In the spring of 2013, Sheryl Weinberg ran into a friend at a grocery store in Juneau. While catching up, each woman spoke about how they were feeling. Weinberg\u2019s friend commented on how tired she felt and how much weight she had lost, while Weinberg mentioned how tired she felt and how much weight she had gained.<\/p>\n
Neither knew at the time that they were discussing the symptoms of gynecologic cancer. They were both diagnosed within a week of each other in May 2013, Weinberg with endometrial cancer, and her friend with ovarian cancer.<\/p>\n
Weinberg went alone to Anchorage for a biopsy. Dr. Joanie Hope, Weinberg\u2019s doctor, laid out the extent of her cancer which had spread to 48 percent of her uterine wall and had grown to the size of a baseball. It was only a matter of days after her biopsy results when she was rushed into surgery. She also underwent internal beam radiation therapy.<\/p>\n
Weinberg said she never got to see her friend again. \u201cShe passed away the day I started my radiation treatment,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The experience of having cancer and losing a friend to it changed Weinberg\u2019s life. <\/p>\n
Now Weinberg, 61, is over two years cancer free and an advocate for cancer awareness. She works as the executive director of SERRC – Alaska\u2019s Educational Resource Center, which occasionally brings her to Anchorage where she also gets to participate in meetings as a board member for Let Every Woman Know, a statewide organization that promotes awareness of gynecologic cancer and provides support for survivors. This year, Weinberg was selected as the Survivor of the Year by Cancer Connection, a local non-profit which provides awareness, education, resources and support to cancer patients in Juneau and Southeast Alaska.<\/p>\n
Together, they brought the documentary \u201cNo Evidence of Disease\u201d to Gold Town Nickelodeon Theater, a film about six gynecologic cancer surgeons forming the band N.E.D. to bring hope and awareness about gynecologic cancer.<\/p>\n
One of the doctors in N.E.D. was Weinberg\u2019s surgeon, Dr. Hope, who asked Weinberg to speak at the Juneau showing of the film. Weinberg hadn\u2019t previously been vocal about her experience with cancer.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mom had me very late in life and when she spoke about her own cancer or the cancer in her family, it was with a whisper,\u201d Weinberg said. \u201cHe had cancer, she has cancer, they have cancer, I have cancer,\u201d Weinberg imitated in a whisper. \u201cIt was like it was almost something to be ashamed of. I never felt ashamed of having cancer, but I didn\u2019t want it to define me and I didn\u2019t speak about it. But it does define me in that I think about it every day. It\u2019s something I hope I don\u2019t experience again and no one I care about does. The reality is that a lot of people I know and love are going to have cancer in my lifetime. I think the more we know about it, the more we pay attention to the possible signs of this type of cancer, or any other kind of cancer the more likely we are able to intervene early.\u201d<\/p>\n
Weinberg was aware of her risk for cancer. Many people in her family had various forms of it. She followed a check-up schedule in her 20s, but not for the cancer she got diagnosed with.<\/p>\n
Weinberg said she was told by Dr. Hope that she probably had lived with cancer for a while.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s part of why I\u2019m so interested in the awareness,\u201d Weinberg said, \u201cthat I was having symptoms but didn\u2019t realize they were symptoms, didn\u2019t even think to talk to my GP about. I had bleeding occasionally, and I had attributed it to the fact that I was getting older. I really didn\u2019t even think to mention it. \u2026 It was only until the symptoms became painful and extreme that I knew something was terribly wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
Weinberg also pointed out how it can be seen as taboo to talk about female genitalia and reproductive organs but it shouldn\u2019t be. Let Every Woman Know pushes for women \u201cto be aware down there,\u201d Weinberg said.<\/p>\n
She advised all women to be aware of their symptoms, pay attention to their bodies and to get anything unusual checked out. <\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t think it can\u2019t happen to you because it can happen to any of us,\u201d She said. \u201cIf you have the sense something is not right, go back. Be an advocate for yourself. Push to get diagnostic testing done because in many cases that personal intuition has been correct.\u201d<\/p>\n
Weinberg advised people to not go through the experience of having cancer by shutting loved ones out. She had gone to Anchorage alone for her procedure, received the results and had to process it by herself. Looking back, she said she wished she brought her husband with her, who she describes as \u201cvery supportive.\u201d<\/p>\n
To those diagnosed with cancer, \u201cdon\u2019t suffer in silence,\u201d Weinberg said. \u201cContinue to take care of yourself, to ask for help, to ask for support. I think a lot of times we are brave and in being brave we cut off our nose to spite our face. There are people just waiting for you to tell them what to do, to help you \u2014 take advantage of that. Let the people who love and care about you love and care about you. To ask questions. To advocate for yourself. To talk about it. To talk with other survivors.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022 Contact Clara Miller at 523-2243 or at clara.miller@juneauempire.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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