CHARLESTON When Julia Shalhoup was getting ready to retire, she wasnt sure what she was going to do with her new freedom.

A breast cancer diagnosis just three days after her retirement answered that question.

I had so many doctors appointments. Thats all I did, she said.

At the time of her diagnosis, Shalhoup hadnt gone in for a mammogram in several years, she said.

This was despite a standing order for a mammogram.

It was not Shalhoups first experience with cancer.

Shalhoup, who was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in 1991, found herself in the hospital in 1994 due to severe anemia caused by the disease.

A couple weeks later during a checkup of the colitis, they found an ovarian tumor.

It was totally encapsulated, but it was ovarian cancer, stage 1 and malignant. Had I not had the colitis, they wouldnt have found the ovarian cancer most likely, she said.

When I was diagnosed with the ovarian cancer I think I was in shock. I knew I wasnt feeling well, but I thought the symptoms were on account of the colitis. I was working raising kids and practicing (law).

By the time the cancer was removed, it had grown to the size of a grapefruit.

It was just a tough surgery, and recovery was tough, she said.

At first, Shalhoup was good about faithfully getting her recommended mammograms.

Once you tell physician youve had ovarian cancer, youre top of the list for other cancers, she said.

At a point, however, she felt too busy with her law practice and began to put it off.

I was remiss, she said. It was on my to-do list.

The breast cancer diagnosis in spring 2019 therefore came by accident.

As she was shutting down her divorce law practice that she had devoted nearly 20 years to, she sought treatment for an ulcer.

The physician ordered a scan of her abdominal area. Luckily, the scan included her chest and doctors identified the cancer.

She was fortunate. The cancer was identified at an early stage.

I felt good. You could barely feel the lump, she said.

Still, it was a shocker for the family.

At first, youre a little shocked, said Nick Shalhoup, her husband. I handle things pretty well and so does Julie, but I just felt bad. Especially right after she retired and then days later she gets the diagnosis. You think youre going to enjoy your free time and then you have to deal with this.

She did not require chemotherapy and instead went through a lumpectomy and 16 radiation sessions at the WVU Cancer Institute.

I was great up until the last week. I had a very significant exhaustion period. It felt like I had narcolepsy. Im a reader and I would open a book and start to read and fall asleep. The doctor assured me that was normal, Julia Shalhoup said.

Following treatment, she was prescribed Arimidex, a commonly prescribed therapy for post-menopausal women who have had hormone-receptor positive breast cancer to prevent recurrence.

Theres some pretty serious side effects that can affect the rest of your life and have nothing to do with the cancer, she said. For her, those come from the Arimidex.

Now, she deals with the side effects of that medication, which are hard to bear.

Ive been taking it for almost six weeks and I have at least four or five of the symptoms that are pretty difficult to take, she said.

These include back pain, hot flashes that she describes as more of an internal heat than what she experienced during menopause, and weakness and pain in the extremities.

I truly believe shes handled this very well. Obviously, she has her moments. Everyone would. Worst part has been the Arimidex. It has so many side effects, Nick Shalhoup said.

Julia Shalhoup said she shares her story not for sympathy, but to remind women of the importance of getting the recommended screenings.

I just feel hopeful that if I talk to enough people, theyll feel compelled to do mammograms, she said.

Finding the cancer at an early stage not only improves personal outcomes, but can give your family the information they need to make their own medical decisions.

Shalhoup said waiting for results of her daughters BRCA genetic testing was the hardest part of the process.

That was probably the most difficult two weeks of my life, just worrying about whether she had the genetic marker, she said. She did not have the marker.

Im telling everybody. Im telling everybody Im fine. The sympathy I dont need. I need to make sure that you reach out to every woman you know and say, You need to get this test. Theyre not painful anymore, she said. They used to be painful, but theyre not painful anymore.

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'You need to get this test': Julia Shalhoup stresses importance of mammograms after her own breast cancer experience - WV News

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