EELK RAPIDS NNEWSLK ERAPWIDS SGranger said. “We’re all in different stages of recovery, and the...
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1 October 5, 2017 Cover Story continued on page 8 NEWS NEWS ELK RAPIDS ELK RAPIDS PRESORT STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE PAID ELK RAPIDS, MI PERMIT NO. 10 Postal Customer SERVING THE ELK RAPIDS ALDEN KEWADIN RAPID CITY EASTPORT TORCH RIVER BRIDGE WILLIAMSBURG ACME AREAS BY BARB MOSHER, CONTRIBUTING WRITER Volume XII Issue No. 19 75¢ October 5 2017 Becky Granger is on a ROLL. Every Monday evening, the Kewadin resident slips into a four- person or eight-person racing shell and pulls the oars of the long, sleek boat with a team of women called “Recovery On Lake Leelanau.” They have at least this in common: All are survivors of breast cancer. “I’ve met some amazing women out there,” Granger said. “We’re all in different stages of recovery, and the camaraderie is wonderful.” Granger was only four days past her 33rd and final round of radiation in August 2015 when she first headed out to the Lake Leelanau Rowing Club at Fountain Point Resort on the northern end of South Lake Leelanau. She and seven other breast cancer survivors gathered under the watchful eyes of Dr. Nancy Reye, Granger’s friend and primary care physician who had initiated the program. Coached by Erik Zehender, who Pulling together owns Fountain Point Resort and is a former college rower, the women began learning the mechanics of the sport. Rowing requires physical strength, strong core balance, flexibility and endurance. Granger calls it “a total body workout that leaves me sore all over.” But that’s good, she emphasized, because exercise and fitness are crucial to cancer recovery and the prevention of its return. Granger’s breast cancer journey began in the fall of 2014 with a phone call: “We need you to come back for a repeat mammogram.” Biopsies followed, and then Granger and her husband, Jeff, sat down with a nurse and a radiologist. The news was devastating: stage 2B, grade 3, triple negative, highly aggressive breast cancer. “It was an awful thing to hear and so scary,” she said. “But what also went through my mind was having to tell my three girls. That was so difficult, because to them I was the Rock of Gibraltar. I’d never been sick a day in my life except a common cold once or twice.” The family faced the diagnosis together, head on. Oldest daughter, Casey, accompanied her mom to the first round of chemotherapy. Knowing that the toxic treatment would quickly result in hair loss, Granger decided to beat it to the punch. The two went straight from the first infusion appointment to a hair salon specializing in wigs. “They shaved my head, and we tried out funny wigs,” Granger said. “I even tried being a red head but eventually settled on one close to my own hair color.” Over the next five months, Granger received 14 more rounds of chemotherapy, and in April 2015 she had a double mastectomy. “Every woman responds and reacts differently,” she said. “It’s a personal decision as to a lumpectomy or a mastectomy. My diagnosis was one of the worst. It was a larger tumor with a higher rate of metastasizing and nothing to keep it from coming back.” The mastectomy included the insertion of tissue expanders that would enable reconstructive implants Breast cancer is the second leading cause of can- cer death among women. One in eight women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime. Over 2.8 million breast can- cer survivors are alive in the United States today. Death rates from breast cancer have been declining since about 1990, in part due to better screening and early detection, increased awareness, and continually improving treatment options. Becky Granger, a Kewadin resident and breast cancer survivor, urges women, “Go get those mammograms! Get them regularly. I can’t stress that enough. My tumor was detected in a routine mammogram.” d on page 8
Transcript of EELK RAPIDS NNEWSLK ERAPWIDS SGranger said. “We’re all in different stages of recovery, and the...
1Elk Rapids NewsOctober 5, 2017
Cover Story continued on page 8
NEWSNEWS ELK RAPIDSELK RAPIDS
PRESORT STANDARDU.S. POSTAGE PAID
ELK RAPIDS, MIPERMIT NO. 10
Postal Customer
SERVING THE ELK RAPIDS ALDEN KEWADIN RAPID CITY EASTPORT TORCH RIVER BRIDGE WILLIAMSBURG ACME AREAS
BY BARB MOSHER , CONTR IBUT ING WR ITER
Volume XII Issue No. 19
75¢
October 5 2017
Becky Granger is on a ROLL. Every Monday evening, the Kewadin resident slips into a four-person or eight-person racing shell and pulls the oars of the long, sleek boat with a team of women called “Recovery On Lake Leelanau.” They have at least this in common: All are survivors of breast cancer.
“I’ve met some amazing women out there,” Granger said. “We’re all in different stages of recovery, and the camaraderie is wonderful.”
Granger was only four days past her 33rd and fi nal round of radiation in August 2015 when she fi rst headed out to the Lake Leelanau Rowing Club at Fountain
Point Resort on the northern end of South Lake Leelanau. She and seven other breast cancer survivors gathered under the watchful eyes of Dr. Nancy Reye, Granger’s friend and primary care physician who had initiated the program. Coached by Erik Zehender, who
Pulling togetherowns Fountain Point Resort and is a former college rower, the women began learning the mechanics of the sport.
Rowing requires physical strength, strong core balance, fl exibility and endurance. Granger calls it “a total body workout that leaves me sore all over.” But that’s good, she emphasized, because exercise and fi tness are crucial to cancer recovery and the prevention of its return.
Granger’s breast cancer journey began in the fall of 2014 with a phone call: “We
need you to come back for a repeat mammogram.” Biopsies followed, and then Granger and her husband, Jeff, sat down with a nurse and a radiologist. The news was devastating: stage 2B, grade 3, triple negative, highly aggressive breast cancer.
“It was an awful thing to hear and so scary,” she said. “But what also went through my mind was having to tell my three girls. That was so diffi cult, because to them I was the Rock of Gibraltar. I’d never been sick a day in my life except a common cold once or twice.”
The family faced the diagnosis together, head on. Oldest daughter, Casey, accompanied her mom to the fi rst round of chemotherapy. Knowing that the toxic treatment would quickly
result in hair loss, Granger decided to beat it to the punch. The two went straight from the fi rst infusion appointment to a hair salon specializing in wigs.
“They shaved my head, and we tried out funny wigs,” Granger said. “I even tried being a red head but eventually
settled on one close to my own hair color.”Over the next fi ve months, Granger received 14
more rounds of chemotherapy, and in April 2015 she had a double mastectomy.
“Every woman responds and reacts differently,” she said. “It’s a personal decision as to a lumpectomy or a mastectomy. My diagnosis was one of the worst. It was a larger tumor with a higher rate of metastasizing and nothing to keep it from coming back.”
The mastectomy included the insertion of tissue expanders that would enable reconstructive implants
Breast cancer is the second leading cause of can-cer death among women. One in eight women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime. Over 2.8 million breast can-cer survivors are alive in the United States today.
Death rates from breast cancer have been declining since about 1990, in part due to better screening and early detection, increased awareness, and continually improving treatment options. Becky Granger, a Kewadin resident and breast cancer survivor, urges women, “Go get those mammograms! Get them regularly. I can’t stress that enough. My tumor was detected in a routine mammogram.”
d on page 8
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