A new dawn, a new day

Teacher at Carmichaels fights battle against cancer

Brenda Ferek thought she was free. She thought she had defeated the monster that, five years ago, controlled every aspect of her life. She was certain the rough days were over and that the absolutely unbearable days were long gone. She was finally able to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Ferek, a librarian at Carmichael’s Elementary, and her husband were at a mammogram appointment when she received the news—the kind of news that makes your brain try and convince itself that it was just a horrible dream.

Five years after Ferek was deemed free of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, she received a second diagnosis.

This time, it was breast cancer.

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Her first diagnosis, which she received in 2010, was a form of cancer called Stage 2B Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, she explained. On a Wednesday evening in March, Ferek is relaxing in the living room alongside her family when she recalls what it was like to be diagnosed with cancer for the first time.

The cancer hit her body the same way Pittsburgh Penguins forward, Evgeni Malkin, slammed his Winnipeg opponent into the boards during the hockey game playing on the TV in the background. Her sickness quickly consumed her life.

Hodgkin’s Lymphoma resides in the lymphatic system, a portion of the body’s immune system, and ultimately ravages the body of its ability to fight infections. After completing about one year of treatment though, she was deemed cancer-free. They told her there was a very low chance of it coming back, she said.

“They said if the [cancer] didn’t come back within five years, then I’d be like anybody else and not have to worry about it ever coming back,” Ferek said.

But it did.

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“Tell her about your little saying,” her daughter Alex said, smiling at her strong and optimistic mother.

“A new dawn. A new day,” Ferek replied. “I said I was going to get a tattoo of it, but my husband told me I wasn’t allowed.”

Ferek, her husband and her daughter Alex laughed together, sharing a moment of joy.

A new dawn. A new day.

A phrase that refers to a new beginning, a fresh start and an important and promising turning point – nothing describes the mentality and mantra of a two-time cancer survivor more than that.

Despite receiving the troubling news of a second battle with cancer, Ferek remains positive – well, as positive as a two-time victim of cancer can be.

Her current diagnosis is considered an extremely destructive and hormone-driven form of breast cancer. Despite the severity of her illness, she remains elated and blessed to live the life that she does.

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Ferek sits back in her chair with her head up and a smile forming as though she’s excited to think back on one of the shining moments from her journey with cancer. It was small the moments of random good fortune and positive thinking that kept her believing that things would work out.

It was a day like any other. She was about to get a PET scan in Morgantown, WV., one of the many testing procedures that cancer patients have to endure, when the nurse decided to shoot the breeze while injecting fluids into her patient’s veins. The nurse nonchalantly asked Ferek if she was seeing a “Dr. Abraham” for her breast cancer, knowing that this specific doctor recently relocated to another state.

This wasn’t the first time that name had come up since her diagnosis, she explained, and certainly not the last.

Ferek remained optimistic about her journey towards better health. She always knew that things would fall into place.

“I was leaving the PET scan appointment when my phone began to blow up with voicemails from this girl who had breast cancer before and wanted to tell me that I need to go see this Dr. Abraham,” Ferek said. “It was the weirdest thing because I didn’t know her. She told me he was now the Director of the Cleveland Clinic Breast Cancer Center and gave me his personal phone number.”

Ferek was able to go see him only three days later. She explained that the second she laid eyes on him she felt a feeling of warmth and relief and knew that he was the perfect fit for her.

To this day, Ferek remains thankful for the complete stranger who reached out and connected her with such an amazing doctor.

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Ferek adores her family. They are her pride and joy.

Behind her in her home is a ledge that spans the room and is crowded with 12-inch cardboard cut-outs of her children’s every sport, school dance or life achievement. You name it, there’s a cutout of it on that ledge. To her left is a side table that holds nothing but a digital picture frame shuffling through family photos, both old and new. Across the room from her stands a mantle with large family photos resting on it.

Ferek’s battle with cancer has been a long and hardfought one that she wishes her kids didn’t have to endure growing up. When she got sick the first time, her oldest daughter, Alex, was only in tenth grade at the time. Today she is graduated from college and working as a nurse. Her younger two children were so young when she was first diagnosed that they don’t even remember a time when she was healthy, Ferek explained.

“They had to deal with a lot of things that kids shouldn’t have to deal with,” she said, tugging at her lymphedema glove that she proudly wears everyday as a result of all the lymph nodes that were removed during surgery. “I wish they could have had a carefree childhood and not have had to worry about mom and the fact that she may not always be here.”

Ferek stopped and yelled for the dog, Oreo, attempting to lighten the mood or perhaps divert the conversation.

“This is when I may start to get emotional,” she told me.

While Ferek’s cancer is not considered to be terminal, it is not unusual for patients to experience these thoughts under such alarming circumstances.

Through everything she has had thrown at her in the past seven years, she still remains selfless and optimistic about the future – putting it in God’s hand.

“I’ve always tried not to worry, but its hard,” said Ferek. “I just put all my faith in God because I would like to see all my kids grow up first.”

Just last week she got to see her youngest daughter pass her driver’s test and get her braces off. She hopes to get to see things like her younger two children graduate from college and her oldest daughter get married and start a family, she says, raising her voice to ensure that her daughter’s boyfriend hears her and gets the hint from across the room.

“I’ve always appreciated everything in life and I’ve never been a materialistic person, but this experience made me even more appreciative and has made me look for positives in every single day,” Ferek said. “I just am happy each day I wake up.”

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The Ferek family packed their things and ventured to California when she was deemed cancer-free the first time back in 2011. Flights are already booked as they are planning to travel back to California in June to celebrate a second time.