One of Bill Sniffin's columns published in October, 2000.

Our family struggle with my wife's breast cancer

What a year it has been, and it isn't over yet

I will never forget the way we celebrated the arrival of the Millennium last Dec. 31, 1999.
At midnight, I was standing outside our home with the dog watching the fireworks over the golf course hill. I was sipping a glass of Spumante. Our kids had gone to a party and I was babysitting my wife Nancy and our granddaughter Daylia, both of whom were sleeping.

October is breast cancer awareness month and it is in that spirit that I write this. My wife Nancy had been diagnosed with breast cancer in the fall of 1999 and had been very sick as a result of chemotherapy. She ended up in the hospital with the flu and I had just gotten her home in time for New Year's.
I had sent my grown children off to New Year's parties and I stayed home to watch over my two sleeping girls.
When midnight struck, I quietly sneaked into Nancy's bedroom and gently woke her up. She was really groggy. "Happy New Year, sweetie," I said, and I gently let her take a sip of the wine. Then she rolled over and went back to sleep. I walked back to the center of our darkened house and rather ominously pondered what kind of year we were going to have in 2000?

Now, almost ten months later, I can report it has been quite a year. Let me tell you about it.

It was a year ago at this time when we found out my 52-year old wife had a tumor in her left breast and cancer in one lymph node. Nancy's oncologist is a good man with an honest sense of irony. "I'm going to use some terms with you today," he said, at our first meeting, "that will sound strange to you. Believe me, by next year, they will become very common to you."

And so our journey started.

Thank God we had sold our newspapers in Fremont County and on Maui. When we got the news, we also still owned interests in five businesses, but all had capable managers, which meant we could fight this thing with all our energy. And the Lander community has been wonderful. We have had an unbelievable amount of support and prayers from all over.

Have you ever had someone cook dinner and bring it to your home? At first, I really fought against this idea. After all, I was healthy and could either boil an egg or run to McDonald's with little problem. But then you realize that your friends are reaching out and they want to help you out. So we relented. And the food was great, by the way.

During the past year we have learned a lot about those things the oncologist talked about, such as Cytoxan, Adriamycin, Taxotere, neutropenia, Leukopenia, Zophran, Neupagen, CBC and thrombocytopenia, etc. These are chemicals, medicines or medical conditions related to the effort to cure breast cancer.
At the time of this column, Nancy has completed her eighth session of radiation therapy at Casper. She has 25 more. She boards the Help for Health bus each day at 7 a.m. in Lander for the journey to Wyoming Medical Center

Nancy had a procedure called a lumpectomy. I think she looks great.
Her oncologist said that after her chemotherapy, if she does the radiation her chances of getting breast cancer again is three percent. Without the radiation, it is 30 percent. Right now, her upper torso is covered with black markings and three small tattoo dots, which direct the radiation technician, where to irradiate on her body.

After that first surgery, she had a port surgically installed into an area above her right breast, just below the shoulder. All her blood testing and her chemotherapy were done directly through this port.

The chemotherapy was as bad as people said it would be. There are now drugs, which prevent much of the nausea that occurred in the past, but it sure wreaked havoc with her white blood cell counts. Of course, she lost all her hair.

She got through her chemo sessions in April but developed a bad infection in her leg, which was the result of the low blood count and accidentally bumping it on an open desk drawer. This led to a quick trip to Casper to meet with an infectious disease specialist and then a deep surgical procedure to drain and repair her thigh. She didn't walk for a month.

Finally, we got the word from the oncologist that she could start radiation.

On Oct. 13, we got up at 4 a.m. and went to Casper for a treatment and then headed to Cheyenne where Gov. Jim Geringer and his wife Sherri were hosting a reception for breast cancer survivors.

It was fun and I enjoyed watching Nancy mix with the other women there. I was the only man present and I quietly excused myself, saying, "I was a thorn amongst all these roses."

As I departed, I looked back and I did think one rose stood out from the rest, though.

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Authorized by William C. Sniffin
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