NEW ORLEANS — When Kate Middleton made the decision to talk about her cancer diagnosis publicly, website visits to the leading British cancer charity spiked to one of its highest rates.
That announcement is also touching lives halfway around the world, here in the New Orleans area community.
On March 22, when Catherine, the Princess of Wales, announced she was being treated for cancer, the world was watching.
“This, of course, came as a huge shock, and William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family,” Catherine said in a recorded statement.
Breast cancer survivor Romaine Farrar was watching, too.
“My first thought was, I know what you're going through. I know that feeling of having to tell your children and worry about them and their future. And so as a mother, that's where my heart went to for her,” said Romaine Farrar, a seven-year cancer survivor from Farmerville, La., whose husband is currently being treated for cancer.
Roy is a caregiver to a close family member with cancer. He relates to the princesses’ wishes for privacy.
“We haven't told any of our family, and of her family, and some of my 50-year friends don't know,” Roy shared.
Both Roy and Romaine have relied on the American Cancer Society's Hope Lodge as a free place to stay when caring for a relative with cancer who is being treated in New Orleans. Others staying there bring strength and support.
“We can set down at a table, and talk to one another, and learn from one another, how we can assist, that we didn't think of that they're doing. We share the same things with them,” Roy said.
A doctor at University Medical Center, who is a cancer surgeon, says we should use this announcement as a teachable moment.
“Typically, cancer is a disease of older people, right, but for the last several decades, we've seen a significant uptick of the number of cancer in younger patients,” explained Dr. Valentine Nfonsam, an LSUHSC oncology surgeon, who is Chairman of the Department of Surgery at UMC, and the LCMC cancer service line.
Kate is young—just 42—but she looks in shape and healthy. Dr. Nfonsam says that's why regular checkups and screenings are important.
“A lot of this young patients present with this more aggressive, advanced disease, after having seen a lot of physicians. I think that primary care doctors really should be in the forefront in this fight for younger patients,” Dr. Nfonsam added.
“Early detection is definitely key. I think with any kind of cancer, you know, stay up with your testing,” Farrar reminded everyone.
“For everyone facing this disease, in whatever form, please do not lose faith, or hope. You are not alone,” Catherine said in her announcement.
Middleton has not said what type of cancer she is being treated for, only that she had abdominal surgery in January and is going through preventive chemotherapy.
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