Breast cancer survivor tells her story; promotes Relay for Life
Last Updated on 2/9/2010
Published on 10/11/2009
By Kelly M. Fuller
Kfuller@gtowntimes.com
Georgetown resident Cheryl Gause was showering when she found a hard lump under her left arm.
While Gause waited several weeks for the hard mass to vanish, the suspicious spot remained.
In a matter of weeks, Gause, who was then 49, was undergoing surgery to remove the lump.
Then came the news that she would also lose her left breast.
"There was good news and bad news," she said. "It wasn't the fast spreading kind, but they didn't have enough information, so they had to do a masectomy.
"I was fortunate they could do something. So many times, they say it's too late, they close them up and say that's it.''
Today, she talks freely about her long struggle with breast cancer as a way to help others who are going through the disease.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and different events are going on this month to bring awareness to the disease.
Gause is chairwoman of the Georgetown-Pawleys Island Relay for Life this year.
Relay for Life is an annual event to raise money for cancer research.
"I do what I can to find a cure for cancer," Gause said. "It crosses all lines and almost everybody knows someone who is affected by cancer."
Gause's long battle with the disease started in 1993.
She had always had suspicious lumps, but doctors dismissed them as being non-cancerous.
This time, doctors did a lumpectomy and found the hard mass was cancerous.
"It felt like a little marble," Gause said. "My breasts were always lumpy anyway. I was waiting for it to disappear but it didn't. I went to the surgeon and one thing led to another.''
Gause had to take a limited amount of chemotherapy.
Her treatments took her to the hospital at least two times a week.
"They called it six treatments," she said. "I would go on Tuesday and get certain medications, then go on Friday and get the second part of the dosage."
She searched for information about the disease and the best mental outlook to have.
"Once I found out I had it, I looked up everything I could find and I read," she said.
It said, "Stay postive, keep a good spirit."
Friends and family members, including her husband, supported her through her treatments.
A former postal worker, Gause was out of work for about a year.
Other friends who worked at the Georgetown Post Office were also being treated for breast cancer, she said.
"I had friends who encouraged me," she said. "All these people around you. That is your support group. I told everybody [about my sickness] because I wanted prayers."
Since then, Gause has lost her sister and her niece to breast cancer.
Her mother also had the disease, she said, and her father had prostrate cancer.
Gause joined the cause for Relay for Life after a friend told her she lit a candle for her at the event.
She will be chairwoman of the Georgetown-Pawleys Island event for the next two years.
She also attends support group meetings at the hospital, so she can talk to others about the illness.
"When I found out I had cancer, I had women come up to me and say, 'I had it 20 years ago and I'm still living.' Right now, I go to the cancer support group at the hospital to encourage people. I had a story to tell to help other people."
Gause is considered cured because she has been cancer free for eight years.
She suggests that women and men get regular exams.
Early detection is the key to fighting breast cancer, according to the American Cancer Society.
"I get my mammograms every year," she said. "I have their tests on a routine basis. That would be my advice. If you go and catch it soon enough, that is the key.
"My niece didn't have insurance, so she didn't go to the doctor unless she was really sick. She had a double masectomy, then died two years later. It went so fast."
Georgetown events
Morning in Pink will be held at 9 a.m. Oct. 24 at Saint Paul AME Church.
The event will celebrate the stories of breast cancer survivors and share information about advances in treatment, said Melany Mader, American Cancer Society Community Manager,
"Breast cancer awareness month is the most popular cancer awareness month there is," Mader said. "People are more aware of the problem."
