'My courage is stronger than my fear': Nanty Glo woman's gray hair a reminder of her breast cancer battle

Oct. 24--EBENSBURG -- When Michele Ellis was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017, she had "nice, long, shoulder-length brown hair," she said. More than a dozen chemotherapy treatments caused her hair to fall out, however, and when it grew back, it was gray.

Today, she's often asked whether she plans to dye her hair back to its old color, and her answer is always no.

"When I look at myself in the mirror," she explained, "my hair is a reminder as to my fight with this ugly disease. My courage is stronger than my fear. The gray hair is staying."

When the 51-year-old Nanty Glo woman went in for a routine mammogram in the spring of 2017, her regular obstetrician-gynecologist had just retired, but that didn't bother her.

"I got my postcard in the mail," she recalled, "like I do every year. I called to make the appointment, and they said, 'Oh, she's not working here anymore.' ... I'll never forget -- my exact words were, 'I never have any issues. I'll see anybody.' ... It was routine -- just like I go and have my teeth cleaned twice a year. It was just a thing you do, I guess. That's the way I looked at it."

After the mammogram, however, the doctor's office called her back and told her they needed to take some more pictures, then sent her in for a biopsy. Based on the biopsy results, she was diagnosed with ductal carcinoma and underwent a lumpectomy. The Stage II cancer had spread into her lymph nodes, so she also had to have several lymph nodes removed.

"To find it the way I found it, I consider myself very lucky that it was found early," she said.

After the surgery, she had 16 chemotherapy treatments at the Conemaugh Physician Group oncology department in Johnstown, finishing up around Thanksgiving 2017. The chemotherapy caused her hair to start falling out early on, she said, so she beat it to the punch -- first by cutting her hair short, then by buzzing it off entirely.

"That's a hard thing to do," she said. "I really didn't think it was going to bother me, losing all my hair, but it was big."

Her coworkers at Cambria County Child Development Corporation in Ebensburg, where she has kept the books for 21 years, held a surprise "hat party," donating a selection of hats that she then wore for the nine months until her hair grew back. They were one component of the strong support system that Ellis said helped her through her ordeal.

"I was very fortunate," she said, describing her coworkers as "like my second family." Her three adult sons, too, were "very supportive," and her husband of 33 years "is really the best," she added.

"He was there to listen," she said of her husband. "He was there for a shoulder to cry on, but he also was there because you do have those days -- the pity days -- and he was there to kick me in the butt and say, you know, 'Enough's enough. Move on. You've got to think of positive things.' He's my best friend."

Ellis had a month or two to recover from chemotherapy over the 2017 holiday season, then, in January of 2018, started the first of 33 radiation treatments at the Joyce Murtha Breast Care Center in Windber. She had kind words for all of the doctors and other medical professionals she dealt with, including her "very caring" oncologist, Dr. Ibrahim Sbeitan, and his "excellent" office staff.

As of June 21, 2018, she was given a "clean bill of health," she said, but her doctors are still keeping a close eye on her.

"I don't like to use the word 'survivor,' " she said. "To me, that sounds definite, and I know that it could come back, and I know that maybe another form of cancer could come back. I like to use the word 'fighter.' ... It's always kind of back there, lingering."

Throughout her treatment regimen, Ellis remained adamant that she wouldn't let her cancer interfere with her daily routine. She scheduled her chemotherapy appointments for Thursday mornings, taking off as little time as possible from work.

"I told my husband when I was diagnosed, 'I don't want my life to change. I don't want this to become who I am,' " she said. "I scheduled (my chemotherapy appointments) for Thursdays -- I'd go every Thursday to downtown Johnstown, and by lunchtime I would be here at work."

Keeping her work schedule as normal as possible allowed her to claw back some of the control over her own life she had lost when she received her diagnosis, she explained.

"When you're diagnosed with cancer," she said, "you no longer have choices. Everything's told to you -- 'OK, you have to do this, and now you have to do that.' Your control is gone. That was one thing I knew I could do by coming into work. My life was going on just like any other day."

Ellis advised women who are currently battling breast cancer to avoid becoming overwhelmed by the big picture.

"Take it day by day," she said. "It's a lot of information that you get in the beginning. I took it chemo treatment by chemo treatment, week by week, month by month, then those were over. Then it was radiation time, and that was daily for 33 trips. Before I knew it, one week was gone. Before I knew it, I was at number 15, and then I was at number 20. ... A lot of times, you're going to have bad days, but there's always that next day."

Local events

Pink Ribbon Bagel: Through Oct. 31. Panera Bread in Richland Township will donate a portion of the proceeds to the Joyce Murtha Breast Care Center at Chan Soon-Shiong Medical Center at Windber.

Color Me Pink Run/Walk: 5K begins at 9 a.m. Saturday and walk starts at 9:15 a.m. For the 5K run only, awards will be presented to the top male and female finishers as well as the top male and female in each age group. Register online at www.windbercare.org. For more information, call 814-467-3705. Event benefits Joyce Murtha Breast Care Center at Chan Soon-Shiong Medical Center.

Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art Think Pink fundraiser: 6:30 p.m.Nov. 1, Blairmont Club, Hollidaysburg. Tickets are $125 per person. Reservations requested by Tuesday and can be made online at www.sama-art.org or by contacting the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art at Altoona at 814-946-4464 or altoona@sama-art.org.

Mark Pesto is a reporter for The Tribune-Democrat. Follow him on Twitter at @MarkPesto.

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