Miss-Delectable
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2004
- Messages
- 17,160
- Reaction score
- 7
Deaf and legally blind Watertown woman overcomes breast cancer - Watertown, MA - Watertown TAB & Press
A diagnosis of breast cancer is difficult for anyone, but for Ellen Mary Rys – who is deaf and legally blind – there were special challenges.
Rys is healthy now, but her health is hard won. From February through October of 2009, she underwent a trying regimen of chemotherapy, surgery and radiation.
Her breast surgeon, Dr. Susan Pories, said Rys’ personal strength and optimism helped get her through those difficult months.
“To me what’s remarkable is her spirit,” Pories said. “Here she is with all these disabilities, but she lives independently, she has a job, she went through treatment and went right back to work. I really never heard her complain. She’s just a very funny, upbeat person.”
Rys isn’t shy about agreeing.
“I was very brave. I was very positive,” she said through a sign-language interpreter, Cheryl Papas, who works with Rys as an independent living specialist at the Perkins School for the Blind.
Rys, 45, is a graduate of the Perkins School and lives in Watertown as part of the school’s independent living program. For 16 years, she has worked at Marshall’s in the Arsenal Mall. She lives alone, in an apartment close enough that most days she can walk to work.
Rys was alone in her apartment when she first noticed a lump in her right breast. At first, she hesitated to see her doctor, and even after her diagnosis, she waited to tell her parents, who live in Munson, MA and visit her often, because her father was recovering from a quadruple bypass surgery.
By the time Rys’ tumor was detected, it was a Stage 3 – or locally advanced – cancer. She had a 6-centimeter malignant tumor in her breast and cancerous cells in the adjacent lymph nodes. Fortunately, tests confirmed that there was no cancer anywhere else in her body.
Rys selected Mt. Auburn Hospital in Cambridge for her treatment. She and her family credit the hospital with offering excellent care and understanding. Rys had a sign-language interpreter present during all of her medical visits and her parents were able to be present throughout treatment, often sleeping at the hospital.
“The hospital did a lot of accommodating to Ellen’s needs,” her mother Carole Rys said. “This place got to be a second home to us.”
At first, Rys was frightened by the diagnosis, but with time that subsided.
“Before, I was really afraid, yes, but then I was calm and OK,” she said. “The fear and anxiety got less and less.”
She said the support of her family, friends and her treatment team provided comfort.
At Mt. Auburn Hospital, Pories worked with the hospital breast center navigator and social worker to arrange a multidisciplinary care plan.
Because the tumor was advanced, Rys’ oncologist prescribed a six-week regimen of chemotherapy to shrink the tumor before surgery, with a month to recover before the procedure.
The treatment worked, but it had unpleasant side effects. Rys’ hair began falling out almost immediately, and she experienced pain and weakness.
Kathy Willey, Rys’ primary nurse during her treatment, said chemo can be grueling.
“A lot of fatigue, susceptible to infections, a lot of bone pain, nausea, but she was a trouper through it all,” Willey said.
After the second treatment, she had a bad reaction and had to spend a night in the intensive care unit. After that, the drugs were changed and the period of treatment extended.
When the chemotherapy was completed, Rys had a mastectomy and removal of the cancerous lymph nodes under her arm on May 27 of last year.
She returned to her family’s home in Munson for six weeks to recover from the surgery. She was very weak and had little energy.
“I slept a lot,” she said. “I mostly slept and rested. I would watch TV and I would read. I would talk with friends and my family, but I really kept quiet.”
After healing from the surgery, she returned to Watertown and further treatment at Mt. Auburn. Because the tumor had spread to her lymph nodes, she had to undergo localized radiation treatment to the chest wall and remaining lymph nodes every day for six weeks.
The effects of the radiation were far less severe than with the chemo. She suffered fatigue and pain at the radiation site that she compared to a bad sunburn.
Following treatment, she began a five-year course of Tamoxifen, a drug that blocks estrogen receptors and reduces the risk of a cancer recurrence.
She still sees each of her three specialists twice a year to guard against any recurrence. Just last week, her oncologist pronounced her cancer-free for one year.
“I am healthy again, and I’m going to continue to be healthy,” Rys said. “No more cancer. Gone, bye-bye.”
A diagnosis of breast cancer is difficult for anyone, but for Ellen Mary Rys – who is deaf and legally blind – there were special challenges.
Rys is healthy now, but her health is hard won. From February through October of 2009, she underwent a trying regimen of chemotherapy, surgery and radiation.
Her breast surgeon, Dr. Susan Pories, said Rys’ personal strength and optimism helped get her through those difficult months.
“To me what’s remarkable is her spirit,” Pories said. “Here she is with all these disabilities, but she lives independently, she has a job, she went through treatment and went right back to work. I really never heard her complain. She’s just a very funny, upbeat person.”
Rys isn’t shy about agreeing.
“I was very brave. I was very positive,” she said through a sign-language interpreter, Cheryl Papas, who works with Rys as an independent living specialist at the Perkins School for the Blind.
Rys, 45, is a graduate of the Perkins School and lives in Watertown as part of the school’s independent living program. For 16 years, she has worked at Marshall’s in the Arsenal Mall. She lives alone, in an apartment close enough that most days she can walk to work.
Rys was alone in her apartment when she first noticed a lump in her right breast. At first, she hesitated to see her doctor, and even after her diagnosis, she waited to tell her parents, who live in Munson, MA and visit her often, because her father was recovering from a quadruple bypass surgery.
By the time Rys’ tumor was detected, it was a Stage 3 – or locally advanced – cancer. She had a 6-centimeter malignant tumor in her breast and cancerous cells in the adjacent lymph nodes. Fortunately, tests confirmed that there was no cancer anywhere else in her body.
Rys selected Mt. Auburn Hospital in Cambridge for her treatment. She and her family credit the hospital with offering excellent care and understanding. Rys had a sign-language interpreter present during all of her medical visits and her parents were able to be present throughout treatment, often sleeping at the hospital.
“The hospital did a lot of accommodating to Ellen’s needs,” her mother Carole Rys said. “This place got to be a second home to us.”
At first, Rys was frightened by the diagnosis, but with time that subsided.
“Before, I was really afraid, yes, but then I was calm and OK,” she said. “The fear and anxiety got less and less.”
She said the support of her family, friends and her treatment team provided comfort.
At Mt. Auburn Hospital, Pories worked with the hospital breast center navigator and social worker to arrange a multidisciplinary care plan.
Because the tumor was advanced, Rys’ oncologist prescribed a six-week regimen of chemotherapy to shrink the tumor before surgery, with a month to recover before the procedure.
The treatment worked, but it had unpleasant side effects. Rys’ hair began falling out almost immediately, and she experienced pain and weakness.
Kathy Willey, Rys’ primary nurse during her treatment, said chemo can be grueling.
“A lot of fatigue, susceptible to infections, a lot of bone pain, nausea, but she was a trouper through it all,” Willey said.
After the second treatment, she had a bad reaction and had to spend a night in the intensive care unit. After that, the drugs were changed and the period of treatment extended.
When the chemotherapy was completed, Rys had a mastectomy and removal of the cancerous lymph nodes under her arm on May 27 of last year.
She returned to her family’s home in Munson for six weeks to recover from the surgery. She was very weak and had little energy.
“I slept a lot,” she said. “I mostly slept and rested. I would watch TV and I would read. I would talk with friends and my family, but I really kept quiet.”
After healing from the surgery, she returned to Watertown and further treatment at Mt. Auburn. Because the tumor had spread to her lymph nodes, she had to undergo localized radiation treatment to the chest wall and remaining lymph nodes every day for six weeks.
The effects of the radiation were far less severe than with the chemo. She suffered fatigue and pain at the radiation site that she compared to a bad sunburn.
Following treatment, she began a five-year course of Tamoxifen, a drug that blocks estrogen receptors and reduces the risk of a cancer recurrence.
She still sees each of her three specialists twice a year to guard against any recurrence. Just last week, her oncologist pronounced her cancer-free for one year.
“I am healthy again, and I’m going to continue to be healthy,” Rys said. “No more cancer. Gone, bye-bye.”