Family support important in fighting breast cancer

Monday, May 17th 2004, 10:55 am

By: News On 6

Battling cancer can be an exhausting experience. It can drain you mentally and physically. But for one Tulsa woman, battle against breast cancer was made easier thanks in part to her family.

News on 6 anchor LeAnne Taylor has her story.

Susan Golliver is constantly on the go. She's a wife and the mother of three children, including twin boys. About a year and a half ago, she had to slow down, a mammogram detected a problem, and it was breast cancer. "My first thought was to my family but you brace yourself and you go on and you collect information, you do your homework, you see doctors but the initial thought was oh my goodness, breast cancer.â€

Tom Golliver, Susan's husband: "It's the old syndrome that this happens to other people and not to us and so when it hit home and it's like gee, what do I do now, you're kind of in that state, is this really happening." Susan: "He's a pillar of strength. He just took me in his arms and said it's going to be ok, we're going to do this together."

Susan underwent a mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiation. She says it was hard but with the help of family, friends and her faith in God, she's made it. Just recently she underwent one more test, the test to see if she carried the breast cancer gene. If she had the mutation on the gene, she would be at increased risk of developing cancer in the other breast. The results came back negative.

Susan: "It was good information for me so I could go ahead and make my decision about my reconstructive surgery and I do not have to worry about my daughter and I also don't have to be concerned about my brothers, would have possibly also gotten the genes from my parents. They could have passed them on to their children so it was a relief I think for the whole family."

Susan says she looks at life differently now and was grateful to have her children around through it all. Susan: "It made my focus on something other than myself. I think if you don't have something to live for. Something to get up for everyday, then I think maybe you could just go to bed and feel sorry for yourself and sort of wallow in your sorrow. And children made me get on with life."

Whether you're battling breast cancer or another form of the disease, the American Cancer Society is a great resource for you and your family. You can check out their website at www.cancer.org.