“It’s my job to spread the word”
Rebecca Parr has lost a lot of the people she loves to cancer.
Years ago, as a way to show her solidarity with breast cancer survivors, she planted a large, metal pink ribbon in the yard of her Knob Noster, Missouri home. It’s been there so long she had to touch up the faded pink paint.
This Breast Cancer Awareness Month, that pink ribbon is personal for the 67-year-old grandmother of eight.
Parr has never shied away from cancer screenings. “There’s been a lot of cancer in my family. I just need to stay on top of this,” she told herself when scheduling her mammogram. Even when Parr, who’s been a housepainter for 30 years, was uninsured, she enrolled in the Show Me Healthy Women program to cover the cost of mammograms. “It was easy peasy,” she said. “They make the process simple.”
Once or twice, doctors thought they saw something concerning, but it turned out to be a benign cyst — a harmless, non-cancerous growth. After her mammogram at University Health Lakewood Medical Center this spring, doctors decided to biopsy a spot on her right breast. The results came back as cancer.
Parr met with surgical breast oncologist Kelly Kapp, MD to schedule a lumpectomy – a procedure to remove the tumor. “Dr. Kapp is very kind, sure of herself, and knowledgeable. She’s awesome,” Parr said. She shared her deep faith with Dr. Kapp and other UH Breast Center providers. “I told them the Lord picked them to take care of me. They were touched.”
Dr. Kapp said it’s a blessing and honor to be able to care for Ms. Parr and other women who are so vital to their families and communities. “I hope to be the caretaker, confidant, and surgeon that, God willing, can facilitate the next steps of their treatment and ultimate healing.”
Parr credits her faith for having the courage it takes to get a mammogram, the strength to withstand surgery and the tenacity to spread the message of detecting cancer in its early stages.
“I believe that is why I am here. I want women to hear that early detection saves lives and encourage them to schedule a mammogram, even if the thought of facing a diagnosis is terrifying.”
Parr recognizes that not everyone has the faith she does. She said she hopes that when those people think about their loved ones, it encourages them to schedule a mammogram.
Parr’s next step is radiation therapy. “It is what it is,” she said, “My job is to spread the word about early detection.”
Mammograms are available at UH Medical Imaging UH1 on our main campus and at UH Lakewood Medical Center.