Lodi Rotary Club hosts event tonight for breast cancer
Susan Patrick thought she knew all of the signs to look for when examining for breast cancer, but after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of the disease a little over a year ago, she realized there was so much more she had to learn about the disease.
She knew that finding a lump in her breast was a potential sign of breast cancer. However, she felt no lump, and her mammogram had come been clear. The only symptom she exhibited was an inverted nipple, and she wasn’t even aware it was a symptom.
“I had never been told in my entire life that’s one of the top five symptoms of breast cancer,” Patrick said. “Out of all the years I’ve been having exams, no one ever mentioned that to me, and most everyone else I’ve talked to did not know that was one of the five symptoms.”
Patrick is hoping the Lodi Women of Rotary’s inaugural Corks for a Cure event set for this evening will create more awareness and education of breast cancer while raising funds for research at the University of California, Davis. She is the wife of Lodi Rotary Club member Pat Patrick and is one of five women affiliated with the club that have either had breast cancer or are currently battling it.
“It’s just really important to us,” Cathi Woods-Bacher said. “We’d like to raise some money so we can get to the bottom of why breast cancer has become so prevalent in America today. We wanted to do something around research and funding to eradicate it.”
According to Lodi Rotary Club member and event organizer Sherry Cotta, the event will celebrate survivors of breast cancer and honor those currently battling the disease.
“We’re hoping to raise more money for research,” Cotta said. “We want to look into supporting a researcher who thinks outside of the box a little bit and see if we can come up with earlier detection and refine all of the treatment techniques.”
Although Patrick has completed her treatment and doctors said everything looked good during a recent sixmonth follow up, she still finds it unsettling that there is no cure.
“You’re never cured,” Patrick said. “You’re either in the middle of the fight or you’re clear right now. It doesn’t mean you will be a year from now or five years from now, and you’re hoping and praying it doesn’t come back.”
In the past year Patrick has undergone a double mastectomy as well as several chemo and radiation treatments to combat her aggressive form of cancer. She also underwent reconstructive surgery on her breasts, but due to an infection the spacers had to be removed. Patrick’s battle has been very trying. The news that she had breast cancer came as a huge shock and was hard for her to accept.
“I didn’t expect it since I had a mammogram, and it was clear four months previous. To find out that within four months you got breast cancer, you don’t accept it,” Patrick said.
She credits her faith in God as well as family and friends for lifting her spirits and providing her with the support she needs.
“I had a lot of people praying for me, and I could feel it and I knew it,” Patrick said. “That was huge.”
Because of her experience with breast cancer, Patrick understands the importance of 3D imaging. She is hoping that this evening’s event will encourage more women to have 3D imaging because her cancer did not show up on her regular mammogram. Since being diagnosed with breast cancer she has met several women who have had their own experiences with the disease.
“It used to be one in ten women will have breast cancer, then it went to one in eight and now it’s one in five,” Patrick said.
She is hoping more research would allow her to grasp a better understanding of why breast cancer is attacking more and more women.
“I honestly do not understand why they haven’t been able to go further than what they have on the research. I’m hoping people will become aware of it. There are so many women with breast cancer it’s unbelievable.”
Debra Lenser is another Lodi Rotary Club member battling breast cancer. While she completed treatment in 2013 and has been clear ever since, she understands that the battle is not over. During the height of her battle with breast cancer she underwent a lumpectomy along with several rounds of chemo and radiation. She was also put on hormone inhibitors for five years to maintain her estrogen levels, and that will come to an end in February of 2019. After her last treatment, she began getting mammograms every six months for four years, and now she has recently switched back to getting them on a yearly basis.
“It’s not an easy road to go down, but one thing I know for sure is I have a strong faith in the Lord and that was a huge rock for me going through this,” Lenser said. “My husband (Phil) was just over the top with his care. He was so supportive, and I couldn’t have asked for more from him. Just having friends, cards and prayers, all these things they add up. You feel the strength of people that are supporting you.”
Although this has been a difficult journey for her, she said she has gained so much from her experience.
“I don’t feel like anything has been taken from me,” Lenser said. “I feel like I’ve gained more going through this experience. We just have to think of the positive things that you’re getting out of it. I feel like I’ve grown. I have more compassion for people. I learned that it’s important to let people know how much they have impacted your life.”
Lenser is excited that Dr. Helen K. Chew, a breast cancer researcher at UC Davis, will be speaking at Corks for a Cure and will update guests about research.
Also during the event, survivors will be sharing their stories. Guests will be able to enjoy appetizers catered by Papapavlo’s along with live music and participate in a quilt auction and wine pull.
The event will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. at Klinker Brick Winery. Tickets are $50 per person and will be available at the door.