Nancy Geer is an ambassador this year for the 2026 Greater Richland Area Cancer Elimination Walk, which is coming up on Friday night, August 14th.
Nancy, it is a pleasure to have you in the studio with us today.
I'm glad to be here with you.
You and your family, I can think of nobody that's been more loyal listeners of WRC over the years.
We enjoy it
And you always have the radio on in the barn while you were doing chores
and still do still do
Winning trivia late nights on Saturday nights.
Yes
So let's have you tell a little bit about yourself for those that don't know you Nancy if you would please
okay, I grew up on a dairy farm in Pertichine area and Shortly after graduation from high school.
I married Bill gear.
We admit that a 4-H camp and
And I moved up to Richland Center, and we're on his family's dairy farm.
We're still there, about 48 years now.
And we've got three kids, Eileen, Katie Lynn, and William, and now five grandkids.
And we sold the dairy herd in 2020, but now we've transitioned over to...
A few beef cattle were doing the crops and raising cattle for our grandkids who are now in the 4-H.
Wonderful.
How life turns, right?
Yes.
Still busy.
Still busy.
Because I know we were trying to line up the interview.
You were riding around in a combine and doing all kinds of things,
weren't you?
The tractor's my friend.
No
doubt.
And I recall quite a few years ago, Ron and I went out to your farm and unloaded hay.
That was for a grace benefit.
That was right.
We had purchased one of the loads of hay.
off of the radio auction.
And another party said if Ron and Phil would come and unload hay, that they would donate more money.
So we had a crew out there of people to unload the load of hay.
You did.
Yeah.
Too bad you had to deal with us doing that.
We got through it all right.
So let's talk a little bit about your cancer journey.
That's why you're here.
When did it first start for you,
Nancy?
in November of 2021.
I was when it started and I had had stomach problems and it was at the same time that preschools and daycares were shutting the doors for a few days because all the kids were having stomach problems and if they'd clean up everything and then they'd start over again and they'd say, you know, give the kids just a chance to take a break.
I thought I had the same thing.
and about a week or so of this stomach problems and then my stools turned white and it was just like the color of oatmeal and I said this is not normal and nobody else I've ever heard of talked like this so I said time to go see a doctor it's more than just a stomach bug and I went to spring green to the clinic
because Richland Centers was still in the middle of COVID and it was going to be a few weeks before I could get in to see my regular doctor.
And I went to the spring green clinic and Dr. Cornelius did some exams and she said, you know, your skin looks awful yellow and your eyes are kind of yellowish.
And she says, I'm going to do some blood tests.
And I said, OK.
And she drew blood.
The lab samples were sent back to Richland Center to get tested.
And before I could get back home from Springgreen, she had a message on my phone that said, there's something wrong with your liver.
We want you to get to lacrosse or Madison yet this evening.
And the paperwork will be there.
All you have to do is get there and they want to do more tests.
I went to La Crosse and I had been a healthy person.
I just figured, you know, give me some pills or a shot or something and send me back home.
Well, they did more lab work.
They did an ultrasound and then a CT scan.
And I left that night knowing that
There's a growth on your pancreas, and it's so big that it's blocking the tubes that are draining your liver.
And the only way to fix it is surgery, but we're going to put a stint in until we can figure out when we can do surgery.
A few days later, they were able to schedule to put the stint in, and at that time,
They also did biopsies of my pancreas and my liver and my stomach and all other sorts of stuff that all fall in the same area and They came back that said well the growth on your pancreas is not cancerous and I said well, that's really good But we found cancer cells growing in the tubes that drain your pancreas and liver and that area is called the
ampula of vetar and they said you have what's called ampulary cancer.
I had never heard of it.
Nobody else I've ever talked to has ever heard of it.
A lot of medical people have never heard of it.
So it's something very rare and just going to be a challenge they said because
We haven't had hardly any cases of that in La Crosse to even deal with that surgery.
I went home and waited for surgery, which took almost a month to get the surgery scheduled.
And December 13th, I had surgery in La Crosse with Dr. Travis Smith.
Surgery started at six in the morning, and I was not out of surgery until almost seven o'clock that night.
Oh my goodness.
They removed my gallbladder.
They took the growth off the pancreas and also removed part of the pancreas.
They took two inches off the end of my stomach.
They took nine inches of my small intestines.
and all the tubes that drain the liver, the pancreas, and that area.
And then it was time to reconstruct and put back together again.
And while they were doing this, they cut the major blood vessel that goes into the liver.
And they called in the emergency vascular team.
And I had four units of blood because
I was going to bleed out.
Surgery, like I said, lasted over 12 hours and the incision took 29 staples across my stomach to stitch it back together.
Bill was able to see me later that night and they said we don't know if she'll be making it through the night.
Her blood pressure was like
45 over 30, and my pulse was 29.
And with Bill's help talking to me, they said my blood pressure started going up, and then he started saying things that would irritate me.
The medical staff looked at him terrible, and he said,
She's going to be irritated and I must have been because my blood pressure started going up.
He knew the
buttons to push,
didn't he?
They were able to keep me going through the night and they said, you know, we've got her through the night.
That's a good sign.
I spent 22 days recovering in La Crosse in the hospital.
A
terrible place to spend Christmas, by
the way.
Christmas and New Year's.
Oh boy.
However, the fireworks off a granddad's bluff are just awesome.
You've
got to see
those.
Yes, a New Year's Eve.
That was a highlight, I guess.
So did surgery take that long and the bleeding problem was because they accidentally nicked
up?
No, they said without the nicking the blood vessel, it was going to take 10 to 12 hours.
Okay.
Just because of...
all the different organs they had to work on and reconstructing things.
Okay, so that was expected then.
Do you remember anything else during that recovery?
Do you remember what Bill said to you or anything?
For about four days I do not remember anything.
I remember being moved from the ICU into a regular room because I knew it hurts all bad.
And then I was out of it again.
where the blood vessel was nicked about six days later it developed a blood clot and for about three days after that I did not even know my own name I couldn't walk or anything it affected me that bad and I came out of that on Christmas Day and Bill was there and he was watching
The oriental or not that the express the polar or express or express and I saw the Train come down over the hill and I looked and watched it and went.
Oh, this is making me nauseous And and Bill says oh you're awake now And that's one of the first memories I have after surgery
my goodness,
so it took a while
You had a lot of different perils, didn't
you?
Yes.
It wasn't just
one thing.
So you were in the hospital.
How long during that stretch again?
22
days.
22 days.
Wow.
What did it feel like when you returned home?
I couldn't hardly eat anything.
My stomach just wouldn't accept food.
And they said, eat as much as you can and drink as much as you can.
You'll be starting chemo soon.
And we want you stronger and healthier.
And it was a chore to even get me to eat like half a cup of food.
And Bill kept pushing me, you got to eat.
You got to eat.
They said I wouldn't be strong enough to walk from my house to my mailbox for about a month.
And they were right.
Didn't have energy and Stay out of the barn stay away from anybody and everybody that can give you germs and bugs and and you know stay healthy as you can and The end of January I started in chemo treatments and those were in lacrosse also and I'd I'd go to lacrosse
nine o'clock in the morning they did blood work and if your blood counts weren't right you didn't get chemo that day because you're I think it was a white blood cell counts had to be in line to fight all the stuff the chemo was going to treat you with and about ten o'clock they put the first intravenous tubes in and and I had a port but they
started the anirviness and I went until about three o'clock that afternoon and got quite a cocktail of chemo treatments and other things that helped the chemo work better and about three o'clock they sent me home four o'clock depending on how fast it went and when I went home the last chemo
was put on a pump and I had the pump for two days and then I had to go back and they removed the pump and the last chemo.
And this treatment went on for about six months.
How many days in a row then?
Were you doing it during the week then?
I did it.
I got the treatment and it lasted two more days with the pump going home and then two weeks later I'd go back for another treatment.
Okay.
And after the first two treatments, I was able to transfer to the Gundersen facility in Bosquebell for the infusions and saved a lot of time, saved a lot of travel.
But I still got the same medicines and stuff that I needed.
You have to consider yourself a survivor, don't you?
Oh, yes, yes.
They said most people that get this kind of cancer,
They don't find it until it's stage four, and most of them never make it through most of the chemo treatments.
They've passed away before that.
Wow.
So did they think that you found it early then?
Because of the growth on my pancreas that wasn't related to the cancer.
That's how they found it.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have found it in the tubes until much later, they said.
How rare is this cancer Nancy?
Do you remember what they told you?
About one-tenth of one percent of all digestive system cancers will be an ampullary cancer.
So very rare.
Like I said, lacrosse has only seen just a very few cases of it and with technology nowadays they were able to
share information with all the big cancer centers around the country and this is what works, this is what doesn't work and they were able to find the right buttons to push to keep me alive.
Well you got to be proud of the fact that maybe somebody else is going to survive because of what you went through.
That's right.
You're kind of a pioneer there
in some ways.
They said my information is in the bank.
And anybody that wants to take a look at it is able to do that now.
So when you got done with your chemo then, things a little bit better?
Have you had any issues since that time, Nancy?
Actually, my chemo went very well.
They were able to find a drug that helped me start eating.
And with chemo, I lost all my hair, or most of it.
I didn't have any problems with nausea or not being able to eat or things like that.
I went through it just fine.
At the end of the chemo, they said, we're going to let your system rest for about a month.
And the first week of July, I started in on radiation treatments five days a week in La Crosse.
And that lasted until
The Walk With Grace Day in Richmond Center was my last chemo treatment in 22.
What
a rough year that was for you, my goodness.
It was a challenge.
Things on the farm got kind of shuffled around and the husband said well you know we're not going to be doing all the crops and all the hay that we usually do.
We've got other things on our agenda.
So how quickly did you get back to the farm or being able to go back to the barn then?
I was back late spring when I was doing chemo that I was I was back in the barn not doing a lot and
you know, but I was out there and more support for him and making sure he was okay because when my cancer was diagnosed on about November 15th, the morning of Thanksgiving, like two in the morning, he woke me up and he said,
You got to take me to the hospital.
There's something wrong.
And he was diagnosed with AFib.
And they said, it's brought on by stress.
Do you have some stress in your life?
And he said, well, my wife was diagnosed with cancer.
I think I do have some stress in my life.
And so he went through AFib.
treatments and and just this past spring he went through a triple bypass and he's doing well with that now.
You've been
there to support one another haven't you?
That's right.
That's right.
And that's what you do with the loved ones.
You know everybody supports each other and and families helped out all the time.
The kids and the grandkids have all been around and
It goes slower, but we're still going.
Now, did you say some things to get his blood pressure going back up?
Did you pay
him back?
Actually, his blood pressure needed to come down.
Okay.
You needed to call.
Sue them a little bit.
Oh boy.
Well, when you got the call to be an ambassador, did you think about it very long, Nancy?
Oh, no.
So the people that had talked to me and nominated me and said, you know, we're gonna put your name in.
I said, that's okay.
People need to know that things aren't always rosy and peachy when you got cancer.
And sometimes the little things that, oh, it's bothering me, but it shouldn't be any problem.
Go get them checked out with the doctor because sometimes it's more of a problem than what you think it
is.
Because like you said, when you initially had it, you thought it was just a bug that was going around.
That's right.
It'd
be easy to kind of dismiss it at that point.
Well, everybody catches them and and so many viruses and stuff going around.
It's OK.
I got a 24 hour bug, but it turned into a.
week long bug, and what happened to this one?
How come I got it so bad?
Right.
And you were right.
It was kind of still right in the height of COVID when you were dealing with all those things.
So hospital procedures and everything were different at that time, weren't
they?
That's right.
That's right.
Visitors were limited, and visitors hours were limited.
So it was a challenge.
When you take that first lap with the other three ambassadors this year at this year's Grace, what's that gonna seem like?
What will that be like?
Can you imagine?
It'll be a happy time and probably have tears because you know, I've been through more than anybody can ever imagine and I'm still walking and still going and I hear too many stories that results are not good with cancer and
So it'll be a good, happy time for me.
No doubt.
And your support network, your husband and kids and grandkids, they're all going to be there for you as well?
Well, some of them are down at state fair at that time.
Oh, sure.
There's a conflict isn't there.
So always, you know.
Everyone's schedule does not fit everything.
There's always something going on.
Absolutely.
So Grace is a wonderful thing for the area and I know that you're grateful that we have it and you're going to continue to support it.
Oh yes, yes.
The families supported it through the years and they've done me a lot of good and so many other people and it's just going to have to.
keep going at it.
Good deal.
Well, you're a real inspiration.
We appreciate you coming in and sharing your story because it's not an easy one to tell.
And it's interesting, you know, you know that maybe somebody has or had cancer, but you never know exactly the extent that they're going through,
do you?
No, because everyone's different.
Every treatment is different.
And what works on one will not work on the other.
So it's a challenge for the doctors to
Find the right one for the right person.
No doubt.
Well, thanks again, Nancy.
You're welcome.
Yeah.
Nancy Geer is stepping up to be an ambassador this year for Greater Ruslan Area Cancer Elimination.
Again, the walk is coming up on August 14th.
On our morning show today, we are spotlighting more of the ambassadors for this year's Greater Richland Area Cancer Elimination Walk, which is coming up August 14th.
And we have another ambassador in the studio with us today, Lila Babe Kraska.
How are you?
I'm doing good.
Thank you.
Wonderful.
Great to have you in the studio.
We're going to ask you to tell us a little about yourself.
The first thing I'm curious about the nickname or your name, Babe.
I've had Babe since I was probably...
a baby it's been forever teachers call me doctors call me everybody calls me babe so i answered anything
though i was going to say if some people say lila they may not know who we're talking about right
probably not
sure so did you grow up in the area then
lone rock 67 years lone rock
born and raised yep good deal and were you aware of grace uh all these years
uh yeah i started
Um, the mighty ducks team in 2001 in honor of my mom who passed away from breast cancer Then it was the relay for life And I've been with mighty ducks ever since
I believe
I sponsor it a team.
Yep
We've read some of your loved ones names quite often.
I think
I'm a
luminary savagery
sure sure have
Tell us about when your cancer journey started then how long ago was
that?
Well, it was May 13th, 2024.
I went to have my mammogram and the girl said, if we need anything, we'll call you.
She took two pictures of the left breast because she thought she saw something.
So I said, okay, see you next year, just like I always do.
And the next morning, about nine o'clock, UW was calling me to send me an appointment because
They did see something that she spotted.
And the doctor down there said that he might have even missed it because it was the size of like two pieces of rice, if even that big.
So he gave her a big whoop-de-doo because she did so good.
And I thank her so much.
And then I had to have a mammogram and a diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound on the 31st of May.
And June 7th, I had another mammogram and a biopsy.
And they set up to have me go in on June 21st to talk to them about it.
My husband, my daughter, Latrice, a goblin went with me.
Because more than your ears are better.
If you have two or more, go take them because you won't remember what they said.
Cause you're kind of in a fog then.
Oh
yeah.
Yeah.
And well, June 11th is when Grace was having you had to get your t-shirt order in.
And that morning I went in and looked on my my chart and it said that I did have cancer.
So I put my name of a bunch of my family members and friends and stuff on the back of my shirt.
This time I had to put my name on it.
Which wasn't good.
No, it runs in your family My
mother had breast cancer.
My father had colon cancer I had a genetic testing done and I had a mutant gene.
It was checked to So my son DJ Adams went down and had the test done to to make sure that because of the kids But it stopped with me.
So he didn't have the mutant gene
It ended right with me.
I don't know if my sisters, what theirs did, because they didn't had it too, but I don't remember if they were diagnosed with it or not.
Well, you're thinking all the time that maybe someday it's going to be me because it has ran in my family before.
Well, yeah, you always think that, but then you're always hoping no.
But then it gets you.
Then it got you.
Yeah.
It's two years or two years in June 11th.
It was when I found out.
Yes.
Okay.
So it has been quite a journey, hasn't it?
Yeah, I was diagnosed with stage one invasive ductal carcinoma.
I hate those big words, but
you said it well.
That's what I have.
And like I said, it was so small that I'm so grateful it was so small.
Other people aren't that lucky.
Okay, so then that was a couple of years ago.
What
was your form of treatment then?
After I had a biopsy, I had lumpectomy, and then I had 15 radiation treatments, and now I go every six months for a mammogram and an MRI.
And I have an infusion because I take letrasol.
It's to help battle so you don't get the cancer.
And that takes away your calcium and stuff.
So I go down and have an infusion every six months.
And I think I only have three more of those to go.
Luckily, I don't like those either.
When you got the call about being an ambassador, did you really jump at the chance or did you have to think about it a little
bit?
said yes right away.
Well, I told you and I'd have to let her know, but I was right away going to do it.
My daughter-in-law, Trisa Goblin, put in my name last year for it, but they had so many that I was one of the newer ones, so they just waited.
And I'm very honored to do that because I want people to know that just because you have it, don't mean you give up hope.
Right, you're a good case in point for that aren't you think about all the things that you've been seeing and doing here over the course of the last couple of years and Beyond what are what are some of your interests?
Oh, I bowl and Fish and I'm with the lone rockets all auxiliary We put on the vets rule, which is amazing.
I'm with the splash pad
where we got the splash pad going and we're still raising money for that.
I am the president of the Button Cemetery.
And anything I can usually get into, I do.
A lot of irons in the fire.
Right.
Love baseball.
Softball with Jossie, my granddaughter.
Trey, when he was in school, was baseball.
They keep me busy, so.
So you go to a few games?
Oh, I go to every game.
But I'm guessing it makes you more grateful, doesn't
it?
It does.
I wouldn't miss their game.
Well, I'm missing one tonight.
I'm going to the Mallards tonight.
Oh,
OK.
That's a lot of fun.
Yeah, so I appreciate my family.
They've been there for me.
Yeah, it's a good support network.
It is.
It is.
You have to have that.
I don't know.
You just never know when it's going to hit you.
And one thing I want people to know is, do not go on Google.
It's the worst thing you can do.
Because when I went on it, it said, you have five to seven years.
That's not going to happen.
I'm going to be here forever.
I think that's a good point for anything that you have that you think is an ailment.
It does kind of tend to scare you sometimes,
doesn't it?
It does.
It's terrible.
Listen to your doctors.
They know what they're doing.
Google doesn't.
Sure.
So the prognosis it sounds like is good
for you.
It is.
I probably only have to take that pill three more years.
Thank God.
And it's...
Like I said, nothing has showed up anywhere else.
When they did the lumpectomy, there was nothing in my lymph nodes.
It was just those two little spots that that girl saw.
And I want to rethink her if she knows who she is, because I can't remember names.
And all the ones down at the university, they were all my angels on earth.
Couldn't have got through it without them.
Had you just said, well, you know, or...
Gone with what the doctor said and just went home, things might have been a little different.
Right, if she wouldn't have spotted that, I would probably have waited until the next year.
And who knows how far it would have got by then.
It might have been too late.
And it doesn't discriminate against anybody.
It'll go against children, adults.
Your race doesn't matter.
Your sex doesn't matter.
Nothing matters to it.
It's a terrible disease and I pray to God every day for saving me and hope that he helps out with the cure.
I think the greatest thing, and I told the other ambassadors this, is that you guys hopefully can be an inspiration for somebody else, you know, because early detection is very key, isn't
it?
Yes, go get your mammograms, get the colonoscopy.
It's not going to hurt you, believe me.
been through both, nothing's going to hurt you.
Well, they're both a little bit of an inconvenience, but it beats having to go through.
Right.
If they find something, you can get it taken care of so it can save your life.
So how is your team doing this year?
We're doing good.
We have Marge Benson on our team and she has sold 150 tickets.
I'm not surprised.
She is excellent on our team.
She's
the saleswoman of the year.
She is.
She is awesome.
And she's a former ambassador.
Yes, she is.
She lives just a block away from me.
And
so you've got quite a support network there.
And like I said, you've always had the team,
but it
means even more now, doesn't
it?
Yes, it does.
Yeah.
I'm just glad that I've always, when my mom got cancer, my friend Lynn Mulholland, all by, she said, you want to honor your mom?
Do you want to do a team for the relay for life?
I says, well, what's that?
She says, it's for cancer.
It's a research thing.
So they raise money and stuff.
I said, yeah, we'll do that.
We'll name him the mighty.
Her nickname was duck.
So we named ourselves the mighty duck.
And my dad was snake.
So he's got a picture of a snake on my shirt, too.
So it's a duck in a snake.
I've got so many names on there now, though.
I've got to start readjusting the pictures somehow, do a different thing.
Every year it just gets more.
My sister's husband just passed away in April, the end of April from cancer.
And I found out when we was going to Washington for a family reunion that I have a cousin out there.
She's 58, I believe.
has stage 4 pancreatic cancer.
When we got back about three, four weeks ago maybe, my sister comes down and said that her niece-in-law is around the same age as our cousin and she found out she has stage 4 pancreatic cancer.
So it's just running rampant.
praying that they get a cure for it.
Yeah, no doubt.
They have made strides.
You know, there are some things that make it a little bit more tolerable, maybe your longevity is better and things like that.
Well, in having our local hospital, that's another place I'd like to thank.
Because if we didn't have that, we'd have to go how far to get our treatments or just to be diagnosed with it.
Thanks to them too.
You speak about grace from personal experience, but also from all of the people that you know around that have been helped by it.
It does motivate you even more to go out and see what you can and raise money for the organization.
We have a lot of fun with our team when we're at the grace walk.
What are some
things that you do from time to time?
Well, we don't really go out and raise money.
We do our selling of our tickets and all that stuff, but we have more fun when we come up there.
We buy a lot of the ice cream that we're snackers.
So we, we buy a lot of stuff and the silent auction is my favorite thing in the world.
I love doing the silent auction.
They've
got a lot of stuff again this year
too.
But
lots of things to snack on
and whatnot.
Just sitting around and talking and visiting with other people, seeing people that you haven't seen for a while, it gets to you.
And you see the line of the survivor line that goes through when they first start walking.
It just makes you want to cry.
What's it going to feel like this year?
Because you're going to be leading you and the other three ambassadors leading that first lap.
Might cry
and you'd be alright doing that so but you're you're right It's very poignant because there's so many people that you see that maybe didn't even know they had cancer and
here they
are Out among the crowd.
I had a friend that I worked with years ago She told me she goes babe.
I Just don't understand you come in here telling me all the time all these people you know with cancer She goes you know what I don't know anybody.
I said what you don't know anybody
That's had cancer.
No Well, it was a month or two later.
She come in and she was crying.
I said, what's the matter?
She goes, I know somebody Her son-in-law had a brain tumor the size of a baseball.
Oh my goodness and
then I don't know if it was a year or two later She ended up with lung cancer.
They'd take a lung.
She didn't survive
How quickly life can
change right?
it's like you didn't know anybody but then your son-in-law and then you so nobody is not can't you can anybody can get it right you know and it's it's sad
yeah you might think that uh you're immune because you have no family history but that can change
Quickly.
Your team has been very supportive buying luminaries over the years
because
I've read or been among the readers all these years for the luminary ceremony.
And a lot of the people you've mentioned here today, I've read their names.
We've got a lot more this year, unfortunately.
I mean, it's good for the grace, but it's not good for the families.
And like we always say, the bad news is cancer, the good news is
grace.
Yeah, Ron Fruit coined that term
quite some time ago.
Anything else you'd like to add today?
No, just everybody come to Grace, the Walk with Grace if you can, and get your mammograms and your colonoscopies.
And come up and shake your hand and give you a hug or whatever at Grace, right?
Right.
Yeah.
Even though I'm not a hugger.
Well, bumpfist
or something.
Yeah.
Well, thank you so much for stepping forward and being a leader and being an ambassador this year.
Thank you for having me.
I'm very honored.
Good to have you in the studio with us.
Babe Kraska joining us one of this year's Grace Ambassadors and WRCO's morning show.
On our morning show today, we are spotlighting more of the ambassadors for this year's Greater Richland Area Cancer Elimination Walk, which is coming up August 14th.
And we have another ambassador in the studio with us today, Lila Babe Kraska.
How are you?
I'm doing good.
Thank you.
Wonderful.
Great to have you in the studio.
We're going to ask you to tell us a little about yourself.
The first thing I'm curious about the nickname or your name, Babe.
I've had Babe since I was probably...
a baby it's been forever teachers call me doctors call me everybody calls me babe so i answered anything though
i was gonna say if some people say lila they may not know who we're talking about right
probably not
sure so did you grow up in the area then
lone rock 67 years lone rock
born and raised yeah good deal and were you aware of grace uh all these years
uh yeah i started
The Mighty Ducks team in 2001, in honor of my mom who passed away from breast cancer.
Then it was the Relay for Life.
And I've been with Mighty Ducks ever since.
I
sponsor the team,
yep.
We've read some of your loved ones' names quite often, I think
on the
Luminaries, haven't we?
Yep, sure
have.
Tell us about when your cancer journey started then.
How long ago was
that?
Well, it was May 13th, 2024.
I went to have my mammogram and the girl said, if we need anything, we'll call you.
She took two pictures of the left breast because she thought she saw something.
So I said, okay, see you next year, just like I always do.
And the next morning, about nine o'clock, UW was calling me to set me up an appointment because
They did see something that she spotted.
And the doctor down there said that he might have even missed it because it was the size of like two pieces of rice, if even that big.
So he gave her a big whoop-de-doo because she did so good.
And I thank her so much.
And then I had to have a mammogram and a diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound on the 31st of May.
And June 7th, I had another mammogram and a biopsy.
And they set up to have me go in on June 21st to talk to them about it.
My husband, my daughter, Latrice Goplin went with me.
Because more than your ears are better.
If you have two or more, go take them because you won't remember what they said.
Cause you're kind of in a fog then.
Oh
yeah.
Yeah.
And well, June 11th is when Grace was having you had to get your t-shirt order in and that morning I went in and looked on my my chart and it said that I did have cancer.
So I put my name of a bunch of my family members and friends and stuff on the back of my shirt.
This time I had to put my name on it.
Which wasn't good.
No, it runs in your family My
mother had breast cancer.
My father had colon cancer I had a genetic testing done and I had a mutant gene.
It was checked to So my son DJ Adams went down and had the test done to to make sure that because of the kids But it stopped with me.
So he didn't have the mutant gene
it ended right with me.
I don't know if my sisters, what theirs did, because they didn't had it too, but I don't remember if they were diagnosed with it or not.
Well, you're thinking all the time that maybe someday it's going to be me because it has ran in my family before?
Well, yeah, you always think that, but then you're always hoping no.
But then it gets you.
Then it got
you.
Yeah.
It's two years or two years ago years in June 11th.
It was when I found out.
Yes.
Okay.
So it has been quite a journey, hasn't it?
Yeah, I was diagnosed with stage one invasive ductal carcinoma.
I hate those big words, but
you said it well.
That's what I have.
And like I said, it was so small that I'm so grateful it was so small.
Other people aren't that lucky.
Okay, so then that was a couple of years ago.
What
was your form of treatment then?
After I had a biopsy, I had lumpectomy, and then I had 15 radiation treatments, and now I go every six months for a mammogram and an MRI.
And I have an infusion because I take letrasol.
It's to help battle so you don't get the cancer.
And that takes away your calcium and stuff.
So I go down and have an infusion every six months.
And I think I only have three more of those to go.
Luckily, I don't like those either.
When you got the call about being an ambassador, did you really jump at the chance or did you have to think about it a little
bit?
said yes right away.
Well, I told you and I'd have to let her know, but I was right away going to do it.
My daughter-in-law, Teresa Goblin, put in my name last year for it, but they had so many that I was one of the newer ones, so they just waited.
And I'm very honored to do that because I want people to know that just because you have it, don't mean you give up hope.
Right you're a good case in point for that aren't you think about all the things that you've been seeing and doing here over the course of the last couple of years and Beyond what are what are some of your interests?
Oh, I bowl and fish and I'm with the lone rockets all auxiliary We put on the vets rule, which is amazing.
I'm with the Splash pad where we got the splash pad going and we're still raising money for that
I am the president of the Button Cemetery.
And anything I can usually get into, I do.
A lot of irons
in the fire.
Right.
Love baseball.
Softball with Jassy, my granddaughter.
Trey, when he was in school, was baseball.
They keep me busy, so.
So you go to a few games?
Oh, I go to every game.
But I'm guessing it makes you more grateful, doesn't it?
It does.
I wouldn't miss their game.
Well, I'm missing one tonight.
I'm going to the Mallards tonight.
Oh,
OK.
That's a lot of fun.
Yeah, so I appreciate my family.
They've been there for me.
Yeah, it's a good support network.
It is.
It is.
You have to have that.
I don't know.
You just never know when it's going to hit you.
And one thing I want people to know is, do not go on Google.
It's the worst thing you can do.
Because when I went on it, it said, you have five to seven years.
That's not going to happen.
I'm going to be here forever.
I think that's a good point for anything that you have that you think is an ailment.
It does kind of tend to scare you sometimes,
doesn't it?
It does.
It's terrible.
Listen to your doctors.
They know what they're doing.
Google doesn't.
Sure.
So the prognosis it sounds like is good
for you.
It is.
I probably only have to take that pill three more years.
Thank God.
Like I said, nothing has showed up anywhere else.
When they did the lumpectomy, there was nothing in my lymph nodes.
It was just those two little spots that that girl saw.
And I want to rethink her if she knows who she is because I can't remember names.
And all the ones down at the university, they were all my angels on earth.
Couldn't have got through it without them.
Right.
Had you just said, well, you know, or gone with what the doctor said and just went home, things might have been a little different.
Right.
If she wouldn't have spotted that, it might have.
I would have waited till the next year and who knows how far it would have got by then.
It might have been too late, you know, and it doesn't discriminate against anybody.
It will go against children, adults.
Your race doesn't matter.
Your sex doesn't matter.
Nothing matters to it.
It's a terrible disease and I pray to God every day for saving me and hope that he helps out with the cure.
I think the greatest thing, and I told the other ambassadors this, is that you guys hopefully can be an inspiration for somebody else, you know, because early detection is very key, isn't
it?
Yes, go get your mammograms, get the colonoscopy.
It's not going to hurt you.
Believe me, been through both, nothing's going to hurt you.
Well, they're both a little bit of an inconvenience, but it beats having to go through.
Right.
If they find something, you can get it taken care of so it can save your life.
So how is your team doing this year?
We're doing good.
We have Marge Benson on our team and she has sold 150 tickets.
I'm not surprised.
She is excellent on our team.
She's
the saleswoman of the year.
She is.
She is awesome.
And she's a former ambassador.
Yes, she is.
She lives just a block away from me.
And
so you've got quite a support network there.
And like I said, you've always had the team,
but it
means even more now, doesn't
it?
Yes, it does.
Yeah.
I'm just glad that I've always, when my mom got.
cancer, my friend Lynn Mulholland-Awbaugh.
She said, you want to honor your mom?
Do you want to do a team for the Relay for Life?
I said, well, what's that?
She says, it's for cancer.
It's a research thing.
So they raise money and stuff.
I said, yeah, we'll do that.
We'll name him the mighty.
Her nickname was Duck.
So we named ourselves the mighty duck.
And my dad was Snake.
So he's got a picture of a snake on my shirt too, so it's a duck and a snake I've got so many names on there now, though I've got to start Readjusting the pictures somehow do a different thing Every year it just gets more My sister's husband just passed away in April the end of April from cancer and I found out when we was going to Washington for a family reunion that I have a cousin out there.
She's 58.
I believe she
has stage 4 pancreatic cancer.
When we got back about three, four weeks ago maybe, my sister comes down and said that her niece-in-law is around the same age as our cousin and she found out she has stage 4 pancreatic cancer.
So it's just running rampant.
praying that they get a cure for it.
No doubt.
They have made strides.
You know, there are some things that make it a little bit more tolerable.
Maybe your longevity is better and things like that.
Well, in having our local hospital, that's another place I'd like to thank.
Because if we didn't have that, we'd have to go how far to get our treatments or just to be diagnosed with it.
Thanks to them too.
You speak about grace from personal experience, but also from all of the people that you know around that have been helped by it.
It does motivate you even more to go out and see what you can and raise money for the organization.
We have a lot of fun with our team when we're at the grace walk.
What are some
things that you do from time to time?
Well, we don't really go out and raise money.
We do our selling of our tickets and all that stuff, but we have more fun when we come up there.
We buy a lot of the ice cream that we're snackers.
So we buy a lot of stuff and the silent auction is my favorite thing in the world.
I love doing the silent auction.
They've
got a lot of stuff again this year, too.
Oh, good.
But
lots of things to snack on
and whatnot.
Just sitting around and talking and visiting with other people, seeing people that you haven't seen for a while, it gets to you.
And you see the line of the survivor line that goes through when they first start walking.
It just makes you want to cry.
What's it going to feel like this year?
Because you're going to be leading you and the other three ambassadors leading that first lap.
I might cry.
And you'd be all right doing that.
But you're right.
It's very poignant because there's so many people that you see that maybe didn't even know they had cancer and
here they
are out among the crowd.
I had a friend that I worked with years ago.
She told me she goes, babe.
I just don't understand.
You come in here telling me all the time, all these people you know with cancer.
She goes, you know what?
I don't know anybody.
I said, what?
You don't know anybody that's had cancer?
No.
Well, it was a month or two later, she come in and she was crying.
I said, what's the matter?
She goes, I know somebody.
Her son-in-law had a brain tumor the size of a baseball.
Oh my goodness.
And
then, I don't know if it was a year or two later.
She ended up with lung cancer.
They'd take a lung.
She didn't survive.
How quickly life can change,
right?
It's like you didn't know anybody, but then your son-in-law and then you.
So nobody is not... Anybody can get it, you know, and it's sad.
Yeah, you might think that you're immune because you have no family history, but that can change.
Quickly.
Your team has been very supportive buying luminaries over the years
because
I've read or been among the readers all these years for the luminary ceremony and a lot of the people you've mentioned here today, I've read their names.
We've got a lot more this year, unfortunately.
I mean, it's good for the grace, but it's not good for the families.
And like we always say, the bad news is cancer, the good news is
grace.
Yeah, Ron Fruit coined that term
quite some time ago.
Anything else you'd like to add today?
No, just everybody come to Grace, the Walk with Grace if you can, and get your mammograms and your colonoscopies.
And come up and shake your hand and give you a hug or whatever at Grace, right?
Right.
Yeah.
Even though I'm not a hugger.
Well, bumpfist
or something.
Yeah.
Well, thank you so much for stepping forward and being a leader and being an ambassador this year.
Thank you for having me.
I'm very honored.
Good to have you in the studio with us.
Babe Kraska joining us one of this year's Grace Ambassadors and WRCO's morning show.