Survivor Stories

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Susan Schwab
Camp Hill, PA
Cumberland County

Susan Schwab is Assistant Deputy State Treasurer for Administration. She grew up in Wilkes-Barre, went to Wilkes College and was in the first graduating class of the Harrisburg campus, Widener University School of Law in 1992. She was the class valedictorian. Susan's husband, Matthew Beddow, is an independent producer and director of TV commercials and corporate videos. They live in Camp Hill with their 6 year-old son, Wyatt.

Her Diagnosis
I found a lump during a breast self-exam and was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 38 in December 1997. You know, you hear so much about risk factors, but I'm thin. I don't smoke. I exercise. It felt like a cruel joke. Even after finding the lump, it did not show up on the subsequent mammogram. Had I not been doing breast selfexam, it would not have been found.

Dr. Manuel Quesada, a wonderful surgeon at Harrisburg Hospital, taught me how to do BSE and I believe that saved my life. It certainly saved my ability to have children. Treatment was a lumpectomy with six weeks of radiation. Had I not found the lump so early it would have spread and I would have needed chemotherapy. The chemo may have sent me into early menopause, as it does many women, and I might not have been able to have children.

Support of a Family
A year after my cancer I had surgery on the opposite side which found atypical hyperplasia, which is a pre-cancerous condition. An oncologist at Sloan-Kettering warned me against getting pregnant for at least a year. We didn't know that I already was pregnant at the time.

I had very supportive doctors who encouraged me to go through the pregnancy and now we have Wyatt, the best thing that has come out of all this. I've had several surgeries since then because every time we find a lump we biopsy it just to be sure. I kind of look like a road map.

My husband was my biggest supporter. He lived through his mother's non- Hodgkin's lymphoma and was able to help me navigate my way through treatment and recovery. He was a very positive force. My parents were in Wilkes-Barre and came down for the surgery and cared for me afterwards. You know, it's funny . when you're sick, you want your mother, no matter how old you are!

Check Yourself
When I was diagnosed, I couldn't believe how many educated, professional women told me that they never do breast self-exam! I think they rely too much on mammograms. For me, that wasn't enough.

Power to Change
Breast cancer has given me permission to make changes in my life that I don't think I would have made otherwise, and to treat myself better. It was surprising how many people don't know what to say to you, so they talk about others they've known who've had breast cancer. They were trying to be helpful but I found it frustrating. When I talk to a cancer patient, I stress that it's your cancer. You have a right to be treated as you want to be treated. There's not a right way or a wrong way to go about it. You have a right to learn about it and to ask questions. You want to own your own cancer experience.