Breast cancer. The message is often delivered in a phone call. The words evoke fear. The future becomes the present and life changes.
The power of that phone call is one of the themes in a collection of narratives by breast cancer survivors in the St. John Valley. Yet the book carries a message befitting its title: “Valley of Hope.”
Released in July 2014 by Fish River Rural Health in Eagle Lake, “Valley of Hope” is a sequel to “Valley of Courage,” stories of breast cancer survivors published in 2010.
“The sharing of your heroic journey through breast cancer will inspire others or make a difference in someone’s life,” wrote Susan Bouchard, who coordinated the project for Fish River Rural Health, in acknowledging the contributions of the breast cancer survivors featured in the book. In addition to their personal stories, “Valley of Hope” contains comments and essays by friends and family members, illustrations by LuLu Pelletier of Fort Kent and poems by Carie O’Leary of Allagash.
“It is through the sharing of stories that we journey together as companions,” Dr. Dora Anne Mills, former director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, wrote in a foreword to the book. “You are providing companionship, shedding light, and giving voice for years to come for those who are on the breast cancer journey, whether as someone with the diagnosis or a loved one trying to understand.”
Facing treatment for breast cancer is a challenge for anyone, but the challenge is magnified for those who must travel hundreds of miles for treatment. “Valley of Hope” shows how women in the St. John Valley come together: offering rides to Presque Isle, Bangor, Portland and beyond, providing support, gaining strength from one another, building a tight community — “sisters of the pink.”
Lucy Berube Elliott of St. John Plantation remembered “many talks and laughs during those three-hour rides each day and during lunch hour along the way” when friends and family members accompanied her to Presque Isle and back for daily radiation therapy appointments.
“I learned to accept help from others and not to think I had to do this all by myself,” she said. “I realized that by accepting help, I was giving others an opportunity to feel like they could contribute.”
Jenny Radsma of Fort Kent, who offered transportation and support for two friends, echoed Elliott’s observation.
“Their acceptance became their immeasurable gift to me. Because they allowed me to travel along with them for a part of their journey, I could among other things, drive them, listen to them, laugh with them, and, of course, learn from them,” she said. “As a result, I experienced a sense of fulfillment through my participation in the challenge they maneuvered through because of their medical condition.”
Funded by a grant from the Maine Affiliate, Susan G. Komen, “Valley of Courage” and “Valley of Hope” evolved from discussions among patients in a breast cancer support group organized by Fish River Rural Health in 2007. Bouchard recently described the effect of hearing each person tell her story during the group’s first meeting.
“People need to hear this,” she recalled thinking. “It inspired me. I knew it could inspire others.”
And she was right. The first book drew additional people into the group and gave more members confidence to tell their stories, knowing if they helped one person it was worth it.
“It helped not only the newly diagnosed, but also caregivers,” said Dorothy Hopkins of Wallagrass, who edited both books, which she described as “strongly Valley.” The importance of family, friends, faith and humor are recurring themes, “yet each woman had a completely different experience,” she said.
Hopkins went to the homes of women who were unable to attend writing sessions and helped inexperienced writers put their stories into words.
“It was a wonderful experience,” she said of working with women “filled with warmth, humor and awareness of what’s really important in life.”
Lisa Morneault of Fort Kent also traveled to the homes of some of the writers, inviting others to her home to take the portraits that illustrate each story. Bouchard asked Pelletier for drawings and O’Leary for poems to create a flow from one story to the next.
“She reads our hearts,” Bouchard said of O’Leary’s poems, some based on survivor stories in the collection. Most writers did not learn about those poems or the messages written by friends and family members until they received copies of the book at the unveiling July 27.
“This is not a story about cancer. Mom’s story is one about attitude,” wrote Jan Pelletier Hernandez about her mother Catherine “Kats” Pelletier of Fort Kent. “It is testimony of how faith, purpose and positivity opened doors to a path of recovery.”
“To this day, I remain very active and refuse to allow myself time to absorb the reality of having had cancer. Some would call that denial. I call it survival,” survivor Fern Desjardins of St. Agatha wrote
Claire Moss of Fort Kent ends her story affirming, “Early detection saves lives — it’s not just a motto — it’s the truth and I’m living proof.”
“Valley of Hope” concludes with an essay by Bangor surgeon Dr. Susan O’Connor, followed by expressions of gratitude by three of the many northern Maine patients she has served. Dr. O’Connor describes the difficulty of making the phone call that bears bad tidings.
“The wait to hear the results from a biopsy is excruciating, so I call as soon as I can, wishing it could be in person, but knowing that a phone call is quicker.”
She said that after a few moments at her desk staring at a pathology report, “Eventually, I do make the call, drawing strength from the knowledge that this is a treatable, survivable condition for almost everybody.”
Praising the women (and sometimes men) in her “surgical family” for their “grace in the face of adversity,” she wrote, “The memoirs contained in this book are a testament to each breast cancer patient and the community that supports them through diagnosis, treatment and survivorship.”
Excerpts from the poem “Valley of Hope” by Carie O’Leary:
first stanza:
Somewhere in the Valley
The lights are burning low
But we are climbing mountains
With many miles left to go.
next to last stanza:
So let’s make hope our captain,
Let’s reach the other shore,
Let’s stand together in this fight
Until they find a cure.
“Valley of Hope” is available on amazon.com and through the Eagle Lake and Fort Kent offices of Fish River Rural Health, 444-5973, jmichaud@frrh.org. All proceeds support activities of the FRRH breast cancer support group.
Kathryn Olmstead is a former University of Maine associate dean and associate professor of journalism living in Aroostook County, where she publishes the quarterly magazine Echoes. Her column appears in this space every other Friday. She can be reached at kathryn.olmstead@umit.maine.edu or P.O. Box 626, Caribou, ME 04736.