Cancer survivor emphasizes importance of support systems

Breast cancer survivor Clarie S. Kosack underlined the three support systems that are important to keep in the minds of not just cancer patients but also their caretakers.

Kosack said that family members—spouses, parents, children, siblings—can give support to cancer patients when they get really sick and can’t do very much. “You really need someone there to push you along and encourage you to be positive and not sink into a kind of deep hole—depression.”

Friends are another source of encouragement that kept her uplifted during her treatment. “I would send email messages to a group of friends telling them, whether they like it or not, details of what’s happening to me so they’re informed,” said Kosack. “In fact, some of my friends went on and had checkups because they realized how important it is to have a checkup and find out if they’re okay.”

Her doctors, Kosack said, became another support group for her as her husband, lawyer Rex Kosack, asked them questions pertaining to her operation and treatment. She said she even became friends with them even after the three surgeries she had.

Kosack compared being a caretaker to the video instruction on what to do in an emergency on an airplane.

“Put on your mask first before you try to help others. If you don’t put the mask yourself, you’ll pass out halfway. You will not be able to help anybody. It’s the same with caretakers. You have to take care of your own mental and physical health before you can take care of the patient,” she said.

If an individual becomes a patient, Kosack noted the importance of not wasting time “complaining and crying about your misfortune” and instead maintain a positive mental attitude to speed up healing.

According to Kosack, the 2010 statistics showed that cancer mortality rate is higher in men than women, not as previously reported in Wednesday’s article about her speech at the Rotary Club of Saipan meeting.

“The 2010 statistics showed that 16 percent of the women with breast cancer would die, and 20 percent of men would die,” she corrected.

Kosack, who was diagnosed with a stage 2 of an aggressive type of cancer, added that there are at least two major organizations that raise money to fund breast cancer research and outreach programs: the Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a three-day, 60-mile walk she did in 2009, and the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.