For Rhonda Christian, life as a breast cancer survivor is filled with moments of small horror.
She remembers the moment in March when tests at Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center revealed what might be a small mass, amid planning for her and husband Ernie’s honeymoon in Jamaica. There was the moment when her husband insisted on getting it checked out in Seattle, on a more accurate, updated machine.
And then there was the moment when she woke up from anesthesia and looked down, and her breast was gone.
“I don’t know how to describe it,” she said. “The hardest part was seeing the love and concern in my husband’s eyes.”
Beyond the horror, there are the lists of people she says she owes debts of gratitude.
“I’m very grateful to my husband,” she said. “’Whatever you need, whatever I can do,’ is what I’ve gotten from him. I’ve actually never received more support from anyone in my life than from my husband.”
“He’s the strong one,” she added.
Then there are the doctors, in particular AICS, but also the other doctors at Mt. Edgecombe and Swedish Hospital, and the Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital Board of Directors who, in part because of a letter Rhonda wrote, updated their equipment.
“The way everybody worked together as one to make me whole again was just amazing,” she said. “That’s where the real story is.”
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month. Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer reported among Alaskan women, according to data collected by the state Department of Health and Social Services. It accounts for about a third of all cases of cancer in women reported between 1996 and 2011. Nationwide, more than 200,000 cases of breast cancer were reported last year alone. Locally, the Wrangell Medical Center is offering discounted mammograms during the month of October.
The procedure, recommended annually for women over 40, uses x-rays to look for cancer in the breast, and costs $290.03, including the radiologist fee. The discount comes to about 47 percent. Wrangell Medical Center has employed a digital machine since 2008, and obtained a new machine in July, according to Maureen Maxand an imaging technician with the hospital.
In the meantime, Rhonda has received a replacement breast created from tissue from other parts of her body. She has undergone repeated surgeries to deal with infections from her first operation. And she has obtained a new outlook on life.
“I don’t want to miss anything,” she said.
Ernie and Rhonda are even planning to finally take their long-delayed honeymoon.
“She likes the warm and sunny areas,” Ernie said. “I wouldn’t say she’s the only one.”
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