Opinion Editor
Unfortunately, art teacher Marilyn Eger is the one out of those nine.
Eger's plight with breast cancer began when one of Eger's close friends, Carla Malone, died of breast cancer.
"I hadn't seen her for six months," Eger said. "And then all of a sudden I found out she had died. That's when I started giving myself self-exams."
It was during one of those self-exams, that Eger discovered a lump in her left breast.
"I had a mammogram in September of 1998," Eger said, "and everything was fine. If I hadn't done the self-exams I wouldn't have discovered the lump."
A small portion of the lump was removed during a needle biopsy to determine if Eger had cancer. The test came back positive three days later.
Eger said she was able to deal with the possibility of dying from this disease.
"It was easier to face the fact that I might die because I'd been warned," Eger said. "Some people die in car crashes and they don't have a chance to tell the people they love good-bye."
To remove the cancerous lump, Eger could have had either a mastectomy, where the whole breast is removed, or a lumpectomy, which is a partial mastectomy because only the lump and tissue around the breast are removed.
Although both procedures are equally effective, the lumpectomy would require six weeks of radiation in addition to the six months of chemotherapy needed for the mastectomy. The radiation would cause changes in the breast tissue, making reconstructive surgery more difficult. Due to the location of the lump, if Eger had a lumpectomy her nipple would have to be removed, meaning that reconstruction surgery would have to happen anyway. Eger decided to have a mastectomy.
"I felt safer that they would get everything with the mastectomy," Eger said.
On June 30, 1999, Eger had the mastectomy. She was supposed to take six weeks off to recuperate. However, four weeks later, Eger was back in the classroom teaching.
For two months Eger had chemotherapy every Friday. This drug treatment includes an IV that randomly kills cells throughout the body and causes side effects of nausea and exhaustion. Although Eger was taking anti-nausea medicine, she still vomited on four separate occasions before coming straight to work. Eger went to bed at 7:30 p.m. most nights in order to get enough sleep for the next day.
From the beginning, Eger has been open and honest with her students about the cancer so they would have realistic expectations of her.
"I let them know I wouldn't be as focused on them," Eger said. "It's not as easy to concentrate. Just dealing with cancer makes teaching in the classroom harder."
Because of the chemotherapy, Eger's immune system became worn out and she caught many of the sicknesses her students brought into the classroom. Because of this, Eger missed two weeks of school with a sinus infection, bronchitis and intestinal flu. In spite of the risks of infection, Eger prefers to come to work.
"Coming to school and being with the kids is normal for me," Eger said. "It gets my attention off myself and my whole focus is on them. The whole time I was gone all I did was worry about the kids."
Eger will undergo reconstructive surgery on Mar. 15. It will take three different procedures to complete the operation. The first procedure involves a plastic bag with a nozzle that will be placed in Eger's chest. Every week for four to five weeks, saline will be injected into the bag, slowly filling it. This serves to stretch the tissue and will be removed in the second procedure and replaced with a permanent implant. The third procedure will involve rebuilding Eger's breast with tissue from other parts of her body. However, the scar from the mastectomy will always be there.
Eger will have the second stage of the operation in July and the third in October, during the two-week break. She will be teaching again next year.
Eger feels that her fight with breast cancer has made her a stronger person and has strongly affected her teaching. She has been too tired to teach as she normally would and has not been as patient as usual.
"Cancer has changed my attitude toward life," Eger said. "I'm goofier now. I say things that I wouldn't have said before."
Cancer has also helped Eger appreciate other people more.
"I cherish people more like my husband and friends," Eger said. "They've done tiny, lovely things to cheer me up."
This includes the teachers of Bear Creek, who sent flowers while Eger was in the hospital, and former principal Jeff Thompson, whose wife sent a special bouquet.
Art student senior Hien Doan thinks that Eger is an inspiration.
"She's a very courageous person," Doan said. "Some days you could tell she was tired, but she still came and worked with us."
Eger's prognosis for the future looks good. Soon she will begin taking tamoxifen, an estrogen blocker used to treat breast cancer. It prevents estrogen from helping the breast cancer cells grow.
After taking tamoxifen for five years, there is a 92 percent chance Eger will never get breast cancer again. However, reoccurrence is always a possibility and no test can assert that one is cancer free. The longer the time since the occurrence of cancer, the higher the chances of it reoccurring.
The cancer can move through the bloodstream to other parts of the body, such as the lungs, although it is still considered breast cancer. Eger is currently dealing with this possibility.
"Humor helps a lot," Eger said. "A good attitude is also important. You can't sit around and feel sorry for yourself. You need to find purpose in living the life you've been blessed with. There are no guarantees in life, even if you aren't diagnosed with breast cancer."