2020 Relay For Life co-chairs named

Connie Deam and Kelly Christine Reynolds have been named the 2020 Franklin County Relay For Life honorary co-chairs. This year’s relay will be held virtually Friday, July 24. Both women were diagnosed with breast cancer and emerged victorious after their treatments. The following are recollections from each of their journeys with cancer.

Connie Deam

Hi, my name is Connie Deam. My husband, Rich and I have been married 46.5 years, and have raised our three children in Franklin County. First we lived on a farm outside of Chapin for 20 years. Then we moved into Sheffield, and have lived here for 26 years. Rich farmed, then worked at Eaton’s for 19 years, and now has worked at Sukup for just shy of 15 years.

Our oldest son, Seth, has just retired from the Air Force, and has taken a position with the Department of the Interior as Solicitor for Alaska, where he and his family have made their home. Seth’s wife Erica is also a three-year cancer survivor.

Our daughter Maria and her husband Macel, live in Sheffield. They have three children who are truly gifts to us! They have chosen to homeschool, and Maria is the Director of the Classical Conversations Community group in Mason City. Macel is employed at Sukup Manufacturing, and oversees their laser program.

Our youngest son, Ira, also lives in Sheffield. He is the Master Scheduler for LeMar Corporation (formerly Hall’s) just outside of Sheffield. Ira started working for them when he was 15, and is the last of the original work force.

My cancer awareness/journey actually began many years ago. I was first exposed to breast cancer when my grandmother was diagnosed and had a radical mastectomy. She came to live at our house for her recovery when I was a young child. Then 10 years later, she had her second radical mastectomy and again lived with us. My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 53 years old. My first cousin had breast cancer at 40, and then again when she was 50. A year and one-half before I was diagnosed, my sister was also diagnosed with breast cancer at age 56.

I thought enough is enough. Rich and I talked it over and prayed about our decision. I decided to pursue a bilateral prophylactic mastectomy. I made an appointment with my primary physician, Dr. Charity Baker, to discuss my options. She said the first step would be a breast MRI. In April, I had a 3D Mammogram, with nothing new detected. The appointment was set for Aug. 26. They called me one and one-half hours later, and said they found several shadows. I was scheduled for an ultrasound the next day. They then scheduled a breast MRI biopsy and an ultrasound biopsy. Because of the tumors they had found, they had to do both biopsies to get all three areas. On Aug. 28, I got the phone call as I was driving to Okoboji with our daughter and grands for a day away. I was told it was positive for breast cancer– two different kinds–and it had metastasized to one lymph node.

I was diagnosed with Triple Negative Breast Cancer, which affects only 15 percent of all breast cancers. What did this mean? It’s a more aggressive cancer. It’s not Estrogen receptive; not Progesterone receptive; not HERS2 receptive. It has its own treatment protocol, similar to the other breast cancers, but a bit different.

And so the appointments were made with an oncologist, a surgeon, and a radiologist oncologist. A nurse liaison met with me along with a genetic counselor, and chemo treatment classes were held. I had a port implanted and tons of blood work done. Needless to say, it was a whirlwind. I chose to push back my start date for chemotherapy as I had two conferences in September I needed and wanted to attend. Also, through my company, Rodan + Fields, I had earned a trip to Banff, Canada for Rich and I. That happened the first part of October and I started chemo two days after returning.

For several reasons the protocol was mixed up a bit for me. I loved the fact that at MercyOne Cancer Center I was an individual and my care was planned out specifically for me. I lost my hair 14 days after starting. I had chemo four times every three weeks. The effects of the drugs were accumulative; as were the side effects. Then I started the second series of chemo drugs every two weeks, if my labs were OK. Sometimes I could have chemo and sometimes they sent me home.

On Feb. 7 I was admitted to the hospital with a fever of 104.9 degrees, and pain in my left lung. I was neutropenic, which meant all my labs had tanked and I could not fight off anything. I had cellulites in my right inner ear. I was finally diagnosed with spotty pneumonia in my left lung. I was on three IV antibiotics, several pain medications and had three transfusions. I left the hospital and nine days later had another chemo treatment. I finished the protocol set for me on March 6.

Next up was surgery. There are many options, and each woman with breast cancer has to decide which is best for her. Given my family history, the density of my breasts, being Triple Negative, and my age...I chose a bilateral mastectomy with no revision. Surgery happened during COVID-19 on April 10. Rich dropped me off at the front door and picked me up there the next day. Rather strange to have a major surgery without any family surrounding me. It’s just the way it had to be. The surgery itself was fairly uneventful, and with only a few minor adjustments. I had some excess bleeding and vessels they had to put metal clamps on. A couple of them may have to be removed at a later date. My blood dropped low again, but for various reasons they chose to not give me a transfusion. I was very fortunate, as my surgeon could remove my port through my new surgical incision so I didn’t have to have another scar. I was very glad to get that removed.

My pathology reports came back with the news that I was cancer free. Clear margins. The chemo had killed all three tumors. The best news I could have received!

So you might wonder why I had to have 25 radiation treatments? Because of the Triple Negative diagnosis there’s no other treatment options post chemo/surgery to prevent the cancer from recurring. We all can harbor dormant cancer cells hidden deep in our tissue. So radiation burns the targeted areas and is a helpful and hopeful safeguard from going through this again. Radiation comes with a whole other set of side effects. The hardest for me was the fatigue–not tiredness, but a feeling of not wanting to move for hours...just sit, which is so not like me. Also I developed a red, raw, itchy rash on my entire chest area, and just days after treatment, my skin started peeling leaving open areas. This rash along with a few other side effects made me extremely elated to be finished with radiation. I ended all my cancer treatments on June 23.

My ongoing care will be checkups with my oncologist and radiologist oncologist every three months for a year. Depending on what they decide will determine ongoing care. I will continue to see my oncologist every six months for MGUS. About seven years ago they found I had the marker for Multiple Myeloma. I do not have this cancer, but since they found the marker this protocol will be followed for the rest of my life. Only 33 percent of individuals with the marker actually develop Multiple Myeloma. I intend to remain in the other 67 percent!

I would share my best advice for women with dense breasts...DO NOT depend on mammograms. Ask, plead, and demand to have a breast MRI and/or ultrasound. They provide the best chance of detecting breast cancer earlier if you do have dense breast tissue. I was told my MRI detected my tumors five years earlier than a mammogram, and since one lymph node was already affected, had it not been found for five more years, it’s not likely I would have had the results I did!

Kelly Christine Reynolds

My name is Kelly Christine Reynolds, and I’m a survivor of breast cancer. We found the lump the end of January 2019. By February I was told that it had moved into my lymph nodes, and in order to battle it, I would need to immediately undergo intense chemotherapy, and then have surgery to remove whatever remained and follow up with radiation.

At the time of the diagnosis, I was running a successful riding lesson and boarding barn northwest of Beed’s Lake outside of Hampton. I also ride a trick, dancing horse named El Gato and travel the Midwest performing at local fairs, town festivals, private parties, and parades. Many times I have an army of students who travel with me. When I told the kids and their parents about the diagnosis, everyone was shocked. At that point, I was in perfect health. I looked and felt great. I handle 1,200 pound animals daily–stress, bumps, bruises, and broken bones were of no consequence at that time. We all faced a lot of dangerous things both at the farm and out and about in our travels with our trick dancing horse troupe.

But this cancer was something none of us were really ready for. It really threw us for a loop!

The kids were immediately concerned about me, but then worried about the horses and the events we were booked at for the upcoming show season. What are we going to do?

I told them, “Whatever it takes, we’ll get through this together.”

That’s exactly what we did. My students are ages 7-67. Young and old gathered together to come in when I was down and too sick and weak to handle the horses that would pull me over when taken out of their stalls and pastures. They got them out and took care of them. They cleaned stalls; they mowed the yard; they fixed the fence; they practiced for the shows…they carried on.

I started an online photo diary of what happened every day during my cancer journey on Facebook. If anyone wants to read it, you can friend me, “Kelly Christine,” and go to my 2019 CANCER photo album. The whole story is there complete with daily pictures.

I even had people call me to ask if they could come and help with lessons for the kids. Judy Miller (former Ellsworth College Equine Instructor), Renato Bezzera (former Equine Instructor from Brazil), Joycelin Munden (former Ellsworth Equine Student Instructor), and Jessica Place (former Ellsworth Equine Instructor) all came on different days of the week and volunteered to keep the lesson program going so the younger kids could keep learning. Even one of my older students, Alyssa, volunteered to come in and teach the younger students. It was amazing to see all of the volunteers from all over that continued to come in to keep everything in operation at the farm.

Our shows and parades continued on throughout the season. I managed to get through the chemo …. I lost all my blonde hair. I usually wear wigs at my shows to make my hair even bigger than it already is. I love BIG hair, but now I had none. The kids and I were so scared that a big wind might come up and possibly blow my wig off mid-show when I was out in the middle of the ring with Gato. We were worried that would scare all the little kids if I was left standing there bald as a cue ball! So, I bought some good wig glue, and we would coat my head with glue to try to keep those big heavy wigs in place while I was out in the ring performing.

I remember being so tired from the chemo, and it was usually the day before our performances on the weekends. The kids would do all the work getting ready for the shows. They would get Gato ready for me. They would keep me in the truck in the air conditioning so I wouldn’t get too tired or hot before it was my time to be on, and then I would come out just for my parts. It’s really good that they put a lot of steroids in with that chemo! Those are what kept me out and going for most of those shows. But there were times when I was just too sick to go. So the kids would go without me, and they did wonderful!

By November 2019 our season was winding dow,n and so was my journey. Surgery went well and the radiation was drawing to a close. By Christmas my hair was starting to come back. It’s now 2020 and I am grateful to be alive and so very grateful for all of the kids, my volunteers and the nurses and doctors who helped me and continue to help me stay healthy. Last year seems to be a long bad dream.

I’m feeling really good now, and hope to have many healthy years ahead with friends and family and the horses.