Nurse becomes patient
BUTLER TWP — Tracy Gullickson is a survivor.
Two and a half years ago, she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Interestingly, as a registered nurse who is a radiology nurse clinician at Butler Memorial Hospital, it was an annual mammogram that caught the cancer at an early stage.
Gullickson, 59, with 37 years of nursing, said it doesn’t matter if you’re a health care professional or a truck driver when you’re diagnosed with cancer.
“You move from being the nurse to being the patient, and that’s the way it should be,” she said.
Gullickson said her oncologist, a doctor who specializes in the treatment of cancer, sat with her and took her through the entire treatment process as though she wasn’t a nurse.
“After determining what kind of cancer it was — there are different kinds of breast cancer, and each has its own treatment — the cancer was removed through a lumpectomy and treated with radiation,” she said.
Gullickson said she had an incredible amount of support from her husband, Randy, and their two children, but also from friends and co-workers.
“That makes a big difference, to know that there are people who will help you through the treatment and who are pulling for you,” she said.
“A patient’s physical, psychological and spiritual needs all need to be addressed, and the support of various groups can help with this, just as radiation and chemotherapy address the cancer,” Gullickson added.
For women and men, who find themselves facing breast cancer, or cancer in general, Gullickson recommends to:
n Learn about your cancer;
n Ask as many questions as you can think of, even carrying a notebook to write them down as you think of them, so you don’t forget;
n Work with your oncologist to determine the step-by-step plan that will be used to treat your cancer;
n Not lose who you are to your cancer.
“Its easy to become a little overly concerned about everything your body is doing and going though, even after treatment,” she said.
“But find an oncology team you can trust and work with them, and keep in touch with who you are.”
Finally, Gullickson said to focus on the positive.
“It is so important not to always focus on the negative, but to find the positive in each day.”
