Former Hamburg resident of 28 years, Tammy Oakes of Rock Port Missouri, recently talked about her experience as a breast cancer battle.

“I found out I had breast cancer on Jan. 7, 2013, at the age of 49 years old. I bumped my breast accidentally on the edge of my quilting machine, and the pain brought me to my knees,” she recalled. “It shouldn’t have hurt that bad I felt so I began to touch that spot on my breast, and I could feel hard lumps and it was very heavy.

“I went to the doctor immediately and he sent me to get a mammogram, which I had been given in October. I was very faithful in getting them done,” she said.

“The mammogram in October 2012 didn’t show any lumps, and neither did this one in January, but the technician could feel something.

“He called Dr. Burke and instructed that I be seen in Omaha to Methodist Hospital. I was scheduled for an appointment the following week. At that time the doctor did a biopsy of that breast,” Oakes said.

“That next week, he contacted me to come see him at his office, where he shared the news. I did indeed have breast cancer. That statement alone knocks the sails out from under you, but I knew I needed to be strong.

“He had explained that the one breast was full of cancer and a lumpectomy wasn’t an option so I was looking at a mastectomy of the one breast.

“It took a month to get the surgery scheduled and I was very nervous as you can imagine and made plans to have care and scheduling people to assist me and not being able to work for a while,” Oakes said. “I was independent, so it was so hard to ask for help.

“I was working full-time at the Atchison County Sheriff’s Office, twelve-hour overnight shifts.

“On March 2, 2013, I had the mastectomy in Omaha at Methodist Hospital. They took 6 lymph nodes and all but one had cancer or cancerous cells.

“After the surgery I was scheduled for a port to be implanted for the chemotherapy, which lasted 8 months going back and forth to Omaha,” Oakes said. “After each chemo I had to have a shot a couple days later as it boosted the white blood cells, I was able to get that at Grape Hospital in Hamburg, closer to home where Deb Michels was a true blessing. She could also flush my port, so I didn’t have to make the longer drive to Omaha.

“I lost all my hair during the chemo treatments which was very embarrassing and lowered my self-esteem, but I wore hats and got through it as wigs were way too hot for me, although the Cancer Society does provide them.

“I had a month off to rest from the chemotherapy and to then begin radiation which I was able to get in Shenandoah for 6 long weeks, 5 days a week,” she said. “Even if you want to stay in bed that day, it’s very important you must be there to finish this out, and some days were very hard, and you get very tired. I finished these treatments right after Thanksgiving in 2013.

“Sometimes I’m asked how I got through it all. I would have to say I was blessed with the best family and friends anyone could ask for,” Oakes said. “I had just recovered from going through a divorce and had met a nice man who stood by me through the whole journey, Steve Jones who I will thank forever, as well as my parents Tom and Kay Gibson, sister Anna Beth Wennihan, her husband John, my brother Tommy Gibson and wife Tammy, my oldest daughter Mandy Pitzen and husband Kevin, my son Christopher Oakes, wife Candace, and my youngest daughter Makayla Oakes who was thirteen years old during this time.

“The people I worked with were amazing and the troopers from Troop H gave a donation. The communities of Watson and Rock Port were wonderful. Other names which come to mind, Rosita Stoner who drove me to radiation and Sheri Weiderquist who drove from College Springs and brought me food many times and Lori Jones from Watson, everyone was a true blessing to me and the family. The list goes on and I hope to not forget anyone. I couldn’t have done this journey without each and every one who was there for me.

“I’m now 11 years being cancer free,” Oakes said. “I am sure to get a mammogram every year of the remaining breast and have experienced a couple scares with polyps but still no cancer has shown up. It is, of course, a constant worry.

“My advice to the readers would be ‘By all means get your mammograms, but also do a good self-check as the mammogram in my situation didn’t catch my cancer.’”

“I feel thankful for the technician who noticed and for the surgeons and staff who got me through this tough journey,” she said.

Article information submitted by Teresa Crecelius.