Editor’s Note: The Columbian has shared the stories of dozens of women and men with breast cancer since it began publishing the Confronting Breast Cancer section in October 2013. We recently caught up with two of those women to see how they’re doing today.
Susan Gotshall
• The story: Gotshall was featured on the cover of the 2014 Confronting Breast Cancer section.
• Then: After an October 2013 breast cancer diagnosis and mastectomy, Gotshall turned to fitness and her CrossFit Untamed family to help her through treatment and to recover from the surgery. Gotshall completed her breast reconstruction in April 2014.
• Now: After nearly two years of monitoring, Gotshall was released from oncology care in the summer of 2015.
“It’s a little bizarre when you get to the point where they release you from the doctor,” Gotshall said. “When that all ends, it’s kind of this, ‘Oh my god. What now?’ ”
Gotshall, 45, is still adjusting to her new normal. She occasionally has moments of concern, when she wonders whether the cancer will return. And when she hears about a friend or acquaintance being diagnosed with cancer, it brings her back to her own diagnosis.
But she talks with people in her support system who assure her that those are OK feelings to have.
“I don’t think about it as much as I used to,” Gotshall said. “But it’s always going to come up for anybody who’s been through what we’ve been through.”
Gotshall is also still experiencing some nerve pain in her chest and shoulder — a result of her surgeries — but she has better control of the pain than she has in the past, she said.
That pain hasn’t, however, stopped her from doing CrossFit. Last July, Gotshall left her CrossFit Untamed family in Vancouver and moved to Bend, Ore.
“That was the hardest part about leaving,” she said. “I cried.”
In Bend, she’s continued to do CrossFit and spends a lot of time outdoors, hiking throughout central Oregon. Gotshall also has continued to carry the positive attitude that helped her through her cancer diagnosis and treatment.
“I think that positive attitude makes the difference in going through treatment or in life in general,” she said. “Always remain as positive as possible.”
Alicia Clausen
• The story: Clausen was featured in the 2015 Confronting Breast Cancer section.
• Then: Alicia and Pete Clausen had to put starting a family on hold after Alicia was diagnosed with Stage 3 invasive ductal cell carcinoma in June 2015. She underwent a double mastectomy in August 2015, followed by chemotherapy and radiation. Prior to surgery, Alicia underwent a round of fertility treatment and egg harvesting.
• Now: Alicia Clausen wrapped up 28 weeks of chemotherapy earlier this year. Despite the intimidating nickname of the first drug — “Red Devil” — Clausen didn’t experience any unpleasant side effects.
She wasn’t so lucky with the second drug. Clausen developed a form of neuropathy that made her skin itchy, but medication was able to clear up the problem.
Three weeks after completing chemotherapy, Clausen began daily radiation treatments at Oregon Health & Science University. She completed the 28-day course of treatment in early March.
Clausen also signed up for a clinical trial for the NeuVax vaccine. She’s completed the vaccine portion of the trial but will continue to receive Herceptin treatments and other boosters until April.
For her “cancerversary” in June, Alicia attended the “Revive” survivors’ retreat hosted by the Vancouver nonprofit Pink Lemonade Project. The weekend retreat fell on the one-year anniversary of her cancer diagnosis — something Clausen didn’t give much thought to. But when she announced the anniversary and retreat facilitators asked how she felt about it, Clausen broke down.
“That was a good breakthrough,” she said.
After giving her skin six months to heal, Clausen underwent reconstruction surgery on Sept. 30 to replace the expanders in her chest with implants. She and her surgeon are hopeful her skin wasn’t too damaged by radiation and will hold up. If not, she’ll need another surgery to remove skin from her back to replace the damaged skin.
Clausen has struggled with some fatigue and mental fogginess since chemo and radiation ended. During treatment, she took medication to help boost her white and red cell counts. Now, however, the counts remain low, and she doesn’t have the benefit of the medication. Clausen is working with a naturopath to try to improve her numbers.
“You expect side effects during chemo, but not three or four months later,” she said.
Once Clausen recovers from her surgeries and sorts out a few other medical issues — doctors are trying to figure out why her hormone levels are low — she and her husband hope to start the family they put on hold. They have nine frozen embryos available.
Because Clausen was diagnosed with a higher stage of cancer, it’s too risky for her to try to carry a child. Instead, the Clausens will look for a surrogate.
The Clausens are happy to be in the homestretch of Alicia’s breast cancer journey and are looking forward to moving on with their lives.
“I would like to fast forward for two years and have all this behind me,” Alicia Clausen said. “I’m really excited.”
