The Pantagraph from Bloomington, Illinois • Page 20

C2 THE PANTAGRAPH, Monday. Sept. 5, 1994 Young woman's loss a lesson that defies common advice -ii 'Xh Vty Her parents, Lois and Gary Young of rural Bloomington, said Alory was never openly angry about the fact that her cancer may have been growing since before 1985 when she first felt a lump. But they wish that doctors had tested their daughter more carefully or brought her back in for another exam in six to eight months. She fought the disease from 1988 to Feb.

20, 1992, getting radiation and chemotherapy, taking hormones and undergoing a hysterectomy to stop her estrogen production. Through it all, she tried to lead a normal life. She and Brad married in October of 1990 in Funks Grove and returned to Texas where they later bought a house. if over her funeral Mass in Funks Grove, and she was buried in the adjacent cemetery. Alory had few" of the risk factors for breast cancer.

She was not at the age when it is commonly diagnosed. She had a great-aunt on each side of her family who had breast cancer but her mother or grandmothers were never diagnosed with it While such cases are rare, Alory asked that her parents share her story because she wanted young women to know It can happen. The Youngs started a fund in Alory's name at Baylor-Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center in Texas where she was treated. They also wrote to all the state universities in the United States and asked them to reprint a story written by Kathy LaTour about Alory.

LaTour also included Alory's story in her book, "The Breast Cancer Companion." What bothers the Youngs now is that most reports tell women they do not have to get tested until their 40s. They worry that younger women may not consider themselves at risk or get proper care when they find a lump. The couple sent a letter to college newspapers again in 1993 with their own story about Alory. The couple advises women to take many of the known preventative measures such as monthly breast self-exams. They also suggest women get a second opinion, preferably from a specialist, if they are not satisfied with a diagnosis or are told they are too young to have breast cancer.

"She was hoping to find a way to save or protect other women," Lois Young said. By MARY ANN FERGUS Pantagraph staff Alory Young was responsible, independent and strong willed. At an early age, her parents could see she made good decisions. Despite a responsible approach to life and to her health care, the 1982 graduate of Normal Community High School couldn't prevent her death from breast cancer at age 29. This is a disease that is less common, but more aggressive, in women under age 40.

It may go undetected longer because a younger women's breasts are more dense and it's harder to see the cancer on a mammogram. Alory initially found a lump when she was a college student in Texas in 1985. Then 21, she went to a women's clinic where staff members assured her it couldn't be anything. But Alory insisted on a mammogram. The results were negative and doctors told Alory to come back in three to five years for another exam.

And so Alory went on with her life, studying interior design, working and dating the man she would eventually marry, Brad Borstad. But three years later, she found several little hard lumps under her arm. This time a mammogram showed some abnormal tissue. A biopsy revealed her breast was full of cancer and it had spread to 13 lymph nodes. And so in November 1988 at age 24, Alory had a modified radical mastectomy.

Alory Young was 29 when she died of breast cancer. Her parents, Gary want young women to know the disease can strike at an early age. Tt PntagraphLORI ANN COOK and Lois Young of rural Bloomington, one would give them an answer. "These doctors would not come out and say Alory possibly has three months left or she possibly has a month left," Lois Young said. On Feb.

13, 1992, her doctor said there was nothing left he could do for her. There were no more chemotherapy drugs available. She died seven days later in her husband's arms. At her wishes, the chaplain who married Alory presided l9 tUi til 111 XL In fear of Breast Cancer Self-exam is defense against breast cancer 1. Each month at the same time, check for a lump, thickening of tissue of a discharge.

Once a year, see your doctor about a mammogram. Report any changes to your physician. 2. In the shower, raise your arm. With the opposite hand, and fingers flat, move hand 'People don't truly know what a gift each day is until you've faced something like Sandy Schaller over breast in a circular pattern, Including the armpit area.

3. Standing before a mirror, look for any change in contour or changes in skin or nip- pie. Perform this inspection by raising your arms over your head and then repeat with hands on your hips. 4. Lying down, put a pillow under the right -shoulder and place arm under pillow.

Again, press fingers Into breast in a circular motion. Repeat using firmer pressure. Repeat for left breast Sandy From C1 before learning she was pregnant. The news threw the 36-year-old juvenile delinquent counselor for McLean County into a frantic search for answers under a tight deadline. While breast cancer is slow-growing, most patients have the operation within two weeks of the diagnosis, according to Dr.

Pramern Sriratana, a Bloomington oncologist. Dr. Sriratana did not treat Schaller. Within two days, Schaller heard a variety of answers to her questions. She could have a lumpectomy and get radiation.

She could have a mastectomy and possibly chemotherapy but that would mean she would have to have an abortion. She also heard there was a 50 percent chance of losing her unborn baby during either operation. "It was like being in a tennis match," Schaller said of listening to all her options. "It surprised me that they didn't give us any definite answers on what to do," said Schaller's husband, Steve. "They kind of left it up to us." In the end, doctors told her she would need a mastectomy because tests revealed her cells would not respond to the radiation required after a lumpectomy.

Both she and the unborn baby survived the operation but she was soon back into the decision seat "Their life together can you imagine? They were a young couple, in and out of the hospital. They made it as normal as they could but it was tough," Gary Young said. "I think through all of this, she was much stronger than I would be." The Youngs spent much of the last two winters of Alory's life with her. They, along with her husband, took care of Alory. They kept busy and shared lots of laughter.

demanded a biopsy in August. Her doctor agreed, but said she was probably overreacting. "She said 'If we send this to the surgeon (for a biopsy) he'll pooh-pooh us Schaller said. Instead, the biopsy confirmed it was a malignant tumor. Blood tests and a bone scan showed it had not spread and the tumor was very small.

"I was mad. I was angry it came back," Schaller said. And once again, she was faced with her mortality. She began making lists of things she would need to get in order and thought about updating her will. Once again, she heard different opinions about what course of treatment to take.

And once again, for a second opinion, she drove to Chicago where she learned that she should get six months of chemotherapy after radiation treatment. Her local doctor had said that wasn't necessary, was there and there is no question a diagnosis should have been made," Dr. Cooley said. "I suppose until we have machines reading these things, there are going to be times when things that should have been caught are overlooked." Mercier never reported the error to any type of medical licensing board but she and husband, David, spoke with a lawyer about filing a lawsuit. They learned they had no basis for a lawsuit because there were no damages; the tumor had not grown.

"Mental anguish doesn't count," Mercier said. While they were still upset, the Merciers decided to concentrate on making sure Gladys got the best possible "We had to. We did fun things. We didn't sit around with long faces," Gary Young said. "Now is when we have the time for reflection." By the summer of 1991, the cancer had spread to Alory's liver.

She took chemotherapy from April of 1991 to February of 1992. She was often sick and weak but insisted on driving herself places or taking short walks. When family members asked doctors for a survival rate, no but Schaller decided to go with the recommendation of the Chicago doctor. "Each stage I went through, I found out how little doctors know, how much they are guessing," Schaller said. She has asked but never learned about her chances of normal life expectancy.

"They just say that cancer is not active," Schaller said. She's not sure knowing the odds would mean much. "I found out the first time around that hanging on to odds doesn't guarantee anything," Schaller said. Of the known risk factors for breast cancer, Schaller could only check off one: she had her first child after age 30. She always had been careful about checking for lumps and even got her first mammogram before 30 because she has fibrocystic disease, a non-cancerous breast condition in which multiple cysts develop in both breasts.

Schaller, now 41, has not had a recurrence since completing her chemotherapy treatments more than a year ago. She can still get teary-eyed as she considers losing the battle to cancer and time with Steve and their two sons. But that is not what she dwells on; she focuses on living and enjoying each day. "People don't truly know what a gift each day is until you've faced something like this," Schaller said. follow-up treatment.

After her surgery, she underwent both radiation to her breast and chemotherapy treatments. "There's nothing you can do about it," David Mercier said. "I wasn't thinking about looking back with anger. That's not positive energy." But now, a year after finishing her treatment, Mercier is allowing her anger to boil a bit. "Now that I'm physically healthy, it's time to help other women.

It could have happened anywhere," Mercier said of the mistake. The problem is this particular aspect of our health care is not taken as seriously as it should be." Mercier believes radiologists mm I A free waterproof shower card including detailed instructions can be obtained by writing: 'I The Pantagraph Information Kit Marketing Dept P.O. Box 2907 Bloomington, IL 61702-2907 menstruation. Perhaps just as important, Mercier grew up on Long Island where breast cancer cases are higher than most other parts of the country. She believes that is part of her history and risk for developing breast cancer.

Mercier had never asked for her survival rate or prognosis. She doesn't give much credence to statistics, having already beat other odds she was given for infertility. The Merciers have one daughter, Meredith, 9. They hope the reported two to four percent chance of passing along breast cancer to a family member does not affect Meredith. "I hope they're going to have a cure," Mercier said.

"I'm hoping that what I have is environmental (cause) and will not be passed on genetically." because her doctor said she had the type of breast cancer that would need chemotherapy. A few days later, he reversed his decision, after meeting with a group of doctors, and said chemotherapy wasn't necessary. Schaller was happy to receive the news but she couldn't understand the different opinions. She decided to seek a third opinion in Chicago where an oncologist said she was already 90 percent cured; she could survive very well without chemotherapy. From then on, Schaller concentrated on her pregnancy, which went well.

She had a second child, Jeff, now 5. In May of 1992, three years after finding her first lump, Schaller found another on the left side of her chest. Her doctor told her they wouldn't do anything but watch it for awhile. But the waiting bothered Schaller and she finally double in size. "I'm angry this man is still here reading these things," Mercier says of the local radiologist.

"I don't think he's qualified." Dr. William Cooley, a local radiologist, said the error would be classified among the approximate 10 to 15 percent of false mammogram readings. Limitations in the machine and human error account for the erroneous results, Dr. Cooley said. Dr.

Cooley did not originally read Mercier's mammogram but he recently saw it and agreed a mistake was made. He said the oversight was not the most flagrant he has ever seen but it wasn't the most subtle either. "There was no question it I Gladys From C1 mammogram when she returned from Long Island. He apologized for the radiolgist's error but said it was not a life-threatening mistake; the lump had not grown in the seven months between mammograms. Doctors say breast cancer is extremely slow growing; it can take three to four years to double in size.

But that answer gave Mercier no peace. The fact is, she says, the radiologist missed it. If she hadn't had another doctor's visit, it would have had time to grow. And if she followed the current National Cancer Institute guidelines for women in their 40s, she could have waited another year or two for a mammogram enough time for a breast cancer tumor to almost should meet with patients individually and go over mammogram results together each year. "I want to be a face to this man," Mercier said.

"I don't want to be a picture or a number. I want a relationship with a professional person it's one of the few checks we have." She knows this is not common practice in local offices but says women should push for it anyway. "Don't be in the dark," Mercier said. She also believes doctors and radiologists should be more aware of a patient's history. Mercier has several of the known risk factors for breast cancer; she did not have her first child until after she was 30 years old, she had early onset of.