Two-time cancer survivor Pat Fenters spends her time these days playing with her grandchildren and helping organize the Clarendon County Overcomers, a 501c organization dedicated to assisting those in the area who are fighting or who have overcome cancer.
Raised in Georgetown, Fenters moved to Clarendon County in the early 1970s and has lived here ever since. For her, this is home.
Although semi-retired now, Fenters spent many years working at the Bank of Clarendon and then at her husband’s State Farm insurance agency, where she was a service representative. She still goes in to the agency to do light bookkeeping but no longer works with clients. Today, her favorite job is babysitting a few of her 10 her grandchildren.
Fenton’s first battle with cancer came in 1997, when she found a lump during a self-examination. This was not long after a mammogram, but she didn’t wait. She made an appointment.
“It’s important to be diligent about checking yourself,” said Fenters.
Although she had had benign lumps before, Fenters said the doctors treated her differently right from the start. They wouldn’t call it cancer until the official test results came back, but she knew it was cancer based on how they were acting around her.
Once the tests confirmed it was cancer, the doctor discussed her options. If she removed only the lump, it would mean radiation treatments and possibly chemotherapy were needed. However, if she removed the breast, and no further lumps were found in the tissue upon examination, she wouldn’t require any further treatment. Fenters opted for the mastectomy.
“I knew from the get-go what I wanted to do, and my husband was totally supportive of it,” said Fenters. “But there are so many different answers to the same question. The right answer for me is not the right answer for everybody.”
After healing from her reconstruction surgery, Fenters returned to a fully normal life, enjoying family, friends and church.
However, this was not the end of Fenters’ battle. In 2014, Fenters found another lump during a self-examination.
“In reality, I think all cancer survivors know it can happen to you, so you continue to look for it. Sometimes we get OCD about it, but that’s better than being in denial,” said Nelson, who asserted early detection is critical to survival.
As she had been fully released by her oncology team, Fenters went to her gynecologist. He arranged for her to have the needed tests.
Through the process, the oncologists discovered not only the lump Fenters had found near the sternum, they also found a smaller one under her arm and a “cloudy area” in the center, which turned out to be three small developing tumors. They biopsied each area, and Fenters’ fears were confirmed. It was indeed cancer.
A second mastectomy took her remaining breast. However, because of the invasive nature of the cancer, the doctors recommended radiation, as they were concerned the large tumor near the sternum might have grown into the bone or muscle tissue.
“One very important part of my treatment was prayer. I know prayer works. My church, Emanuel Baptist Church and all my church family, were just praying hard for me. I could feel the power of the prayer. It was a very important part of my treatment that worked and didn’t have any bad side effects,” said Fenters.
Following her radiation treatments, Fenters had a difficult time healing after the reconstruction surgery. She fought abscesses and struggled through wound vacs, eventually enduring skin grafts to complete the process.
However, she loved her medical team. “I feel like they saved my life. They communicated with my doctors in Charleston and took care of me so well,” said Fenters.
Fenters also spoke about the need for those who have gone through the struggle to share with those still in the fight.
“You get a lot of support from your family and your church and your friends, but the biggest encouragement that I ever felt came from other cancer survivors. I could look at them, see that they were okay, see that yes, indeed, they looked fine. They were going on with their lives,” said Fenters. “God sends people to lift you up. I firmly believe that. He sends just who you need to talk to at just the right time.”
As she continued to heal, Fenters had to begin taking a hormone suppression pill, as her latest cancer was hormonally driven. However, the hormone suppression treatment had the possibility of weakening the bones. Her doctor offered her a treatment to strengthen the longbones, but this medication had a very low chance of weakening the jawbone.
A year into treatments, Fenters began to have jaw issues, beginning with a cracked tooth and a high pain level. Over time, her jaw deteriorated, and her dentist recommended a full scan, as her jawbone had a “motheaten” look. Her oncologist hospitalized her and called in a dental team as well as disease control to assess her medical status.
Fenters had necrosis of the jaw with an overlying osteomyelitis. Once they stopped the infection, the pain began to recede.
“I have a chronic condition that’s left, but praise the Lord, I can live with it. My goals are to keep my teeth and to be able to control pain with ibuprofen and to control any infection I pick up with normal antibiotics rather than an IV,” said Fenters.
Fenters had another cracked tooth in January, and the tooth was immediately removed and the abscess drained.
“I’m fine now, I really am. I’m eating basically whatever I want. It’s good to be eating again. I lived on Boost and soup for too long,” said Fenters.
Fenters feels she is making progress in this latest battle. She saw her oncologist a few weeks ago, and she is due to go back in April, where she may be able to stop taking the medication which strengthens her bones but damages her jaw.
“Life’s a journey and you never know what’s in store for you. But you do know that God’s got your back. I just have faith that nothing is a surprise to God. Nothing has happened to me that He didn’t know was going to happen before it happened. If it were not going to be for my good and His glory, he wouldn’t have allowed it to happen. I’ve just got to walk in the journey, find my job and learn my lessons,” said Fenters. “But I just feel like He left me here for a reason, so I’m walking in it, trying to encourage people who were at the low point I was, because I do know that life is good after cancer. There’s still life and I’m grateful for it.”
