Linda and Sue
Left to right: Linda and Sue
By Linda, a Sister Study participant from Missouri
Sue, my sister, is 8 years older than I. We have a brother between us. When we were growing up, I was just the little sister, the nuisance. I knew since I was in 3rd grade that I wanted to go to nursing school. So when I was 13, and Sue announced she was going to medical school, I was really mad—I thought she was again trying to upstage me. Remember, I was at that obnoxious age. We lived in the same city as the medical school (University of Missouri-Columbia) so she lived at home. Our telephone was just outside the door of her bedroom/study and we used to get into horrible arguments over my being on the phone—it was a teenage thing, you know. As I look back, I am sure that I was totally unreasonable but those 4 years were full of ups and downs for us as sisters. When she took an internship at Parkland in Dallas, I actually felt glad she was leaving. But, when the day came for her to leave, we both cried our hearts out. From then on, we have been the best of friends, through highs and lows, good times and bad
It was one day in early 1980 that she called to tell me she was having a breast biopsy because she had found a lump. She was 39 years old! As we talked, we assured each other that it was probably nothing, that only 1 out of ten women have breast cancer, etc. I assured our parents that it would be routine. When she called to tell us the results, we were absolutely devastated. Just the previous year, we had already lost a cousin to cancer and I lost a daughter to Reye's syndrome. How much could one family bear? She was to have a mastectomy in a few days. Our parents, my brother and I got in the car and headed to Dallas to be with her for the surgery. She had a modified radical mastectomy, and after much research, she opted to have both chemotherapy and radiation. We knew it was very hard for her to endure. The chemotherapy was so toxic she was nauseated most of the time, her hair came out, and we were so far away from her. Thank God for a very devoted bunch of friends and a partner who was incredibly supportive. By the grace of God and the support of all those wonderful people and of her family, she made it through a year of chemo and radiation. On the last day of treatment, she left for Canada with 5 other women to begin a 10-week canoe journey on the Yukon river.
That was in 1981 and she continues to travel the world and do some very unusual things. When faced with her own mortality, I think she took stock in her life and decided to live it to the fullest. Even now, she only works 3 days a week so she can have the other time to travel and play. She is also a very talented singer, and she and her partner Jude sing with "The Women's Chorus of Dallas" who debuted the "Sing for the Cure" oratorio in Dallas in 2000. It is a collection of songs and orations about women who have experienced breast cancer. The debut was narrated by Maya Angelou and all the proceeds go to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. We were very very proud of her and grateful that she is a survivor.
Sue and I are still very close. We get together with our brother and our parents 3-4 times a year for visiting, fun, and games. We have a lot of laughs and fun when we are together. That is the way a family should be. I will never forget those dark times when she was undergoing chemo—I felt so helpless being 600 miles away from her. All I could do was pray and encourage her over the phone. I got to visit her a couple of times though, and I know that helped me and I hope it helped her, too.
Sue still has frequent checkups but so far no recurrences of her breast cancer have appeared. Since our maternal grandmother had it and my sister had it, I am at increased risk now, so I am in the STAR study (Study of Tamoxifen and Raloxifene) and have agreed to participate in the Sister Study. We both feel that we will do whatever we can do to add to the body of knowledge, and hopefully there will come a day when no one else has to endure this. We were lucky. Her outcome was good. Many don't have that luxury and we continue to be thankful.