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Healing Both Mind and Body

A survivor shares her story of finding the faith to fight breast cancer. Carla Peer is a breast cancer survivor who was treated at the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center at Loyola University Health System. When her younger sister died of breast cancer at age 44, Carla Peer was both grieved and stunned. “It still seems surreal,” Carla said of her sudden loss. As a result, Carla became more proactive about safeguarding her own health. “I didn’t smoke or drink, and I leaned toward a low-fat, plant-based diet,” Carla said. “I also underwent genetic testing to ensure that I wasn’t at increased risk for breast cancer due to inherited mutations of the BRCA-1 or BRCA-2 genes.”

Carla Peer, breast cancer survivor.

“When I found out that I had breast cancer, I decided to seek treatment at Loyola University Health System,” Carla said. “I had a lumpectomy and a lymph node biopsy, which revealed that the cancer had already spread to my lymph nodes. I was afraid, but I resolved to recover successfully with my doctors’ help.”

Comforting Care

Carla underwent eight rounds of chemotherapy and six weeks of radiation at the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center from January 2006 to the end of May. She endured the hair loss and fatigue typically associated with aggressive treatment of cancer, while placing confidence in her highly trained caregivers and finding continual encouragement in her surroundings.

“My doctors provided both extensive knowledge and compassionate care, and I felt intuitively throughout my treatment that I was meant to be at Loyola,” Carla said. “Before my first visit, a friend whom I had turned to for support gave me a card with a black and white photograph depicting a sculpture of loving hands cradling a small child’s head. When I saw the same photograph at Loyola’s Coleman Foundation Image Renewal Center, it reinforced my faith that I was in the right place.”

Holistic Hope

Carla, a retired director of a women’s ministry and doting grandmother of four, fought breast cancer with a grace fueled by faith and the prayers of friends and family, and she found newfound strength in holistic care. At Loyola’s Coleman Foundation Image Renewal Center, Carla received services that were tailored to her needs as a cancer patient such as: acupuncture to stimulate her immune system and fight nausea, rejuvenating facials, and manicures and pedicures. She also received a compression sleeve, which helps prevent lymphedema by applying enough pressure to avert potentially dangerous fluid build-up.

“The renewal center was like an oasis in a war zone,” Carla said. “With cancer, there’s the biology of the disease and the biology of the person, and they’re equally important. I believe Loyola is at the forefront of realizing the magnitude of the mind-body connection and treating the whole person.”

Life’s Lessons

After her battle with breast cancer, Carla has a changed perspective on life and now lives every day to the fullest as a beginning watercolor painter and an avid gardener and golfer.

“I don’t think we can know why cancer comes, but we can ask ourselves how we will live differently as cancer survivors,” Carla said. “Surviving breast cancer has made me a more forgiving, more balanced person. While I used to feel as though I had to be all things for all people, I’m making a conscious effort to spend more time reenergizing myself and to fully enjoy my time with family and friends. I have only one life on this earth, so I want to make it the best one I can.”

Early detection saves lives. Call (888) LUHS-888 to schedule a screening mammography with a Loyola physician near you.