Jan Prudent
Cancer Caught Early Thanks to Nagging Posters
They were everywhere! Mammography screening posters were plastered all over Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center (EIRMC) in October 2023, and Jan Prudent couldn’t avoid them. As a hospital employee, she saw them in the halls, the elevator, everywhere she turned. They were nagging at her—even bribing her with goodie bags—to schedule a mammogram. Jan simply could not ignore them. She had discovered a lump in her breast the previous spring, and her conscience was plaguing her.
“I was just lying down and happened to feel something hard. It didn’t feel right. But my family had recently been through some hard things, and I didn’t want to add to that, so I kept it to myself,” Jan explained.
The posters finally got their way. Jan talked herself into getting into the elevator to go to Eastern Idaho Women’s Imaging at EIRMC, intent on scheduling a mammogram. But when she got to the front desk, the manager of the mammography center, Celia, started asking questions. When she heard about the lump, Celia immediately performed a screening then whisked Jan to ultrasound, which was followed by a biopsy two days later.
“I was a mental mess waiting for results,” Jan said. But a chance meeting in the hospital with Dr. Michael Lemon, a surgeon at EIRMC, put her mind more at ease when he agreed to be her doctor.
“I can’t say enough about Dr. Lemon,” enthused Jan. “I have always had great respect for him, not only as an excellent surgeon but has a kind, caring, human being. He did not disappoint. He spent 1–2 hours with me, explaining, drawing pictures, giving me all options. He was patient and kind and answered my questions.”
Jan had a lumpectomy just ten days after her elevator ride to Women’s Imaging. She remembers the day of surgery as being filled with loving caregivers.
“I had my first appointment at the Idaho Cancer Center at EIRMC the morning of my surgery. Jamie, my nurse navigator, checked in with me at every turn. She scheduled appointments with the oncologist, Dr. Nibley, and the radiologist, Dr. Miller. Jamie was always one step ahead.
“Before surgery, I went to Nuclear Medicine to insert dye, so that Dr. Lemon would know which lymph nodes to remove. Then off to Women’s Imaging to insert a wire that would assist with removing the cancer. Then I went back to Day Surgery. The transporters were so kind—asking if I needed warm blankets, calling me ‘Sweetie’…
“Dr. Lemon came in and talked to my family. I had a commitment the next day to serve in the temple, and I asked him if he’d let me keep it. He told my overprotective family that it was okay if I felt up to it.”
Surgery went well, so well that Jan was able to spend six hours in the temple the next day, and she only needed Tylenol for mild pain. Furthermore, she didn’t miss a single day of work.
“Even HR was telling me that I could take FMLA to recover. But I didn’t want to sit home and feel sorry for myself.”
Post-op lab results showed cancer in one node, so Jan thought she would need chemotherapy and radiation. However, a new genetic test performed on lymph node cells, called “gene expression profiling,” spared Jan from chemotherapy. Instead, she had external beam radiation therapy, which focuses a radiation beam on the exact location in a way that maximizes radiation reaching the cancer but spares more healthy tissue.
“I had my first radiation treatment on December 29 and the last on January 29. I worked every day I was scheduled, spending just 15 minutes to an hour each day at the Idaho Center for treatment. Normally, I’m really involved in volunteer work, but I avoided doing extra things, just went to work and home again. I didn’t really have any side effects, just a minor stab of pain now and then.”
Jan looks back on her three months of cancer treatment with gratitude, recognizing the impact others had on her journey.
“At work, my administrators were so supportive, allowing me to do my treatment during work. If I needed anything, they were there for me and were always checking in,” Jan said. “I have many ‘families’—my actual family, my work family, my cancer family at the clinic. They all helped me.
“The first day I went to the Idaho Cancer Center, another gentleman was in the waiting room. He told me he was at the end of his treatments. With tears in his eyes, he said, ‘You know, I just love it here. The people here are a different breed. They are kind, caring, and loving. They are genuine; it’s not just lip service.’ I was just starting out and it really hit me—we talk a lot about being family at EIRMC, but as an employee, you don’t experience it until you become a patient. We ARE family, and I experienced it—the whole nine yards. It’s family from the bottom up!”
Jan learned a lot from her experience, especially about having true empathy and being vulnerable.
“You think you have empathy, but until you go through it… I’ve learned more empathy for others. I’ve also learned that people are loving and giving. You need to put on your rose-colored glasses and look at life that way, believing people are basically good.
“At first, I didn’t tell anyone. My biggest worry was being a burden; I didn’t want to be a burden. So, I decided to be an example, a good one. But if people don’t know you’re going through something hard, you can’t be an example. So I shared it here and there. When you open up about your own cancer, other people open up as well.”
If Jan has any regrets, it’s that she didn’t take that elevator ride to Women’s Imaging sooner.
“I had to talk myself into getting checked. Perhaps if I’d gone sooner, maybe it wouldn’t have spread. But, if I’d let it go longer, the treatment would have been more difficult. Women need their annual mammograms.”
To schedule a mammogram at Eastern Idaho Women’s Imaging, call (208) 497-6522.
To find out more about the Idaho Cancer Center at EIRMC, call (208) 227-2700.
