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"I Believe" Survivor Stories

Kathy Burgau

Kathy BurgauNearly a dozen years after her diagnosis, Kathy Burgau has not lost her passion for advocacy for young breast cancer survivors, nor her memories of a long and arduous treatment for cancer.

Burgau, now 37, was in her mid-20s when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. The mammogram and biopsy confirming the original diagnosis were done on her 26th birthday. She had initially discovered the pea-sized lump herself and, for some reason that she can’t explain, dismissed assurances that she was too young to have breast cancer.

Burgau, who lived in Pelican Rapids at the time but has since moved to rural Fergus Falls, opted to have a modified radical mastectomy with the hope that she could avoid chemotherapy if the cancer hadn’t affected her lymph nodes.

But it was an aggressive cancer that had spread to her lymph nodes, and in fact there were indications it had spread to her liver as well. She still remembers getting the call on Thanksgiving day in 1996 with the news that the spots on her liver were not cancerous.

“It was a very thankful day,” Burgau says.

Looking back, Burgau says she has much more to be thankful for: Her referral to Paul Etzell, MD, the oncologist who was then the director of the Roger Maris Cancer Center at MeritCare in Fargo; the research program that Dr. Etzell located for Burgau—she’s convinced the high doses of chemotherapy that she received saved her life—and the persistent physician who wasn’t ready to give up when it appeared her cancer treatment had left Burgau unable to have children. She and husband Terry now have 4-year-old twin sons and a 2-year-old daughter.

But the road to recovery wasn’t smooth, and she hasn’t forgotten the emotionally and physically draining experience of her cancer treatment.

Her chemotherapy treatment required trips to Fargo every two weeks from January through the end of May—usually 10 to 12 hours of receiving the drugs, followed by what seemed like a very long ride home.

“The year I went through treatment was the worst possible year it could have been—a year of record snowfall and the flood,” Burgau recalls. “Not only were the roads bad and we smashed up our car trying to get to a treatment, but it was very trying to navigate the river and make it when the snow melted.”

There were days when she would leave home at 5:30 a.m. to arrive in Fargo for blood work at 6:30, followed by chemo from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., then stay in Fargo until 11 or 11:30 p.m. for more tests before returning home.

“I have no clue how many miles we put on that winter and spring—too many to count,” Burgau says.

Burgau was declared cancer-free 11 years ago and along the way chose to become an advocate for other young women who are diagnosed with breast cancer. She has been an involved member of the Young Survival Coalition, an advocacy group for breast cancer patients and survivors under the age of 40. Her lobbying has taken her to states around the nation and to Washington, D.C., as she urged lawmakers to increase funding for issues including research and diagnosis of breast cancer in young women.

In the years since her diagnosis, Burgau has also provided support for area residents diagnosed with cancer — conversations that reinforce her enthusiasm for construction of a cancer center in Fergus Falls.

She says she has talked with many cancer patients from the area who have needed to travel several hours a day for radiation therapy. In addition to the time on the road for a treatment that takes only seconds, she says, there’s the need to find friends and family who can provide daily rides. Burgau says some patients drive themselves, then nap in their cars so they can stay awake to drive home.

“Yes, we know family and friends like to help out, but cancer patients—no matter how many times they are told—will still try to not be a burden and take care of things on their own,” she says. “It’s a way of regaining control over something—anything—when you feel you don’t have any control.”

Burgau knows, too, about the importance of having medical staff members who care about the patients, who can provide a small-town atmosphere. She talks about the friends who helped along the way and the strangers who went out of their way to be her friends—people like the now longtime friend who performed the initial mammogram that pinpointed her cancer, and the two Lake Region Healthcare anesthesiologists who promised they’d eat Thanksgiving dinner with her in the hospital if she wasn’t able to go home (she was).

“Dr. Etzell knows the important role his staff plays in the treatment process of cancer patients,” Burgau says. “With this care, understanding and personal touch…I believe Fergus Falls can build a cancer center that will be above and beyond other centers in this region.”

If you believe like Kathy does, we invite you to go to the Cancer Care and Research Center donation page and offer your support today.

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