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6A I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com
Wednesday, October 10,2018
Wednesday, October 10,2018
dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 7A
By Allie Dean
adean@dawsonnews.com
Dawsonville resident Shirley Hawkins doesn't like to follow the
status quo.
It's evident in her 32-year career as a lineman for a telephone
company, back when few women were in the profession, and her
self-taught hobby of quilting, where she refuses to use anyone else's
pattern. And it's evident when she tells the story of her breast cancer
diagnosis, which she handled on her own terms.
Hawkins was 58 in March of 2011 when she went in for a routine
mammogram. She then received a letter in the mail asking her to
schedule an appointment for a follow-up mammogram, then a
needle biopsy.
Seven days later, while sitting with a group of friends at church
learning to quilt, she got the call.
"It's kind of funny, when I first got the diagnosis, I had a little
hiccup, you know when you hear that word 'cancer,'" she said.
"Because my dad died of cancer, one of my brothers died of cancer.
It's kind of a hiccup, but that's all it was. Because when I stepped
back in that room with the ladies from the quilting, they knew
something was wrong."
Some of them had known that Hawkins had the biopsy and some
hadn't. But they all stopped what they were doing and prayed with
her. After that, she went to talk to the pastor and associate pastor,
who also prayed with her.
"And after that, the word cancer, it didn't bother me. It was like
'ok, this is another medical thing to deal with, like my high blood
pressure, my high cholesterol, now we've got this. We're going to
do whatever they say needs to be done and get it over with, do the
treatments,"' she said.
The cancer came in the form of several tiny dots throughout her
right breast, each the size of the tip of an ink pen. One had actually
gone through the needle during the biopsy, and led doctors to
diagnose Hawkins with stage zero breast cancer.
"They later showed me the x-ray...it was like a dot here, a dot
here, a dot here, a dot here," she said. "Kind of like a constellation,
with little dots."
From then, like so many early stage cancer diagnoses, it was hurry
up and wait.
She was referred to a surgeon in Atlanta, who ordered a contrasting
MRI so she could see more clearly what they were working with.
"We had already decided in the first sit down with the general
surgeon that if it was going to require any surgery I was not doing
any lumpectomies, we are just doing a mastectomy, we're getting
it over, we're not messing, we're not playing with this, we're going
to do it," she said. "When they did the contrast MRI, the original
Pink is Stronger than You Thinkr
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Cancer survivor gives back with service to community
Shirley Hawkins
mammogram had only
shown it being on the left
side of my breast, turns out
it was on the right side too."
After visits with her
surgeon and plastic surgeon,
she had to wait through the
whole month of April before
having her mastectomy in
early May.
"Because it was stage
zero, in the very beginnings,
I was not top priority.
Whereas there were women
who had more dire diagnosis
who had to come first," she
said.
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Pictured from left, Hawkin's
granddaughter Sara Alford, Hawkins,
her daughter Jennifer Alford and her
granddaughter Grace Alford.
The surgery was over in a
morning, but recovery took
time. The cancer affected
her right breast but doctors
also took some tissue from
under her left breast to test
it. She also had reconstructive surgeries, which further prolonged
her recovery.
"The whole thing, I had decided, this is my recovery, this is
me, the sooner we're over this, the sooner we're done," Hawkins
said. "The day after the surgery when they took me off the pain
pump and put me on pills, I started getting up. I went to fill up my
Af
lac
Sharon Hall
Benefits Advisor Professional
An Independent Associate Representing Aflac
PO Box 1857
Dawsonville, GA 30534
706.265.1262 ext 27 office
706.265.4325 fax
sharon_hall@us.aflac.com
aflac.com
use
thi
Pictured from left, Hawkin's son
Christofer Hawkins, his daughter
Jane and his wife Jess Gerjets-
Hawkins pose for a photo during
Jane's first birthday celebrations.
water, got my own ice, got my
own juices...it was slow progress,
I had to drag my little IV pole
along with me, but I just decided
the sooner I get up, the sooner I
get out of here, the sooner I get
home, the sooner I can get on
with everything else."
An infection from her
mastectomy sent her back to the
hospital for emergency surgery in
June. That was another recovery.
She had her final reconstructive
surgery in January and was finally
recovered in February, almost a
year after her initial diagnosis.
Having had two family
members die from cancer and a
close family friend struggle with
leukemia as a child, Hawkins has
always been involved in Relay for Life. She had been scheduled to
help out with Relay before her diagnosis, but she didn't let surgery
impede her participation and a week and a half after she got out
from the hospital, Hawkins walked in the survivors lap at Dawson
County High School.
"My son had wanted to borrow a wheelchair to push me because
I insisted I had to do the survivor's lap," Hawkins said. "And I told him
no wheelchair. That may have been a mistake...I started out strong
but I ended up last. I didn't stay the whole Relay...when the pain pill I
took before started to wear off I told my son it was time to go home."
Her involvement with Relay has continued and she is on the
leadership board this year. She's also on the board of KARE for Kids
and has been in charge of organizing entertainment for Mountain
Moonshine Festival the past seven years. She's also on herthird year on
the board of the Bowen Center for the Arts, is secretary of the Civitan
Club and is president of the Pioneers in Gainesville, a volunteergroup
of current and former
telecommunications
professionals.
"I just decided with
my retirement years I
was going to volunteer as
long as I could volunteer
and give back to my
community," she said.
Along with serving her
community, Hawkins also
makes it a point to help
other women dealing
with breast cancer
diagnoses.
"My son told me in the
middle of the night that Shirley Hawkins poses with daughter
first night, he said my job Michelle Hawkins.
was to help other women who were going through the same thing,"
she said. "And I have, if I hear somebody or I'll talk about my story."
Hawkins said her experience gave her an understanding of how
much is involved for a patient dealing with the disease.
"What is required for the recovery, the trips and the doctors and
the tests, an everyday person doesn't realize how much is involved,"
she said. "You've got to have a strong support system."
She had a few words of advice for all women, whether they have
been diagnosed with breast cancer or not.
"Get your mammograms, they are important. There is follow up
tests required, make sure you get those. And don't get discouraged,"
she said. "After the prayers that I had with the ladies at church, I
gave it to God. He's ultimately in charge. One way or another I knew
Robin Parker: 1 was healed by the grace of God’
LOCAL REAL ESTATE AGENT CELEBRATES 13 YEARS CANCER FREE
By Jessica Brown
brown@dawsonnews.com
Robin Parker
Robin Parker always had her mammograms religiously
every other year until 2005, when she decided it was a waste
of time.
"My mother told me to go have my mammogram done
and I told her 'Mama I go to have my mammogram done
every time and it's a waste of my time.' She said 'no it's not,"'
Parker said.
She was 43 at the time and reluctantly went to have her
breasts examined due to the insistence of her mother, Billie
Harkness.
"My mama saved my life that year because she kept
pushing me to get a mammogram," Parker said.
The nurse told Parker that she needed to do another
ultrasound and reassured Parker that is was 'just routine.'
It wasn't.
"I could read it on her face that something was wrong,"
Parker said.
After two days of uncertainty, she received a call from her
doctor telling her that she needed to come in for a biopsy.
In May 2005, Parker was diagnosed with stage one ductal
carcinoma. She was told by her nurse practitioner that the
cancer had grown rapidly due to her birth control shot in
March of that year.
"It saved my life, really. If I hadn't gone and took that
Depo-Provera shot it wouldn't have grown. It might have
been really little," Parker said.
In July, Parker underwenttwo lumpectomies to remove 12
lymph nodes and began her eight rounds of chemotherapy
in August 2005 and completed 33 rounds of radiation in
January in 2006.
"They said I was in remission," Parker said. "No, I was
healed by the grace of God."
Throughout her treatment, Parker remained upbeat and
credits her positive outlook as half of her battle.
At first, the wind went out of her sails, Parker said, but
she picked herself up and continued to enjoy life.
"That's 50 percent of the battle, mind over matter. The
other part of it is just winging it," Parker said.
Parker was determined to remain positive and went out
to eat with her family and shopping with her friends.
"When I had radiation the ladies there called me 'Smiley'
because I didn't let anything get me down," Parker said.
Now 13 years after her initial diagnosis, Parker wants to
help other women who may be battling the same fight she
fought.
Her friend, Karen Cox, who had gone through breast
cancer treatment, was a tremendous support for Parker
during hertreatment and she hopes to provide other women
with the same support she had.
Any time that she hears of someone battling breast
cancer, she immediately gives them her business card and
tells them to call her anytime they need a supportive friend.
She is always willing to help.
Parker credits her husband Donnie, mother Billie
Harkness, daughter Hannah and brother Randy Harkness
and his family, as well as her friends Theresa Stepp, Karen
Cox, Theresa Rice and Sondra Robinson, for helping her stay
positive and encouraged during the difficult period in her
life.
There were moments when Parker wasn't upbeat. There
were times that she needed to let herself feel and have
moments to cry, which helped to alleviate some of her
negative emotions and fueled her to keep fighting.
"You have to have the down time because if you don't
have the down time you're going to build it up and it's going
to eat you alive," Parker said.
Looking back, Parker said it feels like it all happened so
long ago but still feels so fresh like it was just yesterday.
Had she not listened to her mother, Parker might have
never known and encourages other women to always get
their mammograms.
"Go get a mammogram," Parker said. "I had one, and
that's what saved my life."
Robin Parker in 2005 in the middle other
chemotherapy treatment
Robin Parker with her husband Donnie and daughter Hannah.
where 1 was going. That's the best support."
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*American Cancer Society.
Cancer Facts and Figures 2018. Atlanta, Ga:
American Cancer Society; 2018.
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