A dedicated care team, an innovative new treatment, and an endless cache of positive energy.
Nancy Simpson is anything but ordinary. At 71, her boundless energy and positive attitude make her an ideal fitness trainer — with one client calling her the “energizer bunny.” But in February 2018, Nancy received a devastating diagnosis that is all too common for women her age: breast cancer.
It’s estimated that 1 in 8 women will develop invasive breast cancer in their lifetime, with the majority of new cases (80%) occurring in women over the age of 50. In Nancy’s case, cancer had developed in her left breast directly above her heart, making treatment particularly risky.
Undeterred, Nancy dove into her treatment at Beaumont Health in Royal Oak, Michigan, with the same vigor she brought to every workout. Her journey began with a lumpectomy to remove the cancerous mass from her breast, followed by several months of chemotherapy to treat over a dozen cancerous lymph nodes. If that seems like a lot to handle, you clearly don’t know Nancy.
“I kept working on the days that I could,” Nancy says, “Once I got to radiation I was able to work every day.” Many of her clients couldn’t tell she was even in treatment.
Nancy cites Dr. Joshua Dilworth, her radiation oncologist, as a major source of confidence as she forged ahead with her cancer journey.
“Dr. Dilworth was so informative,” she explains. “He spent an hour talking about what they know, best practices, recent research, and planning.” Dr. Dilworth would also become one of the strongest advocates for Nancy to receive an innovative new treatment — proton therapy.
Proton therapy is a type of radiation therapy that uses beams of positively charged protons to treat tumors. As opposed to traditional radiation therapy, which uses X-rays to deposit high doses of radiation throughout the body, this new technique utilizes the unique properties of the proton to deliver radiation directly to cancerous tissue while minimizing exposure to surrounding organs.
Beaumont Health’s Proton Therapy Center is one of only 26 facilities in the country that offers this new procedure.
It was like being in a spaceship. The facility is remarkable — state-of-the-art, beautiful. It’s peaceful.
For Nancy, having the option to pursue state-of-the-art treatment meant the world. “Any less collateral damage is always a good thing,” she says. “I was thrilled to be a candidate and to be approved.”
Nancy’s proton therapy began in November 2018, almost nine months after her initial diagnosis. While proton therapy is much more precise than traditional radiation, each session can run up to 40 minutes — 20 minutes longer than the alternative.
That didn’t bother her, though.
“It was like being in a spaceship,” she tells us. “The facility is remarkable — state-of-the-art, beautiful. It’s peaceful.” Nancy also cites Beaumont’s oncology staff as a crucial source of comfort as she underwent the decidedly uncomfortable treatment.
“When in the radiation room, they knew that I liked jazz. They would say, ‘We’re putting your jazz on for you,’” she says. “There wasn’t a person that felt like they didn’t want to be there.”
After 29 radiation treatments, in March of 2019 — exactly one year after starting her journey — Nancy was ready to “graduate,” cancer free. Her bout with cancer came to an end with the chime of a giant ship’s bell, a triumphant reminder to her fellow patients that cancer can be beaten.
Today, Nancy says she has a “heightened sense of awareness and compassion,” for her fellow patients and the hospital heroes who have dedicated their careers to providing care to people affected by cancer.
“People in oncology are a unique breed,” she says. “From the reception desk to everyone, they are so compassionate. I’m very impressed with people in the field of oncology.”
As for Nancy, she’s back in the gym using her incredible story to motivate her clients.
“You never know when something is going to hit,” she says. “You want to have the best foot forward to have the stamina to sustain it.”
Read more about Nancy and her treatment process here.