Three women, two cancers, two valiant battles

Noreen Hyslop photo In 2008, cancer hit home for Michele Vandeven (at center), who has been a vital part of Stoddard County's Relay for Life for several years. Both her mother-in-law, Trisha Vandeven (at left), and her mother, Trish Cohen (at right), have battled breast cancer over the past year.

The women enjoy everything they have in common, especially the boys that have come into their lives since the marriage of their children. But over the past year, the two women have shared an experience that neither counted on and one that both wish they hadn't been afforded. Trish Cohen and Trisha Vandeven were diagnosed with breast cancer, just months apart.

The experience that led to Trish Cohen's diagnosis is most unique. She was diagnosed with infiltrating ductal carcinoma after she underwent her first mammogram at the age of 44. The circumstances that led to that diagnosis bear recounting.

"If I'd have paid more attention to my Weimariner, I'd have gone to the doctor even sooner," explains Cohen, who says her young dog, at the time not yet one year old, gave her indications that in hindsight she says she should have heeded as a sign something was wrong.

"I had heard that dogs could sometimes sense an illness and especially cancer," Cohen explains, "but I initially just didn't understand Gus' behavior."

Cohen says her dog, Gus, began to display an odd behavior weeks before she discovered the lump in her breast. He often nuzzled her and would actually sniff at the area where the breast lump was later detected. It wasn't until after she discovered the lump herself that she placed more significance upon her pet's strange behavior.

Cohen, who has served as the city of Parma's Chief of Police since 2005, made an appointment with Dr. Dick Newell once she realized the seriousness of her situation and was quickly referred to a specialist, a surgeon in Poplar Bluff. An additional mammogram led to an ultrasound and further tests which confirmed Cohen's worst fear.

On June 2, 2008, Trish Cohen underwent surgery to remove the malignancy in her breast. Following the lumpectomy, she was prescribed 24 weeks of chemotherapy to be administered once each three weeks. Seven weeks of radiation treatments would follow.

Her chemotherapy consisted, as most chemotherapies do, of a mix of several drugs. Among them was a drug called "taxotere" and it alone would prove to be the most disagreeable element of Trish Cohen's cancer treatment.

"I hurt all over. It started about two days after I took the treatment. The drug had just been added to the mix, and I was miserable. I hurt so badly all over that I could hardly get around. When the doctors realized the shape I was in, they took it out of the mix; and I never had that reaction again."

Following her chemotherapy and half way through her radiation treatments, Cohen was given an "all clear" by her oncologist. It was just before Christmas.

"Except for the birth of my grandson approaching, it was the best news I ever got and I hugged that doctor's neck when he told me."

Cohen credits her husband, Benny, her three children, her faith in God and the power of prayer for her recovery from breast cancer.

"My husband was my rock and continues to be," she affirms. "And there were people praying for me that I didn't even know. It was a humbling experience and one that taught me many things, the most important of which was to appreciate every moment with my family and my grandchildren."

Cohen admits, "I used to work endless hours. I don't do that anymore. I have come to realize what is most important in this world, and it's not work."

The Cohen and Vandeven families rejoiced in December at the news that Michele's mother was cancer-free. That euphoria was short-lived, however. Michele's mother-in-law, Trisha Vandeven, was diagnosed with breast cancer just one week following Cohen's clean bill of health celebration.

Vandeven, well-known in the area for her catering services, went to a Cape Girardeau facility for a routine mammogram on New Year's Eve of 2008. With her typical positive attitude, she explains, "I went earlier than my usual February appointment for some reason, but not because I suspected anything. If I had waited until February, it's likely that my cancer would have been considerably more progressed."

Doctors immediately knew something was amiss when they looked at Vandeven's mammogram. She was immediately brought back for an ultrasound and then a needle biopsy the same day. She left the clinic that New Year's Eve with numbness in the right breast from the biopsy procedure, but in her usual fashion, looking to the future.

"I knew the pain would set in once the numbness wore off, and I was in Cape, so I thought I might as well go shopping!"

And she did.

Results from the biopsy came via a phone call on Jan. 2. She had HER2 positive breast cancer, an aggressive form of breast cancer that is protein-based.

A regime of chemotherapy began on Feb. 23, calling for six treatments, with one every three weeks. The final dose came just weeks ago on June 8.

"Typically I'd have a couple of good days and then have a week of feeling much like I had the flu and just very fatigued," she explained.

For Trisha Vandeven, a crucial point in her treatment came after just a week of chemotherapy when she experienced pain in her neck and through the center of her chest and back. Tests revealed blood clots in her jugular and her subclavian veins. She was immediately prescribed a blood thinner and the problem was found to have stemmed from the port in her chest through which her chemo was administered.

"The doctor replaced the port with one on the other side, so now I have a matching set of scars," she says, "but I've done well since then without any more clots."

After 18 weeks, radiation treatments followed that involved a drive every weekday for seven weeks.

"It actually took longer to get into the gown for the radiation treatment than the treatment itself!"

Vandeven's final radiation treatment is slated for Aug. 17, but she will remain on a regime of Herceptin until February 2010.

For both women, it's the little things, they agree, that come with a cancer diagnosis that disrupt their normal routines.

While all chemotherapy patients who have adapted to living with a "port" in their chest during their period of treatment, for Trish Cohen that presented a special problem.

"I couldn't wear my bullet proof vest," she said, "and so I was glad when it was finally removed."

Both women site the discomfort of wearing a seatbelt while wearing the port, but both also received some relief from that discomfort with a device obtained through the American Cancer Society in the form of a "port pillow."

The ACS and UCAN also came into play for the two women, furnishing them wigs when chemo treatments resulted in hairloss.

Ironically, Michele Vandeven has been at the helm of efforts in recent years to find a cure for cancer. This year she serves as chairperson for the 2009 Stoddard County Relay for Life event set for July 31-Aug. 1 at West City Park in Dexter.

"I could not have imagined when I began working with Relay how closely I would be affected by the disease," Michele relates. "And it's rewarding to know that through these local efforts, women like my mother and mother-in-law have directly benefited through research and education and by products provided for them through the American Cancer Society."

Michele has become enlightened as well, through witnessing the strength of her mother and mother-in-law in battling cancer.

"I have to say that this journey has made me love them, cherish them and respect them both that much more. They both truly inspire me!"

For both women, faith has played a vital role in the recovery process. Says Trish Cohen, "I look at my cancer battle, and I tell my children that this is just another test that God puts us through."

For Trisha Vandeven, support from her husand, John, along with that of her children Kris Vandeven, Jennifer Hartlein and son, John Isaac, has been instrumental in her healing. The support of friends and fellow church members at Liberty Hill Baptist Church, she says, has also been a vital part of her recovery process.

Children, as well, have played an important role in both women's recovery process. The women's common six-year-old grandson, Connor, helped Vandeven recently in the construction of a paper chain, with a link representing each radiation treatment. As each treatment is complete, Connor removes a link. The chain will be empty after Aug. 17 and both look forward to removing that final link in the chain.

Both women are in awe of the support afforded them during what have been the greatest challenges of their lifetimes. That support came in the form of prayers, uppermost, but also in the form of meals and cards and well wishes.

"I believe God puts all these adversities in front of us for a reason," says Vandeven. "I have learned so much compassion and have come to appreciate so many people. There is always good in what He places before us."