Breast cancer survivor celebrates

KELLIE HOUX
ASSISTANT EDITOR

Lori Lober has been diagnosed as in remission after 21 months of chemotherapy In December; she starts a new drug therapy to keep the cancer from returning.

"I should have to be on the drug for about a year," she said. "It is pretty good timing with the breast cancer house. When we are finalizing it, I should be done with treatment." Lober and her husband, John Lober, are building the first Kansas City Show Home for Breast Cancer, 10501 N. Woodland Ave. The house will be sold to aid research.

Lober said she found a "suspicious lump" in 1998, but doctors told her she had non-cancerous fibrocystic disease. Radiologists also read two mammograms as fibrocystic disease.

"By March 2000, I started to feel like a hypochondriac, but I went to another doctor... The next day I learned I had cancer.

"If things had been diagnosed correctly two years prior, I would have had a 95 percent survival rate rather than the 2 percent I was given."

Lober and her husband visited MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston to find leading doctors.

"I was originally told I had only 18 months to live, but I did not want to give up," she said. "I have lived with breast cancer for the last 21 months. I have researched Western medicine and combined it with holistic remedies. These ideas have been around for thousands of years."

Lober said her cancer spread to her liver. Breast cancer, if not detected early, can spread to the lungs, brain, liver or bones.

In September 2000, Lober went through a new procedure that applied high-frequency sound waves to her liver.

"There is no sign of cancer in my liver," she said, "and I did not have to be opened up."

Lober has had six surgeries as she has battled her breast cancer.
"I am constantly challenging modern medicine," she said. "Almost every day I talk to a woman who needs help. Usually they know I had a terminal diagnosis and they want to know what I am doing right to be well."

Lober said a woman should seek two opinions regarding a cancer diagnosis.

"So many people think all the options are the same, but they need to realize there are options of possible treatments," she said. "I talk about Western medicine and holistic ideas. I try to build them up."
Lober said women need to go with their gut feelings.

"Even if you think nothing is wrong, get to the bottom of it for the peace of mind," she said. "You cannot rule out cancer unless you have a biopsy. It is a personal struggle to get the right answers. You don't want to scare people, but doctors can make mistakes."
<Back