A breast cancer survivor underscored the importance of having a positive attitude in dealing with and overcoming the disease.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou want to keep up that really positive attitude because that is a way to heal. It isn\u2019t just medicine or anything else. It\u2019s your mental attitude that helps you heal faster,\u201d said Clarie S. Kosack. <\/p>\n
Kosack, a yoga instructor who was a guest speaker at the Rotary Club of Saipan regular membership meeting yesterday, related how she went back to teaching at their studio despite the fogginess brought by her chemotherapy sessions.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy the end of the class, I felt so much better and it\u2019s a real example of what physical activity can bring you. I feel better physically, I feel better mentally.\u201d <\/p>\n
Kosack, who gets annual mammograms, recounted how she skipped the critical examination in 2005.<\/p>\n
In 2006, Kosack felt \u201ca lump and a little pain\u201d in her left breast. She thought it was just because her husband, lawyer Rex Kosack, accidentally jabbed her in that area \u201cwhen he was talking and gesturing freely.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBy December 2006, I finally went and had a biopsy done and the results came back positive,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Kosack, who was diagnosed with a very aggressive type of cancer, was shocked by the findings because she lived healthy by eating right, doing a lot of exercise, not smoking, and \u201chardly\u201d ever drinking.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the same time, I wasn\u2019t too shocked because my mother had breast cancer,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Kosack refused to get hysterical when she found out about her breast cancer, which was already on its second stage. \u201cWhen you get the news that you have a life-and-death illness, you don\u2019t have time to cry and say, why me? You go into action right away.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kosack said she and Rex decided to go in the University of California, San Francisco since it is one of the top 10 breast cancer centers in the U.S.<\/p>\n
Kosack went through three surgeries: lumpectomy, bilateral mastectomy, and reconstruction. She also had six sessions of chemotherapy and one year of herceptin injections.<\/p>\n
[B]Keeping busy[\/B]<\/p>\n
To keep herself busy during treatment, Kosack did most of the cooking at her in-laws\u2019 house where they stayed.<\/p>\n
Kosack disclosed that she also went hiking and kept a journal detailing what happened each day during her treatment. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf I didn\u2019t keep a journal, I would have forgotten everything. The human brain has a tendency to forget,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Kosack said the journal, which also contained stick figure drawings, became a book, A Yogini\u2019s Cancer Journey, which was published by the Commonwealth Cancer Association through funding from the Comprehensive Cancer Control Program of the Department of Public Health.<\/p>\n
The book, Kosack said, is now used for CCA\u2019s community outreach efforts. <\/p>\n
[B]Curable cancer[\/B]<\/p>\n
Kosack also emphasized that breast cancer is one of the most curable cancers \u201cif you find it in the early stages.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very, very curable but ladies, you have to do mammograms and self-exams. If you see anything unusual, you immediately have a checkup. You want to encourage the ladies in your family to do likewise,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Kosack said that statistics shows that one out of eight women in the U.S. will get \u201cone type or another\u201d of breast cancer, adding that only 1 percent of men get breast cancer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe mortality rate is higher in women,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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