HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2007-09-13, Page 7“Cancer doesn’t touch your life - it
reaches out with one hand and
chokes you, then slaps you up the
side of your head with the other.”
These were the words spoken by
Melinda TenPas of Brussels at the
recent Relay for Life event in
Wingham. A vibrant young woman,
known for an easy laugh, often heard
at her own expense, TenPas was 38
years old when she discovered a
lump in her right breast.
“I had reached over for something
and felt it with my arm,” said the
2007 Team Member for the Brussels
Terry Fox Run, taking place this
Sunday. “It just seemed to have
suddenly appeared.”
A couple of days after the
discovery TenPas saw her doctor,
who, she said, didn’t seem
particularly alarmed. “Or then
maybe it was that she didn’t want to
alarm me.”
A mammogram was booked for
five days later. “In the meantime the
lump had doubled. You could see it
now. And when I would roll
deoderant on under my arm it was
like riding over bumps.”
The mammograms and ultrasound
revealed TenPas had a particularly
virulent cancer. “The tests had been
on Friday and the doctor called me
Monday morning and said we
needed to talk.”
The doctor stressed a sense of
urgency and suggested removal of
all the affected areas.
While her grandmother had breast
cancer when she was in her 60s,
TenPas said it was not something
she’d ever thought could happen to
her.
“My head was just spinning with
so many thoughts and questions.
How can this be happening? Why
me? And how am I going to tell the
kids?”
A vivacious spirit with a strong
sense of humour, a self-proclaimed
“goofball”, TenPas said she
struggled to stay strong, to listen and
take in everything that the doctors
were suggesting.
One thing was clear however. Shewas going to “fight like hell. Givingup was never an option.”She had her surgery within twodays, and once healed beganradiation, every day for 16 days atKitchener’s Grand River Hospital.
“Radiation wasn’t too bad, just a
rectangular area of burned skin. I
was a little tired and run down but I
think a lot of that comes from
driving back and forth every day.”
TenPas’s family, including her
three children were very involved in
what was happening to her. “My
kids (Sadie, 14; Brody, 11 and
Hayden, nine) would come with me
for the treatments. They would sit in
the waiting room and count the
seconds they could hear the buzzing
when I was being zapped. I think
they really entertained the older
women in the waiting room.”
A month after she completed
radiation, TenPas met her greatest
adversary.
“I knew I was a tough cookie, or
at least I thought I was, until I met
Mr. Chemotherapy.”
“Chemo is made up of different
chemicals for certain types of
cancer. It’s as different as ordering a
pina colada instead of a beer, and
after several months of this, you
thank your lucky stars it’s over. You
hope you never have to receive this
liquid cocktail again.”
She was hospitalized three times
during the treatments. “You feel
pretty good the first day or so, but by
the third it was always rough. I was
so sick. And I would ache so badly, I
just couldn’t take it anymore.”
The nurses warn patients of the
potential side effects. “I thought if
anything good comes out of this, it
would be that I might shed a few
pounds,” says TenPas.
This was not the case. Besides
losing her hair, vomiting for days,
having multiple hot flashes, achy
muscles and joints, she also gained
weight.
TenPas feels fortunate at least that
she could receive her chemo at
Wingham District Hospital. “What a
tremendous staff of doctors and
nurses in the chemo unit. I met manywonderful people undergoing chemotreatments, especially my ‘breast’friend Abi (Corbett, Brusselsresident and 2006 Team Member).”Now that it’s behind her TenPassaid she can’t express enough the
gratitude she has for each and every
hospital, doctor, nurse, friends and
family members, especially my
mom and dad, my husband Brian
and my three “beautiful” children.
Talking about the ordeal and its
effect on her family brings tears to
TenPas’s eyes. “I know it was hard
on all of them too and that’s what
upsets me the most.”
While she says she now lives from
one three-month checkup to the next
TenPas said that should she find
herself in the same position
sometime down the road, she will
fight as hard again. “I want to be
here for my children. I tell myself
every day, I’m tougher, I’m stronger
and I’m the winner here. Cancer will
not win this battle. If needed, I’ll beup for kicking cancer’s ass again.”“I am a changed person because ofcancer, not just in my appearance,but as a whole. I look through adifferent window now; things thatwere once so important suddenly
seem foolish. I try not to sweat the
little things, except if I’m taking
another hot flash. I savour moments
and cherish memories, friends and
loved ones.”
“I’m going to enjoy my life to the
fullest. And try to get back to the old
Melinda.”
THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2007. PAGE 7.
On the Run
Melinda TenPas of Brussels, with good pal, Lacey, is the
2007 Terry’s Team Member for the annual Terry Fox Run
being held this Sunday. Registration is at 10 a.m. and the
run begins at the Optimist Clubhouse. (Bonnie Gropp photo)
Melinda TenPas 2007 Terry’s Team Member
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