Thursday, September 23, 2004
Cancer and Marriage (Part I)
I read this quite touching, interesting article from WSJ a few weeks
ago, and kept reading it several time, finally decided to post some of
the excerpts here, since it's not accessible on the web without
paying.
A Wife's Struggle With Cancer Takes An Unexpected Toll
By Amy Dockeser Marcus, on WSJ, Sept 8, 2004
In their more than three decades together, one issue has posed the
biggest threat to James and Elizabeth O'Donnel's marriage: cancer.
Nearly 10 years ago, Mrs. O'donnell found a lump in her breast. At
first, she was't worried. A routine mammogram a month earlier showed
no signs of a tumor. But the lump grew so quickly during a two-week
vacation in Hawaii that Mrs. O'donnell went to see her doctor days
after returning hoome to Indiana. The doctor ordered an immediate
biopsy. The 42-year-old mother of three boys was diagnosed with
advanced breast cancer and told she had only a 5% chance of surviving
the next year.
She proved the doctors wrong. Mrs. O'donnell began chemotherapy
treatments in February 1995, underwent two surgeries, including a
mastectomy, and finished her chemotherapy in August 1995. She is now
considered cancer-free. She and her husband call that a miracle and
say they know how lucky they are. "We had the same goal, " Mrs.
O'donnell says, "to keep our family together."
Her survival came at a price. Mrs. O'donnell, now 51, has chronic
health problems arising from her cancer treatment. Just six weeks
after her last chemotherapy session, her heart failed - a side effect
of the drugs used to eradicate the cancer. She underwent a heart
transplant in June 1996. That, in turn, caused other problems.
ago, and kept reading it several time, finally decided to post some of
the excerpts here, since it's not accessible on the web without
paying.
A Wife's Struggle With Cancer Takes An Unexpected Toll
By Amy Dockeser Marcus, on WSJ, Sept 8, 2004
In their more than three decades together, one issue has posed the
biggest threat to James and Elizabeth O'Donnel's marriage: cancer.
Nearly 10 years ago, Mrs. O'donnell found a lump in her breast. At
first, she was't worried. A routine mammogram a month earlier showed
no signs of a tumor. But the lump grew so quickly during a two-week
vacation in Hawaii that Mrs. O'donnell went to see her doctor days
after returning hoome to Indiana. The doctor ordered an immediate
biopsy. The 42-year-old mother of three boys was diagnosed with
advanced breast cancer and told she had only a 5% chance of surviving
the next year.
She proved the doctors wrong. Mrs. O'donnell began chemotherapy
treatments in February 1995, underwent two surgeries, including a
mastectomy, and finished her chemotherapy in August 1995. She is now
considered cancer-free. She and her husband call that a miracle and
say they know how lucky they are. "We had the same goal, " Mrs.
O'donnell says, "to keep our family together."
Her survival came at a price. Mrs. O'donnell, now 51, has chronic
health problems arising from her cancer treatment. Just six weeks
after her last chemotherapy session, her heart failed - a side effect
of the drugs used to eradicate the cancer. She underwent a heart
transplant in June 1996. That, in turn, caused other problems.
