Lorraine Frakes Talks about her Fight with Breast Cancer

The Discovery

Four years ago, Green River resident Lorraine Frakes started her battle with breast cancer as a 73 year-old widow. When she was diagnosed, she felt numb. Having lost many family members to cancer already, including her husband, she didn’t know how to feel.

At this point in her life, Lorraine’s family was all grown up and lived in different areas. She worried about their ability to support her and the sacrifices they would have to make because they didn’t live close by. An invitation from her son and daughter-in-law to stay with them in Denver probably helped answer not only her prayers but those of her family.

Lorraine’s daughter-in-law was a stay at home mom and offered to travel with Lorraine to appointments and treatments. While receiving treatment in Denver, many of Lorraine’s children visited often and helped when they could. Lorraine said, “I couldn’t tell you how much they went out of their way to help. They were unbelievably kind and helpful.”

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Thoughts after Diagnosis

After her diagnosis, Lorraine wondered what she would do and what her options were.

Was I going to opt to just die or was I going to fight and not let it get the best of me? I wasn’t afraid. Death didn’t scare me.

What Lorraine didn’t want was to burden someone else with taking care of her. She hoped to be as independent as possible during and after the experience.

Living One Day at a Time

Lorraine chose to fight. She underwent four-months of chemotherapy and nine weeks of radiation. While she was going through chemo, she said it made her so deathly ill she couldn’t tolerate food very well. She lost a lot of weight because there was not much food her body would keep down.

During chemotherapy treatment, she received a new treatment every three weeks. Keeping busy was Lorraine’s main tool to get through the hard days. After a day of helping her daughter-in-law around the house when she could, Lorraine would think, “I have this day behind me, one more day.” She lived day to day trying to stay busy and positive.

Hard Fought Days

It took about three days after each treatment for the effects to hit her. At that point, she started getting very sick. This lasted for about two weeks before she began feeling better. Then, it was time for another treatment. She got used to knowing how many days she had to feel good and how many days she would be really ill.

There were really hard days for Lorraine when it wasn’t about staying positive, it was about staying alive.

There were some days I didn’t want to live I was so sick. I don’t know if other cancer patients feel that way or not, but I did have days where I felt that way. You make yourself go on. You have to say you’re not going to beat me. You have the best of me right now but your not going to beat me. I am going to get better and this will come to an end.

Reflection and Advice

Looking back on her experience, Lorraine said she would have researched her options more, especially when it came to the drugs she would take and their side effects. She lives with side effects to this day from the drugs she took during treatment and others she continues to take. She said she can live with the effects but would have liked to have been better informed about the drugs she would be taking.

Lorraine’s advice to others is to not let cancer be the winner. Fight it. Try to be positive.

During her battle with cancer she thought, “You took a lot of my loved ones prior to this and if you get me, it is going to be after a fight.” Lorraine also said that during and after treatment you have to do the best you can with what you have been given. That is what she did and and continues to do.