South Green Lake resident Susan McKie is an active, hard-working community volunteer who is very involved in the local volunteer fire department and the Green Lake Snowmobile Club.
Susan is also a breast cancer survivor.
She was 47 years old and she developed a lump in her breast, so she went to her doctor.
It was diagnosed as a cyst and they did a needle biopsy to drain some of the fluid, she says, adding it was determined to be a harmless cyst.
About a year later, she had another larger and more painful lump, so she went the doctor but was told not to worry about it because it was “just another cyst.”
Susan’s doctor left her practice shortly after that meeting, so she went to see the new doctor who told her to get another mammogram.
The diagnosis
After having the mammogram, she was called into his office.
It was then the 48-year-old married mother of a 16- and an 18-year-old daughters was told she had breast cancer and that is was “serious.”
“You’re kind of in a daze when they tell you, so I asked him what’s the worst-case scenario and he said six months.”
Two weeks passed before she got a call to come in for a test.
“It was the longest weeks of my life. I thought I was going to die because we didn’t know what the prognosis was at that time.
“So, you’re just thinking, ‘OK, how long do I have’. Peter [her husband] and I were dealing with that and we hadn’t told the girls or anybody at that point.”
Meeting the team
Susan and Peter met with the oncologist and a team of doctors at the clinic, and they went over her tests.
“They told us they could treat me with standard chemotherapy, or I could go on a clinical trial and they would treat me with very aggressive chemo. I asked the oncologist if I was his wife what would he recommend and he said going on the clinical trial.”
Normally, they treat patients with surgery and then they go on chemo and they do radiation, she explains.
“But, my tumour was over 10 centimetres, they had to do chemo first to try to shrink it.”
Starting treatment
Susan started with four sessions of regular chemo, with each session two weeks apart.
“I reacted quite well to the sessions. I had nausea and that, but not really severe.”
That was followed by four sessions of the more aggressive chemo three weeks apart; however, they were eight-hour session.
Susan says she didn’t react as well to these sessions.
“It was pretty tough and I was pretty well ready to pack it in, but you keep going because the end is in sight and you need to stay strong for you family.”
When the oncologist told her the tumour was shrinking after the fifth session, she says it gave her hope and helped her to keep pushing forward.
Her chemotherapy sessions started in October 1999 and ended in March 2000.
The recovery
After the eight chemo sessions, Susan was given time to recover.
“I was really fortunate because I was strong and my body healthy other than the cancer. I recovered very well compared to a lot of other people.”
While her blood counts went down initially, they came back up again, she says, adding that was really important because it all her to move into the next chemo session.
Surgery
In April 2000, Susan had single mastectomy surgery that went well.
“I really didn’t know what to expect. You’re having part of your body taken off, and to women, your figure is important and you’re worried whether your husband is going to still find you attractive.
“Peter and I talked about it and he was very supportive, but there can be consequences in some relationships.”
During the surgery, doctors removed 12 lymph nodes from her arm pit, and three showed signs of cancer.
Radiation treatments
She started radiation treatments in June 2000 to catch any cancer cells that may have migrated to other parts of that area.
She attended sessions Monday through Friday for four weeks, and said the only reaction was that it made her very tired.
Support group
Susan says she went to a support group at the cancer clinic where they taught women to apply makeup to make you feel good because you’ve lost all your hair. They taught you how to use scarves if you don’t want to wear wigs, she adds.
“I think it’s good to have the support group of women who are dealing with similar experience as you are because you can talk about stuff that you can’t discuss with your family and friends.”
Staying positive
Noting she is a positive person, Susan says she was confident she could overcome the cancer.
“Peter was also positive and I had a great support system. [Her daughters] were there for me, as were two good girlfriends and my family.”
Just prior to discovering she had breast cancer, Susan and Peter had purchased property at Green Lake and they came up to rest, relax and recuperate every weekend after the chemo sessions.
New lease on life
Susan says surviving cancer definitely gave her a new lease on life.
“I don’t think you really appreciate your life until you face a life-threatening illness. Then it makes you realize you should be thankful for what you have.
“Not everyone is fortunate enough to make it through. None of us know how many more days we have. “You can’t think negatively; you have to carry on.”
Tips for women
If women think there may be something wrong with them, they should go check it out.
“You know your body, so if something isn’t right, get it checked out. And if you’re still concerned, insist that the doctors do something, whether it’s a biopsy or they remove a cyst or whatever.
“Don’t feel embarrassed to be your own advocate. Most of all, you have to stay positive, and take it one day at a time
Life goes on
Susan returned to work as an office manager in October of 2000.
Five years later, she had reconstructive surgery.
Peter and Susan moved to Green Lake and started building their retirement home in 2006 and moved in August 2007.
Now, she enjoys doting over her grandchildren, taking long walks, snowmobiling, quadding and doing other outdoor activities.
Susan lives every moment of every day and is thankful for the time she has with her family and friends.
