How to go
What: "Making Strides Against Breast Cancer"
When: Saturday, Oct. 17. Registration begins at 9 a.m., the 5K walk starts at 10 a.m.
Where: Dayton Dragons' Fifth Third Field, 220 North Patterson Blvd., Dayton
Donation: There is no fee to walk, but donations to the American Cancer Society are appreciated.
For info: www,cancer.org/stridesonline
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This article is part of our month-long focus on breast cancer. To learn more or find ways to help, go to our Pink Edition Page.
BROOKVILLE — She’s exhausted from the chemo, but Tonja Hemmerick has forced herself to shower, put on make-up and a fresh pair of jeans, and show up for her newspaper interview.
“I’m not feeling so well today,” she admits over a pomegranate smoothie at Hip Stirs, the cozy Brookville coffee shop. “Mondays following chemo can be rough.”
“Rough” is putting it mildly. Since June of 2007, when Hemmerick first learned that the broken hip she’d suffered while running was the result of a breast cancer recurrence that had spread to her liver and lungs, she’s been through more than 80 aggressive chemotherapy treatments.
“I’m terminal at this point, but I don’t know when that will be,” states Hemmerick, who has been stable for two years and three months. “They call it a chronic condition but no one wants Stage 4 recurrent breast cancer.”
What keeps the Brookville woman going — in addition to a generous and caring nature and upbeat personality — are her strong connections with a supportive community of family and friends and a job she loves.
“It gets me up and going and helps divert attention from myself to others,” says Hemmerick who works part-time in rehabilitation at Brookhaven nursing home and has only missed a couple of days due to her illness.
Her faith is also essential.
“Before my feet hit the floor in the morning, I’m thankful that I’ve been given another day and when I close my eyes at night I thank the Lord for the day he has given me,” says Hemmerick. “I try to make the most of each day.”
Despite her weariness from the chemo, she regularly dons walking shoes for the five-mile training hikes with her “Challenge for the Cure” teammates. Hemmerick is determined to join her friends on their 15-mile walk from Brookville to Dayton where they’ll participate — for the third time — in the American Cancer Society’s “Making Strides Against Breast Cancer” event on Oct. 17.
Following closely behind as a member of the crew will be her husband of 21 years, Tom. When she first decided to shave her head in preparation for her first round of chemotherapy, Tom shaved his too.
Two older children live in Pittsburgh and Brooklyn, New York. Sixteen-year-old Taylor, a junior at Brookville High School, was only a first-grader when Hemmerick first discovered the lump in her breast.
“If I hadn’t done a self exam, it wouldn’t have been caught since I had no family history and baseline mammograms don’t typically start until age 40,” says Hemmerick, who was 33 at the time. A mammogram showed two tumors and within a few weeks she had undergone a mastectomy and reconstruction.
“I was pretty scared and emotionally upset for her and how it was going to change her life,” Tom admits. “We try to lead a normal life as much as possible.”
Both agree the role of family and friends is critical.
“It’s important to be patient and understanding and to let her make the final decision, but you can be in the background helping with research, making certain she is getting the right treatment, the right doctor, understanding the medications,” Tom Hemmerick advises other spouses. “We did everything together.”
Taylor, who describes her mother as “very caring,” is also passionate about the cause and will be walking alongside her mom in the upcoming Strides walk. Despite their own trials, the Hemmericks find time for others: Taylor has helped her mother organize fundraisers for Amanda O’Dell, a 15-year-old Brookville friend who is battling an aggressive form of childhood leukemia.
Both Hemmericks say friends have been “phenomenal.”
“We’ve had people coming over, cleaning, bringing so much food that we had to ask them to stop,” says Tom, who believes you can look at cancer as a dreaded disease, or as a gift from God that you need to overcome.
Hemmerick has discovered that every breast cancer is unique.
“It’s like a thumbprint, we’re all different,” she says. “When I get to chemo, I sit with a group of women who are all Stage 4 and there’s not one of us who is undergoing the same treatment. Basically we’re all young mothers and our ultimate goal is just to watch our children grow.”
“Taylor would like to see me when she walks for graduation,” she says, tearfully. “Will that happen? I don’t know.”
Her husband, who calls his wife’s chemo “love juice,” insists it will.
“Her second goal is to see Taylor graduate from college or get married,” he says. “She doesn’t think she’s going to see grand kids, but I know she will.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2440 or MMoss@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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