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LISTEN & VIEW FOX 28 NEWS INTERVIEW OF
ALICE KRUMM

LIFE

&

LAUGHTER

Dear Alice,
   I am ready.  Let's get these boobs off!!
  To make a tough situation funny, I am
going to go to Home Depot and get paint
chips to check what color I am like now so
I can show the tatoo artist later.  Then I will
frame or do something fun with it.  Cancer
is inherently funny when you choose to
see the funny. 
Sure you can use my e-mail.  Glad you enjoyed
it and I would love to endorse your book.  If you
need anything else or more from me I would
love to do it for you. 
I did want to ask where you bought your
post-mastectomy bras and if you have found
any new ones you like.  Thought this might
be something I could do to prep for surgery. 
Thank you again so much.
  Be well,
  Kaitlin.


What a whirlwind it has been!  Finding out that I had breast cancer was almost more than I could bear but then my senses came back to me within an hour and I began to act!  I called another surgeon immediately.  I think that getting a second opinion or finding the right doctor is always to your benefit.  I did that, I found a wonderful surgeon who made me feel safe and that we would get through it together.  Guess what, we did get through it.

I found a number of people not just family who really cared, but people that didn’t know me from Adam.  Like Alice Krumm, what a wonderful, intelligent and caring person she is.  She helped me get through everything amidst my confusion of all the information that gets poured into you.  The nurses at The Women’s Center at Mt. Carmel Hospital, as well as everyone that I personally contacted for information.  This experience restored my faith in humanity, people really do care.  It’s just hard to find sometimes.

I had a huge decision to make.  I felt that it was really only my decision, it was my body and it was what I could live with.  No one else had to really live with “my decision” as much as I did.  My decision was bilateral mastectomy with reconstruction at the same time; it was what was right for me.  I didn’t want to go back and have any further surgeries basically because I don’t like pain, I’m a big chicken and knew that I wouldn’t want to go through it again.

The hard part was telling my husband right after I found out.  We cried and we cried a lot but we got through it.  Telling my son was troublesome because you still have to be a parent and assure the child that everything will be okay.  Next was to tell my mom and dad.  This was so difficult because they had already lost one child 20 plus years ago.  I tried to live my life as clean as possible and do “good” for others just hoping that I would live longer than my parents.  I felt that getting cancer I had let them down in some strange way.  Letting my one remaining sister know, was just as difficult.  She tried to be strong for me, but I know how much it took for her to do that over the phone.  She left her job and moved back home where she could be closer to the family.  My entire family was my salvation.  They stood by me through everything!

My cousin, MAW, what a deeply caring individual she is.  She had breast cancer about 5 years ago and knew basically what was coming for me.  She helped to prepare me in so many ways, went along to all of my appointments with me and firmly suggested the surgeon to go to before I made any decisions.  Throughout this ordeal she has kept in constant contact, visited and took me to doctor visits from time to time.  I’m deeply indebted to her for all of her support.

Surgery day!  I’ve never been sick before so this was all new territory for me.  I was very nervous, as would anyone be.  We got through all of the paperwork, what a scare that was, but you have to know that any surgery presents risks and the hospital has to let you know them up front.  Finally relief, I received meds to help calm me and some fluids which helped with the headache that I was getting because I couldn’t eat or drink anything that morning.  My family all told me they would see me when I was done and off I went, of course, I don’t remember much of anything at that point I was pretty loopy!  I went to sleep with some old saggy “girls” and awoke with perky puppies. 

Surgery took about 5 hours.  The surgeons, cancer surgeon and the plastic surgeon worked in tandem through my surgery.  As one completed the right side the other surgeon came in behind and put in the implant then moved to the left side.  They did such a good job!  Boy waking up wasn’t the greatest thing, but at least I had some good pain killing meds, they worked!! 

I had to go back for a lymph node dissection because the test that was done during surgery didn’t show any involvement.  However, when the final report came back from the pathologist there was one lymph node that was cancerous.  So, back to the hospital about a month later for that surgery.  I had 13 additional lymph nodes removed which turned out to be cancer free!  Finally, some good news!!  This helped to determine the next steps in my treatment….Chemo!

Chemotherapy!  I was fortunate; I was prescribed 4 treatments given every 3 weeks.  Treatment has a cumulative affect so each one was a little more difficult than the next.  Neulasta, this shot sure did give the words body ache a whole new meaning!!  Not fun and really caused some side affects that I don’t want to go through again!  My heating pad and I became good friends for a few days after treatment.  The heating pad seemed to be the only real relief for me.

Some of the key things for me were:
•Follow whatever the doctors were telling me to do.
•Exercise is a big part of recovery, this really helped me.  I got through each treatment quicker and it seems that I’m recovering faster now that chemo is finished. 
•Hair, don’t worry about, it will grow back.  I had a blast buzzing my hair off and we made a recording of it.  We laughed all the way through the hair cutting experience!  I think that cutting your hair as soon as you start losing it relieves the stress of seeing come out gradually then having to clean it up or watch for it when cooking, yuck.  Most people that I talked to said the same thing.  Even some folks that didn’t cut it right away said that they wished that they had cut their hair earlier than they had.  Once they did they said it was a relief. 
•Baby wipes because everything is so baby like!  After that first treatment and losing my hair, my skin was so tender, yow! 
•Eating was difficult sometimes, but not horrible.  I ate very bland for several days after treatment but once I felt better I ate more of the things I liked.  Drinking lots of water before, after, and during treatment is a must.  I still drink a lot of water but I always did.
•Keep a positive attitude!  Having a positive frame of mind got me through cancer.  Keep laughing at everything, I sure did. 
•Talk to people, they will listen and help you.  Ask for help when you need it, people want to help they just don’t know what to do for you.  Communicate!!

All in all, I feel that I’m the luckiest person because we found the cancer early, I had excellent care from family, friends, new friends (my breast cancer advocates) and a medical team that helped me get through.  God blessed me with the ability to see the positive things in any situation and keep positive throughout.  The rest of my life will be different because of this experience.  I only hope that I can give back as much as I received.

Don't have Adobe Reader...click below.
My Breast Cancer Experience….
By:  Donna Keaton-North
February 2009
Click on each photo for enlargement...and...view & enjoy the experiences of the
BEYOND PINK TEAM at the Race for the Cure 2010!!!
Click on each photo for enlargement...and...view & enjoy the experiences of the
BEYOND PINK TEAM at the Race for the Cure 2011!!!
COLUMBUS, OHIO
CAN YOU BELIEVE THE PHENOMENAL TURNOUT...50,000 PARTICIPANTS!!
Take a look
at the
flash-mob dancers
who performed
in the downtown streets
at the Columbus 2011
Race for the Cure.

Their performance was an UPLIFTING
SIGHT
TO
SEE!!

THE SUSAN G. KOMAN 3-DAY BREAST CANCER WALK
took place recently in the San Francisco Bay area.
During our visit to that city, we were lucky enough to come upon some of the walkers of this 60 mile 3-day trek.
Here are some candid photos of the participants as they made their way up and down the hilly sidewalks of Union Square, China Town, and Little Italy.
Click on each photo for enlargement
Sunny 95 2012

We are honored to present the 20 Outstanding Women 2012 - who make this world a better place.  Join us Friday (February 3) at the Embassy Suites – Dublin, from 4-8pm and meet them face to face and hear their stories live.

Sunny 95

is proud to announce the 2012 "20 Outstanding Women!"
Join us on Friday, February 3rd when we'll honor these
20 women
and all those people that lift them up at an exciting Outstanding Women celebration!

Jenn Bajec

Cindy Bish

Shirley Brooks-Jones

Sandy Byers

Wanda Campbell


Michele DeGarmo

GeorgiAnn Diniaco

Brenda Doner

Kim Emch

Sally Flanagan
Marci Ingram

Mary Jenkins

Heather Johnson

Nellie Krumlauf

Mary Leavitt

Bobbie Nelson

Mary Place

Mary Pugh

Karla Redding

Joanna Springer Thanthanovong


2012 SUNNY 95 --- "20 OUTSTANDING WOMEN!"