Nathan Straus
Jacksonville Progress
JACKSONVILLE — Neither mammograms or ultrasound could detect breast cancer in Rusk State Hospital Physician’s Clerk Rhonda Hammond. It went felt but unseen for months before an MRI taken in Houston discovered the dense ductile carcinoma.
“I had all the signs and symptoms of having breast cancer,” Hammond said.
“Every time I had mammograms they said ‘It looks ok’. As it went along I became more surprised because I had all the symptoms.”
She said she eventually went to a doctor in Houston who subjected her to mammograms and ultrasound, then to MRI. The final testing found two large lesions.
“People put too much faith in mammograms,” Hammond said. “My tissue was so dense it wasn’t detectable except through MRI.”
Hammond was afflicted with a cancer known as ductile carcinoma in situ; it traveled through her body’s ducts, but stayed in a confined state.
Even though the cancer was only present in one breast, she said she had them both removed.
“I wasn’t going to wait for it to show up in the left,” she said.
This was in January, 2009. For a year she has undergone reconstruction.
“The only way it’s affected me is it’s made me tired,” Hammond said. “All the time I get off has been spent going back and forth to Houston.”
She said despite the work she feels like she went to the best place in the world for treatment. However, though her insurance has fairly well covered her medical expenses, she said gas, food and parking has been expensive.
“It’s $100 per visit, minimum,” she said.
Now she keeps the possibility of a recurrence in her mind.
“I thank them for taking me apart to save my life and put me back together,” Hammond said. “They will follow me every six months for the next five years; if it recovers the cancer will be on the surface of the chest or bones.”
She also said she worries her daughters and nieces will have an elevated risk of breast cancer, though she started with a relatively low possibility.
RSH Psychologist Traci Swain said Hammond has demonstrated remarkable strength and a positive attitude in dealing with breast cancer.
“I tried to see if she was putting up a front at work, but it’s genuine,” Swain said. “She says what’s on her mind. You generally care about Rhonda if you know her.”
Psychiatrist Charlie Cade said he was lost without Hammond when she was in for surgery.
“She accepted it and never gave up,” Cade said.
Hammond said people tell her all the time they’re amazed at her attitude and strength, but she tells them it’s just a part of her life.
“The only thing I regret is not having any me time,” she said. “The cancer hasn’t changed who I am.”
