur-
day, Oct. 20, for many Lane
County residents. Th e sea-
son, originally set to start
Oct. 1, was delayed until Oct.
13 then pushed back further
due to continued fi re danger.
Th e Lane County Fire
Defense Board and Oregon
Department of Forestry de-
cided to postpone the open-
ing of the season in Lane
County since weather condi-
tions have been too dry.
Th e small amounts of
precipitation the county has
seen this week has not been
enough to reduce fi re risks
and allow residential out-
door burning.
Outdoor burning, also
known as open or backyard
burning, allows some Lane
County residents to burn
dry woody yard debris that
was generated on their own
residential property.
Rules concerning out-
door burning diff er through-
out the county, with some
cities banning burning with-
in city limits all together.
Before starting a fi re, all
residents must check the dai-
ly burning advisory, which
indicates to the community
if burning is prohibited on a
given day. Th e advisory also
tells residents when all fi res
must be extinguished by.
Th e daily burning advi-
sory can be found by calling
Lane Regional Air Protec-
tion Agency’s advisory line
at 541-726-3976 or by visit-
ing www.lrapa.org.
To prevent any uncon-
trolled fi res, the Fire Defense
Board reminds all residents
that all outdoor burning
must be constantly attended
until extinguished with wa-
ter nearby.
Due to the heavy wild-
fi re smoke intrusions this
summer, LRAPA encourages
residents to explore alterna-
tives to burning. Residents
can dispose of woody yard
debris for a minimal charge
at one of Lane County’s var-
ious collection depots or
with Rexius and Lane Forest
Products.
Chipping and compost-
ing are also alternative op-
tions to burning.
ccb# 217560
In
Honor
of All
Veterans
The Cottage Grove Sentinel is preparing to publish its
“Salute to Vets” a special section devoted to all military veterans
who are Cottage Grove-area residents or have a connection to this
area.
If you are interested in sharing your military story in the annual
Veterans Day publication, or in updating information that we have
published previously, please complete the form below and submit
it to the Cottage Grove Sentinel. Service photographs are also
welcome.
Submit forms and photos (preferably) by e-mail to cgnews@
cgsentinel.com; or by mail to Cottage Grove Sentinel, Attn: Caitlyn
May, PO Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424; or drop forms off at
the Cottage Grove Sentinel, 116 N. 6th Street, Cottage Grove.
Please be sure that all materials are carefully labeled with your
name and phone number. ALL FORMS AND PHOTOGRAPHS
MUST BE SUBMITTED BY OCTOBER 31, 2018.
Thank you for participating in this project to remember and
honor our veterans.
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Name: ___________________________________________________________________________
Contact Phone Number: _____________________________________________________________
Branch of Service: _________________________________________________________________
Rank Achieved (optional): ___________________________________________________________
Dates Served: _____________________________________________________________________
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Where did you serve? _______________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
Special Information (E.G., POW): _____________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
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_________________________________________________________________________________
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Has your veterans information been published previously in the Cottage Grove Sentinel Veterans Publication?
YES
NO
Do we have your military photo(s) on À le? YES
NO
(Note: If you have submitted photos in the past, we will still have them on À le.)
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