Survivors share stories before annual cancer walk in Mitchell

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first of a two-part series on the honorary cochairmen of the 2009 Heart & Sole Cancer Walk. The second part will be published Friday.

Each year in Mitchell, more than a thousand people join together for one cause — the Heart and Sole Cancer Walk.

This year’s walk is set for 6:30 p.m. Friday at Mitchell Middle School. There will be a run at 7 p.m.

Luminaries can still be purchased today at Home Federal Bank for $5, or the day of the walk for $10. T-Shirts will be available the day of the walk for $12, and hoodies are $18.

For more information, go to the Heart & Sole Web site at: www.mitchellheartandsole.com.

Each year, honorary co-chairmen are chosen to lead the walk. Ronda Vetch, Stacy Morgan, Lance Bruske and Tyler Easton were chosen this year.

Following are the stories for Vetch and Morgan. Bruske and Easton’s stories will follow on Friday.

The Veteran

NOTE: Reporter Mari Olson also interviewed and wrote an article about Ronda Vetch in December 2004 for cancer awareness.

Almost five years ago, Ronda Vetch sat at her kitchen table and discussed her breast cancer, which was discovered in 2003.

On Oct. 2, 2003, she had her third mammogram, which showed an abnormality. The next day, which was her 22nd wedding anniversary, she learned she probably had breast cancer and the diagnosis was confirmed at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester two weeks later.

She was just 44.

“The first night my husband and I went back to the hotel and we just held each other and I cried,” she said during that first interview.

She was scared, of course, during those first months. She finished chemo in January and radiation in April and by the time she sat down with The Daily Republic that following winter, the topic definitely was still a tender one.

Now Vetch is five years cancer-free and officially in remission. She knows cancer could come back and she remains diligent in her checkups, but the woman sitting across the table today is not the same woman from five years ago.

She’s stronger.

“I just try to live each day to the fullest,” she said. “I try to carry that on with me.”

Cancer is a scary word, but it’s not an absolute fatal diagnosis and Vetch’s story proves that. She said survivors still struggle with the fear of a reoccurrence.

“Officially, (I’m) in remission, but you know, that’s a number,” she said about the five-year mark. “There’s still a fear of being a survivor. … There’s still a thought in the back of your mind, ‘Will it ever return and where?’ ”

She doesn’t dwell on this question, but tries to take each day as it comes. She also looks back on those days through the memorabilia she saved.

“There’s that thought of where I’ve been and how far I’ve come,” she said about why she keeps reminders.

Her story has been printed in The Daily Republic, and Avera Queen of Peace Hospital has also interviewed her for two publications. Vetch also spoke at a cancer support group and for students in Salem.

“It’s important to get the message out,” she said.

And that message is early detection.

Her cancer was small enough and caught early enough that her chemo was more preventative than anything. She also had a great support system among her husband, her sister-in-law (also a breast-cancer survivor) and her children.

Her children were 20, 18 and 14 when she was diagnosed, and each took it differently. Her oldest was at college and went through a difficult time because she was away. Her two youngest saw everything first-hand and even helped her shave her head.

“I tried to keep things as normal as possible,” she said. “There’s enough going on in your life at that time, it just makes things more important to keep normal.”

She took three weeks off of work and then went back.

“It gives you that importance of getting up and getting to work and doing something that wasn’t cancer (related),” she said.

Five years ago, she wondered if she was going to ever see her grandchildren; now, she’s recently welcomed a new son-in-law into the family.

She says she can wait on grandkids; right now, she’s content with her grandpuppies.

“Things have been going very well.”

The Teacher

Stacy Morgan’s story will sound familiar.

Not long after her 40th birthday, she scheduled her first mammogram and within a few days she found out the diagnosis. On Oct. 2, 2008, the day after her 15th wedding anniversary, she had a right mastectomy.

Since two out of four lymph nodes also tested positive, she had all of her lymph nodes removed from her right side — which all tested negative. She followed surgery with chemotherapy, which ended in April.

Now Morgan is nearly to the place Vetch was all those years ago, talking about her cancer as someone not even a year from diagnosis.

But Morgan’s battle isn’t done yet. She has a second strike in mind, as well as a plan to educate and help others going through it.

“Three weeks ago I got the results of my Braca testing and I had my left mastectomy and started reconstruction,” she said.

Braca testing, also known as BRC Analysis or BRCA, checks for gene mutations that are related to breast cancer and ovarian cancer. The gene can also be linked to other forms, including pancreatic, colon and prostate, among others, according to National Cancer Institute (www.cancer.org).

Morgan’s sister, brothers and parents are currently in the process of being tested for the gene as well.

As a preventive measure against a possible future diagnosis, she chose a second mastectomy and has scheduled a hysterectomy for the fall.

These preventive measures may sound extreme, but according to the National Cancer Institute, recent studies have proven that on average, women who chose preventive surgery gained three to six years of life — based on a 30-year-old woman who had both a prophylactic mastectomy and ovary removal.

“I guess everyone is an individual and everybody has their way of handling things, but for me it would be in the back of my mind and it would be a worry. It would be another stresser,” she said.

“I think you can be proactive. What a wonderful gift that we’re given to be able to look into our futures,” she said about the testing.

Even after the hysterectomy, she will have to continue to be checked for other cancers, but she’ll feel better knowing that the chances of breast and ovarian cancer will be nearly zero.

She said that in her case, surgery wasn’t as bad as chemo and losing her hair. Her family and friends and colleagues got her through the treatments and supported her decisions.

Everyone continues to help her daily. Her mother comes by every day to help around the house, because during reconstruction, her mobility is still limited.

Her children — Cole, 14, Conner, 11, and Payton, 8 — all reacted in their own way. She said Cole kept a lot to himself and didn’t really talk about it; Payton didn’t quite understand everything that was going on, other than her mom was sick and now is better; and Conner openly took it a bit harder.

“Conner … wore pink every day and still does — something pink,” Morgan said, pointing out her son’s pink Tshirt and the “Fight like a Girl” pink bracelet that supporters from L.B. Williams made. “He was kind of my little nurse and made sure I wasn’t doing too much and he was my little guardian during that time.”

And during the chemo, her husband, Scott, went to every single session with her, and many times one of her siblings or parents were able to stop by the hospital, as well.

Having that support system inspired her to begin her own foundation — You’ll Never Walk Alone — because there were times when she noticed people who were going through the chemo alone.

She said that Heart & Sole has been wonderful, and her foundation would be more of a physical support system.

“I know there are people, who because of medical bills and everything they’ve got going on, they can’t have a spouse or somebody there with them. So, we want to make sure if that’s what they need, to have somebody … there with them, to listen to what doctors have to say, or keep them company or give them a ride home, we want to be able to do that for them.”

She said people need an advocate to stand by them.

“Scott was that for me, and my dad — always making sure I got the information and talking to insurance companies.

“I learned so much and I wanted to share the things I’ve learned with other women; things I guess you don’t know until you go through it,” she said.

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