Welcome back to Daybreak. Hey,
in case you missed it, this is my last
week at WF AA, and we are celebrating
by revisiting some of the most
impactful health stories that I've
shared over the last seven years.
Sometimes as a reporter,
you don't really know the ripple
effect of a story that you tell,
but this one extended at least one life.
Quilting is a special
hobby for Liz Lancaster.
These are more than just
blankets or bed covers.
Quilts mark important life events.
1000 hexagons sewn by hand,
this one at her side through
a taxing journey. Just
in my normal routine showering,
I felt this tiny. Lump
a lump, but it wasn't on her breast.
It was more intimate than that,
and it was the size of a pencil eraser
and as I went on, long walks. That
area would become irritated.
And so I thought, hmm,
this something's not right.
Curious about this lump that
wasn't going away, Liz scheduled
a doctor's appointment. She
actually probably came in much earlier
than many women would. It's possible
her diligence saved her life.
Five days later, called me and said,
you have vulvar cancer.
I'm like, I have what?
Vulvar cancer is relatively rare.
About 6000 women are expected
to be diagnosed this year.
Compared to cervical cancer diagnosis,
12 to 14,000 women and ovarian cancer. 22,000
women sometimes don't want
to go get it checked out,
and so there's a lag time of many
months before it gets identified.
Dr. Dustin Manders at Texas Oncology
sees about one woman each month with
vulvar cancer. Mostly, he says,
women in their mid to late 60s.
The most common symptoms of vulvar
cancer would be things like vulvar
irritation, itching, burning,
sometimes bleeding and almost
always some sort of knot or bump.
Liz caught her cancer.
Early she went through six
weeks of chemo and radiation,
and now she's cancer free. I'm good.
You feel good. I feel great.
With scientists still navigating
this field, it's still a bit of a
mystery how this cancer develops and
why in older women, part of it was like,
what did I do? What did I not do?
One of the factors that can lead
to vulvar cancer is an infection.
Millions of Americans have the
human papilloma virus, or HPV. Not
every vulvar cancer is going
to be an HPV related cancer,
but it is a risk factor.
Another argument, says Doctor
Manders forgetting the HPV vaccine.
The vaccine has been around for 12 years,
initially for people ages 12 to 26,
but it's just been approved
for adults up to 45 years old.
Manders says the vaccination is a good idea.
We think that it can be protective
against about 70% of cervical cancer,
and certainly I think it would reduce
the risk of vulvar cancer as well.
Liz, who's been married for 34 years and
works at a church, isn't a loud person.
But her cancer diagnosis inspired her
to get vocal about the HPV vaccination.
You have the opportunity.
To make a wise health decision,
why wouldn't you do it now
with cancer behind her?
There was one thing left to do
and I finished it to complete
this part of her journey
with my symbol that it really is all good.
And Liz is here with me this morning.
So good to see you. Good to see you.
We've kind of stayed in touch and
remained friends this whole time.
Yes, which has been so nice for me.
Tell us about your health.
How are you feeling now?
I'm feeling good.
I've had three surgeries
since the original interview.
The most recent one was this past September.
All of them were precancerous
areas that my medical team thought
they needed to take care of.
Some of those surgeries were
more extensive than others,
but at this point, I'm good.
Was the recovery time rough
on you or was it simple?
No. The ones that I had in March
and April of 2020 were rough.
And but you know, I got through it.
I have an amazing support network. So
one of the reasons why this story
stood out to me was because of what
happened right after we aired it.
We aired it. It was ten o'clock
one night and I got a message from
a woman named Nancy and she said.
I think I have the same thing.
Can you please connect me with Liz?
And so I emailed Liz and I said,
do you mind if this woman reaches out to you?
And she said, yeah, sure.
And tell us kind of what happened after that.
So Sonia messaged me immediately.
I was getting ready for a business trip.
So I contacted Nancy that day
and made arrangements to meet
her as soon as I returned and so.
Nancy and I met.
And we became fast friends.
And so we continued.
She had surgery, not.
Much after that we had met
and she was recovering,
but there were still things
going on and in September.
Of 2020 she passed away.
She had developed lung cancer.
And so it was hard.
But in the time we had together,
we were very dear friends.
And you know, you're a woman of faith.
I feel like there was a
purpose for that connection.
Definitely. So on my first chemo session,
my prayer was that God gives me a purpose.
And so consistently through this
journey that has happened and meeting
Nancy and our husbands connected
and we'd go out together as couples.
And so it really was impactful.
I love that and I love that you're here.
Thank you so much. Thank you.
I really, really appreciate you.
Being here, thank you for letting me
have this voicings for continued health.
Thank you. Yeah.