Attitude is everything

“You've just got to believe that everything is going to be ok. ... Sometimes you need a little push.”

– Elaine Gilham

MONTROSE  — Elaine Gilham's positive outlook has gotten her through life's most challenging times. However, at 82, her optimistic view is being tested once more.

It was a typical morning in May 2007. Gilham was getting dressed when she noticed something was not right — there was an unusual lump in her right breast.

"It was a good size because it scared me," Gilham said.

She set up an appointment with her family doctor, Dr. Michael Brezinsky. After several more doctor visits, Gilham discovered she had breast cancer.

From 2000 to 2004, about 129 Colorado women were diagnosed with breast cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. It's the most common cancer among women and is not age specific. Younger women in their 20s have the lowest incidence rate and the rate increases with age. Women in their late 70s have the highest incidence rate, 464.8 cases per 100,000 (2000-2004).

"I was kind of shocked," Gilham said. "I didn't know much about cancer."

On July 7, 2007, Gilham had a mastectomy — her right breast was removed.

Though losing a part of one's "womanhood" can be devastating, Gilham kept her spirits high. She said that at her age, losing her breast "didn't make much difference."

As she makes her way through more treatment, that positive attitude and outlook still remains.

"Attitude makes such a difference," San Juan Cancer Center radiation oncologist Dr. Kyle Oldroyd said. "Somebody who is optimistic but realistic, they're the patients that tend to sail through treatment."

After Gilham's mastectomy, along with the removal of about eight lymph nodes and treatment, she thought things were going well.

"I had all these pills and other stuff to take," Gilham said.

Her hair dresser shaved off her hair and Gilham started attending the local support group, Bosom Buddies. Meeting weekly, the group provides a place for breast cancer victims to receive emotional support and information. It is a safe place for people to come together and discuss their experience and embrace it.

"For people who want those things, it helps a great deal," said Oldroyd. "In my opinion, having someone to go through this with you is a huge benefit. When someone has a shoulder to cry on or someone to laugh with, it makes a huge difference, and the treatment goes better."

However, after Gilham's first treatment, her cancer came back.

Gilham just finished her third week of radiation therapy. She is in treatment at the cancer center Monday through Friday.

Meanwhile, Gilham takes three Xeloda pills in the morning, and three at night. Xeloda is an oral form of chemotherapy and quite expensive. A 14-day supply costs $3,000. Luckily, her insurance pays for most of the treatment expenses.

Besides providing a positive outlet for Gilham, Bosom Buddies is also a melting pot. Participants exchange experiences with different therapies and medications –  thoughts on symptoms and reactions.

For Gilham, her treatment is not a cure, but more of a detainment — it shrinks the cancer cells and keeps them from growing.

"For patients who are unlucky enough to have it relapse, generally they can not be cured," said cancer center director and medical oncologist Dr. Robert Kilbourn.

Through it all, Gilham tries to stay positive. She'll admit that her Bosom Buddies friends help her along.

"Attitude means so much," she said. "You've just got to believe that everything is going to be ok. ... Sometimes you need a little push. It's wonderful to go into Bosom Buddies and get a hug, talk. You get this uplifting feeling. ... Attitude has so much to do with it."

Women with a family history of breast cancer, especially in a first-degree relative (mother, sister, or daughter), have an increased risk of developing breast cancer.

At this time, there is no guaranteed way to prevent breast cancer, which is why regular mammograms are so important. A woman’s best overall preventive health strategy is to reduce her known risk factors as much as

possible by avoiding weight gain and obesity, engaging in regular physical activity, and minimizing alcohol intake.

Early-stage breast cancer typically produces no symptoms when the tumor is small and most treatable. It is therefore very important for women to follow recommended guidelines for finding breast cancer at an early stage, before symptoms develop. When breast cancer has grown to a size that can be felt, the most common physical sign is a painless mass. Less common signs

and symptoms include breast pain or heaviness and persistent changes to the breast, such as thickening, swelling, redness, and nipple abnormalities such as spontaneous discharge, erosion, inversion, or tenderness. A woman should have any persistent abnormality evaluated by her physician.

Source: American Cancer Society