After completing breast cancer treatment at CHI Saint Joseph Health – Cancer Care at Saint Joseph East earlier this year, Susan Hampton of London poured out her gratitude on a notecard to her physicians.
"You all may never remember my name, but I will never forget you for the rest of my life," she wrote.
Hampton, 66, a retired kindergarten teacher, had her annual mammogram in February 2021 and a small lump was discovered. She later learned it was Stage Zero breast cancer and that she would need a lumpectomy and 16 radiation treatments.
Hampton, a self-described “chicken,” said she found bravery through the physicians and nurses who cared for her.
"Whenever you hear the word cancer and are talking about doing a lumpectomy or anything, it's scary,” she said. “They were the most calming, reassuring, kindest people.
"That office should be a model for how patients should be treated,” Hampton added. “There were smiles, reassuring words, hands to hold, fingers to squeeze, and answers to all my questions - lots and lots of questions. Everyone from the receptionists, the techs, the nurses, and especially the doctors made me feel important - as if I were the only patient. They made me feel safe."
On her last day of treatment, Hampton rang the bell in the Cancer Care Center to celebrate. “They cried. I cried. Everybody cried,” she said.
"It is a place of hope."
Learn more about the CHI Saint Joseph Health - Cancer Care Center at Saint Joseph East or call our Hope Line at 844.940.4673 to schedule a screening.
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