By Pam McGaffin
It
wasn't the cancer that scared Sharon Farber. It was the cure.
The former hospice nurse had seen so many people devastated by
chemotherapy that she ignored the lump in her breast for a year and
almost avoided treatment after she found out it was cancer.
It wasn't a fear of dying that paralyzed Farber. It was the thought
of losing the active, outdoorsy lifestyle that, for her, meant
everything. The 62-year-old Puyallup woman was afraid that cancer
treatment would so ravage her body that she wouldn't be able to
hike, climb and backpack with her husband, John.
"I thought I'd get down to 90 pounds and not be able to walk, much
less hike," she says.
Today, a cancer-free Farber is happy to eat her words. While
undergoing treatment at Seattle Cancer Treatment and Wellness
Center, she was able to maintain her physical lifestyle thanks to
smaller, more frequent chemotherapy doses combined with naturopathic
oncology and acupuncture.
In fact, she says she's in better shape now than she was before her
cancer diagnosis. Which is good because she and John are about to
embark on the backpacking trip of a lifetime: a five-month,
2,664-mile journey up the Pacific Crest Trail.
They plan to start April 26 from Campo, a small town near the
California-Mexico border, and finish Sept. 20, in Manning Park,
Canada. Along the way, Farber plans to hand out pink ribbons and
share her story in the hopes of inspiring others to seek early
cancer detection and treatment.
She will also be continuing an on-line journal she started in
January. To follow her progress, go to www.trailjournals.com/FREEandEZgoing
"In 2006 I thought that my dream to hike the entire 2663.5 miles of
the PCT was over when I was diagnosed with breast cancer that had
spread to my lymph nodes," Farber writes in her first entry. "Well
guess what,a dream is a motivation for healing as strong as
chemotherapy and surgery."
Farber - who goes by the pen-name "FREE" as in "free from cancer and
free from fear" : wants others to know what she discovered: that
cancer treatment has improved and that it's possible to have a life
and save it, too.
Her treatment consisted of a mastectomy and 5 1/2 months of
chemotherapy. Under the guidance of a naturopathic physician, she
also changed to a mostly vegetarian diet heavy in whole grains and
vegetables, and took vitamins and supplements to balance her immune
system. Acupuncture treatments eased her pain, nausea and other side
effects.
During her treatment, she felt relatively normal, she says. In her
on-line journal is a photo of her backpacking to Lake George on Mt.
Rainier two days after chemo.
"Mrs. Farber's attitude and self motivation coupled with an
integrative treatment approach allowed her to maintain her active
life with a very positive outcome," says her oncologist Dr. Nick
Chen.
The cancer center is supporting Farber's trek with a donation of 2 1/2
months worth of vitamins to help sustain her as she hikes 18 to 25
miles each day. She and John also are planning, preparing and
packaging 120 healthy meals, including seven different dinners that
will be repeated 23 times. As Farber points out in her journal,
that's a lot of veggie couscous.
"What else can I do?" she writes. "My healthy diet kept me well
during chemotherapy and I need that even more hiking everyday."
John has supported his wife every step of the way, adopting her
diet, going with her to cancer appointments and, of course, training
for the most physically - and in some ways mentally - challenging
experience of their lives.
"I was afraid I was going to lose her," he says. Now, he says, the
worry is gone, and he's "tickled" that she's able to get out there
and do what she loves, what they both love.
Hiking the entire Pacific Crest Trail isn't for the faint of heart.
(Of the 300 who set out, about 120 never finish.) But Sharon and
John are confident. They have their faith and support from family
and friends to sustain them, not to mention years of experience and
months of preparation and training.
They've already faced the worst and survived. As Sharon notes in her
journal, "walking the trail is the easy part."
Seattle Cancer Treatment and Wellness Center is an affiliate of Cancer Treatment Centers of America, a network of hospitals that integrate oncology with complementary and natural therapies. For more information and cancer-fighting tips, call (206) FOR HOPE (367-4673) or visit www.seattlecancerwellness.com.
Pam McGaffin of Moore Ink. PR, writes articles about important health, family and community issues for non-profit organizations.
