Mercy Cancer Services
Patient Stories - Renee
Brown
Renee Brown calls them her “undone days”—the moments
or days during a cancer journey when you find yourself in tears. And
it’s because of those days—when you need someone or somewhere to turn
to—that Renee and hundreds of other Oklahomans gave a total of $2
million to build Mercy Cancer Resource Center.
“To me it’s the most terrifying thing to be told you
have cancer,” says 54-year-old Renee, who was given a stage three colon
cancer diagnosis seven years ago. “And that’s why the Cancer Resource
Center is so important. The lowest point is the diagnosis and the total
inability to know what to do next.”
Mercy Cancer Resource Center, a 6,000-square-foot
facility, gives cancer patients, families and friends a place to find
answers from nurse navigators, gather together a list of resources,
peruse a library of valuable cancer information, or just simply gather
quietly with family in one of the resource center’s private rooms.
“It’s worth every penny if one person can get one
moment of comfort by knowing what to do and where to go next,” says
Renee, who not only donated money to the center, but also serves on the
Mercy Foundation board along with her husband, Kermit Brown. “Every
cancer patient and family member should have a place to go.”
For Renee, who underwent 47 rounds of chemo, twice
what most colon cancer patients undergo, her husband, her family and her
friends were her network of support.
“Kermit went to every chemo treatment and every
test,” says Renee. “He was at my side at every turn. But not everyone
has that kind of support system.”
And beyond the cancer itself, people need support.
“One of my lowest points, one of my undone days, was
the very last day I had chemo,” Renee vividly recalls. “Dr. (M. Farouk)
Kanaa’s nurse was taking out the needle and I started crying and I said
‘This should be the happiest day of my life.’ And she turned to me and
said, ‘This happens to a lot of cancer patients and it’s because when
you are going through chemo, you feel like you are doing something to
fight the cancer but when we pull this needle out, then you have to sit
and wait. There’s nothing more to do.’ “
It’s just one more piece of info in the cancer
journey that is available at Mercy’s Cancer Resource Center. And along
with the “undone” days that cancer patients experience, Kermit too knows
of the “undone” days that spouses and family members experience.
And as one of the center’s many volunteers, he hopes
to sit and listen to spouses and family members of cancer patients who
need a compassionate ear.
“As a spouse, you have to sit by and quietly wait,”
says Kermit. “You do a lot of waiting. This Cancer Resource Center is a
place to go. When you get any kind of news that’s not good news, it’s
the not knowing which way to turn immediately that is most frightening.
This space will provide a place for people to turn. It’s a resource.
It’s a safe haven.”
Colon Cancer—the Cancer that Can Be Prevented
Although everyone complains about the goop you have to down in order to
undergo a colonoscopy, the fact remains: colonoscopies save lives.
Even Renee Brown’s husband, Kermit Brown, put off
his colonoscopy, and that’s after watching his own wife fight colon
cancer. Just this past year, at age 55, Kermit had a colonoscopy, only
to discover he had precancerous polyps. Now? He’s a believer.
According
to the American Cancer Society, men and women with or without a family
history of colorectal cancer should have a baseline colonoscopy at age
50, and thereafter every 10 years if no problems exist. Colorectal
cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the U.S.
|
