Survivor Stories

Susan, shown here with husband Tom, and sons (L-R) Adam, Eric and Sam.

        Susan Barbe was diagnosed with breast cancer 2 ½ years ago at age 31. She was breast-feeding her youngest son at the time and noticed a dimple in her left breast. Her Ob/Gyn thought it was a clogged milk duct, but ordered a sonogram just to be sure. Susan blesses him every day for that suggestion. Here is her story of survival and of her continued battle with the disease.

Q: What was your initial reaction to the diagnosis?
A: People always talk about tunnel vision. Well that’s exactly what it was. I was in shock. I really thought it would be just a clogged milk duct.

Q: What happened next?
A: Everything happened so fast. In January of 2000 I had a biopsy one week and a mastectomy the next. Then I started chemotherapy. Reconstruction was too much to think about at the time. I just wanted the cancer out. I went through surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. I feel like Norm on the TV show “Cheers” when I walk in to get my treatments. Everybody knows my name. I’ve been there longer than some of the nurses.

Q: I understand you had a recurrence?
A: In September of 2001 a spot showed up on my back during a bone scan. We did an MRI and a bone biopsy. It was a recurrence. The day I got the news from that biopsy, bumps started to show up around the scar on my breast. It was very disconcerting to be able to see my cancer. But the good news was, I could also see it getting smaller as a result of the chemo. I am still on very mild chemo treatments.

I feel like Norm on the TV show “Cheers” when I walk in to get my treatments. Everybody knows my name. I’ve been there longer than some of the nurses.

Q: Which was more difficult for you…the initial diagnosis or the recurrence?
A: I really had a harder time with the recurrence. It felt like I went through all of that for nothing. I went into a depression and couldn’t get myself out of it. Thanks to the help of a therapist on staff at the hospital, I’m doing much better now.

Q: If you could go back to the beginning of this experience knowing what you know now, would you do anything differently?
A: You always wish you had found it sooner. But I was pregnant and then I was nursing. I know that pregnancy didn’t cause my breast cancer, but it did make it harder to find. However, I truly believe that having that baby saved my life. Because I was nursing, I was more aware of my body. I don’t know when I would have found it if it weren’t for that baby.

Q: What is your current health status?
A: I feel great. I don’t feel sick at all. When people find out I have cancer, they’re shocked. Cancer is chronic, not always fatal. I just had a chemo treatment yesterday, and I stay on top of it by going for check-ups every three months. I’m living under the assumption that I’m going to be around for a very long time.

Cancer certainly hasn’t slowed Susan down. It was very difficult for her to find just 30 minutes to talk to me. She laughed out loud when I asked her what she likes to do in her spare time. “Spare time?? HA!” She keeps busy with kids’ birthday parties, home renovations, baby showers, and her work as a freelance media buyer. Susan recently became the new Butler County participant in the PBCC traveling photo exhibit and she helps publicize the Income Tax Check-Off for Breast Cancer Research
campaign. I would venture to guess that in any spare time she might have, she’s busy counting her many blessings.

To profile someone in "Survivor Spotlight", email Heather Hibshman at heather@pabreastcancer.org.