{"id":24491,"date":"2023-10-11T13:27:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-11T20:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/?p=24491"},"modified":"2024-07-23T10:21:47","modified_gmt":"2024-07-23T17:21:47","slug":"philomath-woman-defies-rare-cancer-odds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/news\/philomath-woman-defies-rare-cancer-odds\/","title":{"rendered":"Philomath Woman Defies Rare Cancer Odds"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article\">\n\t<header class=\"header\">\n\t\t<span class=\"type\"><\/span>\t\t<h1>Philomath Woman Defies Rare Cancer Odds<\/h1>\t\t<time>October 11, 2023<\/time>\n\t<\/header>\n\t<div id=\"block_61d4885ebce47b964a3753812eab6f6a\" class=\"shs-block block-news-article entry-content\">\n\t\t<div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"acf-innerblocks-container\">\n\n<p>Karen Walker, 70, of Philomath, was in overall good health \u2014 when life took a different turn eight years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt was time for my physical exam, which I have routinely each year,\u201d Walker said. \u201cOther than feeling more tired than usual and a headache that was a nuisance, but tolerable, I felt fine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Walker\u2019s lab results showed concerning levels of creatinine, warranting a closer look at her kidney function.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Soon after, Walker was admitted to <a href=\"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/find-a-location\/good-samaritan-regional-medical-center\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center<\/a>, for a kidney biopsy, but had a full body X-ray instead, which indicated a bone marrow biopsy was needed. Walker was then diagnosed with an aggressive form of multiple myeloma. That diagnosis occurred in January 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhen I received my diagnosis, I felt fortunate to have a medical background from the work I was doing at the time,\u201d Walker said. \u201cMy knowledge \u2014 along with the treatment plan from my care team \u2014 reinforced the importance of facing my condition head on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Walker had treatment to improve her kidney function and underwent chemotherapy at Samaritan. This prepared her for a stem cell transplant at a partnering health care center. The outcome was successful, and Walker returned home 30 days later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A few months after the stem cell transplant, a follow-up bone marrow biopsy indicated no cancer cells were present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Leading a Full Life in Remission<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cKaren, who had what we call high\u2011risk disease, has had no detectable sign of her cancer for the past eight years,\u201d said Holly Almond, MSN, FNP, with the Samaritan Cancer Program. \u201cWe call this a complete response to treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Accepting that life now includes ongoing treatment to keep the cancer at bay hasn\u2019t stopped Walker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMy family means the world to me,\u201d Walker said. \u201cMy husband Alan was there for each step of my treatment. Now being retired, I get to spend more time with him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Walker is also blessed with two daughters. Both are grown and married. Collectively they\u2019ve given her four beautiful grandchildren.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI also love sewing or quilting, spending time in the garden and the Exercising Together program through <a href=\"https:\/\/samfit.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">SamFit,<\/a>\u201d said Walker. \u201cI credit Holly Almond for helping make the connection.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-advice-for-cancer-survivors\">Advice for Cancer Survivors<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Now eight years into survivorship, Walker shares advice based on her experience she hopes others will find helpful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Mind over Matter<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cA cancer diagnosis affects each of us differently,\u201d Walker said. \u201cEven on my crummiest of days, I would try to remain pleasant and positive \u2014 because it\u2019s what I knew I needed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Find a Way to Channel Your Thoughts<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAfter my stem cell transplant, a friend introduced me to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.caringbridge.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CaringBridge<\/a>. This is where I would journal daily,\u201d Walker said. \u201cIt was a great way to keep family and friends informed, organize my thoughts, set goals, and now, is a resource to reflect on what I experienced.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Be Comfortable With &amp; Confident in Your Medical Team<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis is where you get your information and support. If you feel like you\u2019re not getting what you need, then be assertive and your own best advocate,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<aside>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"360\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Karen-Walker-CO.jpg\" class=\"attachment-cta size-cta wp-post-image\" alt=\"Karen Walker of Philomath shares her story.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Karen-Walker-CO.jpg 360w, https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Karen-Walker-CO-300x250.jpg 300w, https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Karen-Walker-CO-120x100.jpg 120w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 360px) 100vw, 360px\" \/><\/figure>\t\t<\/aside>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Read about how Karen Walker defied rare cancer odds and what advice she has for cancer survivors. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":25688,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","_shs_workflow_notes":"","_shs_exclude_from_navigation":false,"_shs_promote_article_on_blogs":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"news-topics":[285],"news-types":[270],"services":[229],"specialty":[55],"class_list":["post-24491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","news-topics-patient-story","news-types-feature-article","services-cancer","specialty-oncology"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24491\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24491"},{"taxonomy":"news-topics","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-topics?post=24491"},{"taxonomy":"news-types","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-types?post=24491"},{"taxonomy":"services","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/services?post=24491"},{"taxonomy":"specialty","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/specialty?post=24491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}