Breast cancer survivor credits mammogram

• PHOTO: Julie Albers

Julie Albers’ joy at the successful removal of her cancer was tempered by the death of a friend who also had breast cancer. Early detection by a mammogram is critical, she believes.

Talk about it

Julie Albers won’t hesitate to tell you that she’s alive and cancer-free today because she got a mammogram.

Without it, she believes the small cancer in her breast probably wouldn’t have been detected until too late.

Albers, 52, has been doing monthly self-exams and annual mammograms for so many years she doesn’t remember exactly when or why she started. There’s no history of breast cancer in her family.

“I just knew I should, for my health,” she said.

A year ago she got a reminder card in the mail from Fairview Red Wing Medical Center and went to the hospital for a mammogram.

“That reminder saved my life,” Albers said. “It could have grown for years before it showed as a lump.”

She hadn’t felt it, and the doctor didn’t either when he examined her. But the mammogram detected the lump, so she had an ultra sound and then a biopsy.

“It was all very quick,” she said.

Albers clearly remembers getting the bad news in October 2008. Her husband, Goodhue County Sheriff Dean Albers, and one of her daughters, Rhonda, were at her side when Dr. Jaswin Sawhney revealed the diagnosis.

Don’t give up

“I was not overcome with fear as my daughter and husband were,” she said.

Instead, Albers said, “I felt a surge of strength, I think because of Chris” — her best friend, Chris Blum, who also had breast cancer. Blom’s had metastasized, however; she was terminally ill.

“Her last words to me were, ‘Julie, don’t ever give up hope.’”

Albers, a full-time homemaker, assured her family that she could deal with the situation psychologically.

“I knew that whatever happened I would be able to handle it. I was just stronger than I thought,” she said.

Her immediate focus was on learning what the plan of attack would be.

“ Dean’s initial thoughts were of fear,” she said. “He wondered what was going to happen.”

As they left the doctor’s office, he said to her, “I’m afraid of losing you.”

“I don’t want you to feel sorry for me,” she told him. “Just treat me normal - treat me like Julie.”

Rhonda cried.

“I was thinking about the future and whether or not mom would need treatment and how that would affect her,” the Minnetonka, Minn., woman wrote down at her mother’s request.

“I was thinking of moving home if that would happen and quit my job so I could take care of her. It was just a scary time of my life,” especially since she knew her mother’s best friend was dying of the same cancer.

Rhonda’s twin, Robyn, also of Minnetonka, shared her emotions.

Quick response

“Hearing the words that my mom had breast cancer felt more like an out-of-body experience than reality,” she said.

She thought about how her mother must be feeling. “I knew the only thing I could do was forget the feelings of my own hurt and fear and be a support group to my mom.”

Things happened quickly.

“I knew immediately that I wanted a mastectomy,” which is complete removal of the breast, Albers said, rather than a lumpectomy which would have removed only the tumor.

“I wanted it out of me,” she said. She was afraid the lumpectomy would not “get it out” completely, although intellectually she knows that type of surgery also is successful. The mastectomy was necessary for her peace of mind.

“I just wanted it gone. I just wanted to be alive,” she said.

Robyn sent an e-mail to friends and coworkers who know her mother and included Julie’s e-mail and mailing addresses.

“The outpouring of support was more than we could have imagined,” Robyn said. “My mom received e-mails wishing her good luck and support; cards were sent from all over; and presents were delivered to keep her spirits up. She said she felt the love in her heart, which made her strong.”

Albers’ youngest daughter, Annie Baur of Lakeville, Minn., was as scared as her sisters.

“From the diagnosis to the surgery was only one week,” she said. “It all happened so quickly that it was difficult to comprehend.”

From Albers’ perspective, “I was very, very, very lucky.” Her breast cancer was at Stage 0, and there was no cancer in her lymph nodes. No further treatments were needed — no chemotherapy or radiation.

“First mom had cancer, and then within a week, she didn’t have it. Science has come so far,” Annie said. In Rhonda’s mind, “It was a miracle.”

Monthly exams

Albers had seriously mixed emotions, though. Even as she celebrated winning the battle, she mourned her friend who lost the battle. Blum died five days after Albers got her diagnosis; her funeral was same day as the mastectomy.

“Your life changes when the possibility of losing a loved one hits home,” Robyn said. “We cherish each minute of every day now, and know your life can change with a phone call.”

Albers continues doing a monthly breast exam, and when she felt something in her other breast this summer, she went in to have a mammogram a few months early. “It’s common to worry you might get cancer back in your other breast, or somewhere else,” she noted. The test showed she is cancer-free.

“The most important thing,” she tells her daughters and other women, “is to go get your yearly mammogram. It takes a mammogram to be positive you don’t have a lump in there.”

Her last appointment with Sawhney eased her fears, Albers said.

“He shook my hand and said, ‘Julie, go and live a long and healthy life.’ I’ve thought of that over and over and over: Go and live a long and healthy life.”

Tags: breast cancer, lifestyle, health