Ellen Walker grateful for St. Mary’s, Dr. Kathleen Jeffery
It was the summer of 2020 and longtime Athens resident Ellen Walker had a hard choice to make: brave the risk of COVID-19 or skip her annual mammogram. Skipping it was tempting.
“A lot of my friends were not going to get their regular screenings, their regular physicals and their regular exams because they were worried about COVID,” she says. “I knew it was important to go and get my mammogram, even though I was a little nervous about it and thought it probably wasn’t necessary because I’m always healthy.”
That decision saved her life.
The shock of diagnosis
Ellen got her mammogram at St. Mary’s Outpatient Mammography Center off Daniells Bridge Road. A few days later, she got a message asking her to come to the hospital for follow-up testing. She wasn’t concerned; she had had a “false alarm” once before and there was nothing in her personal or family history to suggest she might be at risk. But after the exam, the radiologist saw something worrisome and said she needed a biopsy. Now, she was concerned. She wanted to have the procedure as soon as possible.
Fortunately, the results of the test reached the practice of her primary care physician, Dr. Alice Edwards, the next day. Dr. Edwards was off, but one of her partners, Dr. David Gaines, saw the results and called Ellen right away.
“He said that there was a brand new breast surgeon in Athens and that he would be happy to call and make an appointment for me if I wanted him to," Ellen says. "And so I said yes, please, so he called and shortly thereafter I got a phone call that I had an appointment with Dr. Kathleen Jeffrey the next day. I was really impressed with how quickly things were moving."
Dr. Jeffrey is a general surgeon who specializes in breast health and breast surgery who had just come to St. Mary’s Medical Group and Athens General and Colorectal Surgeons from South Carolina. She offered to do Ellen’s biopsy right there and then in the practice’s procedure room. Ellen said yes.
Not long after, Ellen got a call from the breast health nurse navigators at St. Mary’s offering whatever information or support she needed. That made Ellen feel a little better as she waited. “I was really surprised at that and really happy,” she says.
It took a few days for the results to get back from pathology. When they arrived, Dr. Jeffery called her personally. Ellen had a fast-growing, fast-spreading type of invasive lobular carcinoma.
“It wasn't just her office or a nurse,” Ellen says. “She called me and said, ‘Well, it looks like it is a malignancy and I want you to come in and we'll go over everything and talk about your options.’ And she said, ‘And I'll help you get set up with an oncologist and radiation oncologist if you need that and plastic surgeon if you want that.’ In a way, Dr. Jeffrey was my primary conduit to all the care that I ultimately needed and am still receiving.”
A long and winding road
As a mother of three sons, Ellen had some experience with emergency departments and orthopedic clinics, but her experience with the healthcare system had always been for them, never for herself. Dr. Jeffrey was always there to help guide her. For example, before chemo began, Dr. Jeffery suggested Ellen have a port implanted. It spared her hundreds of needle sticks during her five-month chemo journey with IV chemotherapy, fluids and anti-nausea medications.
“I just had no idea what would happen, how I would navigate, and really felt like a lot of that concern was taken out by St. Mary’s and especially Dr. Jeffrey just shepherding me through the different stages and through seeing different people,” Ellen says.
When the time came for Ellen to decide on her surgical preferences, Dr. Jeffery was once again open to any and all questions. “She always made me feel like I could ask her anything, I could take as much time as I wanted, and there was nothing off the table as far as options. When I told her I’d like a double mastectomy and no reconstruction, she said, ‘OK, that’s what we’ll do,’ and just made me feel like that decision was a perfectly fine decision to make.”
Care for life
Ellen had her surgery at St. Mary’s Hospital. She remembers the nurse in the recovery room being kind – like everyone she encountered. She was a little perplexed when the nurse produced a bag Ellen didn’t recognize. It turned out to be full of items from St. Mary’s breast health nurse navigators that she would find helpful, including pillows specially designed for women who have had the kind of surgery she had.
Since completing her surgery, life is getting back to normal, although she is still undergoing chemotherapy. Her cancer journey is not finished yet.
“The fact that I went through the biggest part of this whole process while the world was locked down made it challenging because it was scary and lonely and uncertain,” Ellen adds. “But one thing that Dr. Jeffrey told me early on is you're going to have this team who's going to follow you for years. That really, made a difference because it was very, very challenging. It has been a journey, and I’m really glad that I have the medical team I have.”