{"id":18857,"date":"2021-09-03T00:06:44","date_gmt":"2021-09-03T04:06:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/720bb4d963.nxcli.net\/?page_id=18857"},"modified":"2021-12-27T11:21:29","modified_gmt":"2021-12-27T16:21:29","slug":"ellen-sheffer","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.headandneck.org\/ambassador-profiles\/ellen-sheffer\/","title":{"rendered":"Ellen Sheffer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\n

Ellen Sheffer<\/h2>\n

Educator\/Administrator, San Luis Obispo County Office of Education
\nand HPV-attributed Oropharyngeal Cancer Survivor;
\nSan Luis Obispo, CA <\/em><\/h5>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>
\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In the late summer of 2013, Ellen noticed a lump on the right side of her neck and thought it was something unusual but nothing concerning.  Her life was full with two children in college, a busy husband and caring for her mother whose health was beginning to decline.  Ellen was also working full-time and serving as an elected member of the local school board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In late\nSeptember, she developed a sore throat. \nStrep throat had always been her body\u2019s way to signal she needed to slow\ndown so Ellen went to her primary care physician for a strep test and\nantibiotics.  Her physician prescribed the\nantibiotics for an infected gland, advised that the lump may not be related to\nthe strep and recommended a follow-up appointment.  Ellen did inquire about the cause of the lump\nand was informed it could possibly be an infection and\/or cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The strep throat seemed to heal, and Ellen returned to her daily hectic life.  Her mother was diagnosed with radiation-induced dementia from earlier treatment for non-Hodgkin\u2019s Lymphoma, and Ellen made the difficult decision to place her in a memory care facility.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lump on her neck was not painful, so Ellen disregarded it and focused on her daughter\u2019s impending departure to a remote island in the Pacific to do research and her son.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By January of 2014, Ellen realized that the lump was slowly increasing in size although it remained fairly unnoticeable.  She returned to her doctor, who ordered a CT scan.  The results were suspicious for cancer and she was referred to an ENT. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shortly\nafter returning home from visiting her physician, Ellen received a call from\nthe ENT\u2019s office, who had scheduled an appointment for her that afternoon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI believe\nmy primary physician saved my life.  She understood\nthat I was busy and had things to do and places to go, so she called the ENT\nherself,\u201d explained Ellen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

When she learned that the doctors were now treating this as such an urgent matter, Ellen asked her husband, Michael, to accompany her to the ENT appointment.  Her cancer journey began that afternoon when a needle biopsy confirmed that she had HPV-16 oropharyngeal cancer.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m female,\nyounger than the average patient, never smoked, and very rarely drink.  I did not fit the profile, but cancer doesn\u2019t\nkeep up with that data.  I was Stage IV\n(b),\u201d added Ellen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Ellen\nunderwent surgery for a tumor on the back of her tonsil, eight Cisplatin\nchemotherapy treatments, and 28 rounds of radiation.  In all, she lost 40 pounds and was very ill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She now lives\nwith the treatment side effects:  extreme\nxerostomia, atrophying of her salivary glands, fragile bones, and most foods\nnow taste offensive, which extremely limits her diet.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a public and very social person, Ellen\u2019s life has certainly been impacted.  She wishes there was more research on the quality of life after cancer treatment, especially as cancer treatments are successfully contributing to a greater lifespan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Ellen has great respect\nfor caregivers and for four years facilitated\na caregiver support group through Hearst Cancer Resource Center in San Luis\nObispo, \u201cAs I tell them, the cancer patient cannot avoid being around\nherself or himself, but the caregivers could bail anytime.  They choose to be with us and, as far as I\u2019m\nconcerned, are real heroes during this journey.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ellen also works with Cancer Connection, an organization that matches cancer survivors with patients diagnosed with same cancer.  She is also participating in a study at the National Institutes of Health for Xerostomia sufferers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To request Ellen for your local event, please contact us at info@headandneck.org<\/a> or complete the online form<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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