The North Iowa cancer survivors and family members spoke out at a forum, “Iowa Living Beyond Cancer: Thriving Through Survivorship,” held via the Iowa Communications Network (ICN) at North Iowa Community College.
“I’m really impressed with the health care overall,” said Robert Knudtson, 73, of Forest City. “I needed immediate health care, and I got it.”
But one incident did not sit well with him or his family.
A radiologist told him, and the family, after X-raying a softball-size tumor on Robert’s kidney that there was no hope.
“I would sure hate to have that happen to someone else,” Knudtson said. “We just can’t give up hope. That was an emotional stress. He wasn’t the doctor. I don’t think it was his job to say it.”
Contrary to what he was told, Knudtson survived cancer of the kidney, a relatively rare cancer, that had spread to the vena cava, adrenal glands and lymph nodes.
The cancer was diagnosed in December 2005. Knudtson had no symptoms.
“It was doom and gloom at first, but we fooled them,” he said.
Francie Crawford, 56, of Fredericksburg, was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease in 1988, at the age of 36. Her spleen was removed and she underwent radiation treatments.
Then in 1991, the disease returned. At this time, she had chemotherapy.
Last fall, breast cancer was discovered in her right breast. Crawford had a double masectomy in December.
“When people are first diagnosed with cancer, some people have a real need to talk,” she said. “Others want to keep it quiet.”
Health care providers need to be sensitive to the needs of their patient either way, Crawford said.
She has received much help from a cancer survivor’s group, where she can be around others who have shared her experience and believes such groups should be available to every cancer patient.
“It helps to be around other people,” she said. “It’s a very lonely feeling. I also think there should be an educational component to it. It’s hard to get physicians to speak.”
The Midwest Rural Telemedicine Consortium has also been every helpful, Crawford said. “It’s supported by our hospital, but not every place has it.”
Another helpful service is an equipment bank, providing access to medical equipment, such as wheelchairs, for cancer patients who may require special equipment after their surgery, Crawford said.
“Having to go to Rochester every day for radiation treatments was difficult,” she reflected. “I think transportation could be a problem for some people. Some people have a family that can take them, others don’t.”
Finally, Crawford cited the need for a smoke-free environment. And that includes from healthcare workers who tend to patients, she said.
The group’s suggestions will be compiled with those of similar groups who met in simultaneous forums throughout the state. A plan to address the concerns will be formulated.
The forums were sponsored by the Iowa Department of Public Health Comprehensive Cancer Control Program, the Iowa Consortium for Comprehensive Cancer Control and the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
Reach Kristin Buehner at 421-0533 or kristin.buehner@globegazette.com.
