- Welcome to Living Healthy Chicago.
I'm Jane Monzures.
A big motivator when it comes to staying
on top of our health is being able
to be well enough to enjoy time with our families.
And our families can also provide great inspiration
if we find ourselves struggling with a health challenge.
This next woman says her family's support helped
her through treatment for cervical cancer.
- [Jane] Family is Sue Lee's top priority.
- Family is very important to me.
That's actually what motivates me.
It keeps me going.
Yeah, it does.
- [Jane] So when she noticed some changes
in her body, she became concerned
about being present for major milestones.
- I had a lot going on at that time.
My daughter was getting married within a month and a half.
I was having some bleeding, some issues,
and I wasn't sure what was going on.
And I actually had made an appointment with my gynecologist.
- [Jane] After her exam, Sue's doctors
quickly figured out what was going on.
- About five days later, he called me
and he said that, "You have cancerous polyps
"on your cervix."
The aggressive form of cervical cancer that I had,
it was adenocarcinoma.
(knocking)
- Hello. - Hi.
- Hi, Susan.
- It's a cancer that affects uterine cervix
and in the majority of cases it's caused
by human papilloma virus.
Not everybody, but statistically 99.7% of adults.
The disease that Sue developed was not related to HPV.
It was a very rare form.
Fortunately there are no symptoms with early disease.
That's why screening for cervical cancer
with Pap smear is so critical.
Symptoms mostly arise in patients
who happen to develop more advanced forms of the disease.
Sue came to us, gladly, at an early stage of the disease.
- [Jane] Further testing also led
to the discovery of a tumor on Sue's kidney.
Her doctors ultimately decided
to address both issues at the same time.
- She did the surgery five days
after my daughter got married.
They needed to do a radical hysterectomy.
It went fine; surgery was fine.
I just followed everything my doctor told me to do.
- [Jane] And because of the type
of cancer Sue was dealing with,
she underwent radiation and chemotherapy.
(chattering excitedly)
- My family and my friends actually were really supportive,
trying to get my mind off of the treatment
I was going through.
It was good for them to be around.
It really meant a lot to me.
- It is very important to have family support,
and gladly she did remarkably well.
I'm very happy for her.
- [Jane] Sue completed her treatment successfully,
and while she continues to check
in regularly with her medical team,
she says, overall, she's back to focusing on family time.
- Now, overall, I'm doing much better.
I feel great.
I feel like I never had it.
Back to my normal self.
I'm back to exercising and back to work now,
spending more time with my family and my children.
Everything's back to where I wanna be.
- [Jane] Now Sue hopes to use her story
to inspire others to stay proactive about their health.
- Definitely check in regularly with your doctors.
It's very important.
I recommend women do their Pap smears every year,
'cause you never know what's gonna happen.
Nothing was there the year before.
- I really encourage all of the patients
to sequel women's exams
and continue to see other gynecologists
because we can discover disease
at an extremely early stage,
when it's potentially curable.
They seem to develop even subtle symptoms
that they have not seen before,
be it pelvic pain, pain with intercourse,
lower back pain, change in urination,
changes in bowel habits,
they should seek medical care immediately.
- It's just a matter of getting the word out there
to women and making sure that they have their annual exams.
It's really important to do, no matter how old you are.
(laughs)
Don't put anything off.