Issue link: http://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/1040060
By the Christma s holiday in 2016, K ra mer decided she needed to stop a l l of t he f lig hts a nd end lessly long ca r trips a nd dea l w ith the ha rd fact that her children — La ndon, A lly a nd Bren na — were g row i ng up w it hout her. Kramer said to her mother, "I can't be away from my fa mily for weeks at a time any more. I need to come home." By now, the cancer had spread to her brain. T R E A T M E N T N E A R H O M E In Ja nua r y 2017, a f ter consu lts a nd more tests, Cha rles a nd K ra mer sat d o w n w it h f a m i l y f r i e n d H e a t h e r Wright-Renick, BSN, R N, CN-BN, who is a cer tif ied nurse navigator as well as Program Director of The Breast Center, located at Hea r tla nd Ca ncer Center. In her usua l ca ndor, Wright-Renick, herself a breast ca ncer sur vivor, asked when they were going to stop traveling a nd receive treatment at Hea r t la nd Ca ncer Center. Upon consideration, they quickly real- ized the adva ntages of what the a rea's c ompr e hen s ive c a nc er c ent er h a s to offer. Heartland Cancer Center features diagnostic PET scan services, a dua l energy linear accelerator and a treatment planning system utilizing the latest tech- nology to aid in defining treatment areas while avoiding harm to at-risk organs. Heartland Cancer Center is equipped with a linear accelerator, or TrueBeam, which can image tumors with high precision and deliver high-energy treatment in a way that minimizes the amount of radiation delivered to healthy tissue. In addition, Heartland offers the latest in chemotherapy and radiation therapy to improve tumor control, reduce side effects due to better organ visualization and enhance treatment techniques for optimal outcomes. It also partners with other entities to provide increased access to the latest cancer treatments through a variety of clinical trials. FROM CAREGIVER TO PATIENT After providing care and support for her daughter's ongoing treatment since 2010, Charles moved from caregiver to patient. In August of 2017, she received a diagnosis of invasive ductile carcinoma. "This cancer begins in a milk duct and invades the fibrous or fatty tissue of the breast outside of the duct," explained Anis Toumeh, MD, a medical oncologist for Central Care Cancer Center. "IDC is the most common form of breast cancer, rep- resenting 80 percent of all breast cancers." Dr. Toumeh is bot h Cha rles' a nd Kramer's oncologist. Now mother and daughter encourage and support each other through their cancer experiences. Charles said they are joined in their dual fight by the Heartland Cancer Center team members who work hard to accommodate and coordinate their treat- ment schedules to ease the burden for them and caregivers. "Instead of traveling back and forth three days a week, we can get our labs, doctor appointments and treatments all done on the same day," Charles explained. "That has been an enormous impact on our families who have had to juggle their work schedules. … I'm just so proud that we have this incredible center in southwest Kansas that provides leading edge technology with a deep compassion and care for the people they serve. Blessed. We are so blessed." n M D N E W S . C O M /// M D N E W S G R E AT E R K A N S A S ■ 2 018 0 7