Patient Perspectives

Ann Horton, the Guthrie Clinic Group Manager for Oncology Services and an 18-year Guthrie employee, has battled cancer twice in her life -- lymphoma as a teenager, and breast cancer as an adult. During a self breast exam in December 1998, Ann felt a lump. "When I got to work, I called the Breast & Imaging Center, and thanks to the 24-hour guarantee, I was able to have a mammogram the next day." Hoping to hear that the lump was benign, Ann was worried when Breast & Imaging Center clinicians thought a needle biopsy would be a good idea. When the biopsy came back positive, Ann met with Anthony Gillott, MD, an oncology surgeon, and William Koenig, MD, a reconstructive breast surgeon, to make a decision about treatment. She decided on a mastectomy, which was performed within a week. Eight treatments of chemotherapy began a month later, finishing in July of 1999. Ann credits Helen Harshbarger of Guthrie's Breast & Imaging Center for being a strong source of support from diagnosis through treatment. "Helen encouraged me not to assume the worst until we got the biopsy results, and when the biopsy did come back positive, she answered questions for me that I wasn’t even able to verbalize because of the state I was in. Although I had my husband and my family to support me, her caring really made a difference." During both times when she needed cancer treatment, Ann turned to Guthrie, and is emphatic that she would have done so even if she wasn’t an employee. "It’s wonderful to have such medical resources right in your own backyard. I wouldn’t have thought of going anywhere else."