1 - Thief River Falls Times & Northern Watch

Saturday, February 2, 2013 NORTHERN WATCH Page 7
Linnae Knochenmus, whose primary home
is in Roseau, found comfort at her cabin
while fighting breast cancer. Knochenmus
said she and her fiancé, Scott Johnson,
absolutely love it there. (Submitted)
Fighting cancer way up north
by Dede Vettleson
Regional Marketing
Manager, Sanford
Thief River Falls
A winding snow-covered
road leads to a lone log cabin
hidden in the tall pines. The
sun shines on this late
November afternoon. Come
nighttime, wolves will howl
under the star-filled sky.
Inside, a woodstove keeps
the one-room cabin cozy
warm. Linnae Knochenmus,
whose primary home is in
Roseau, says about the
cabin, “We absolutely love it
here.” She sits at a rustic
table while her fiancé Scott
Johnson brews a pot of coffee.
Linnae smiles and takes a
deep breath. She's ready to
share her story of survival.
But the enemy is not this
remote wilderness 50 miles
from the Canadian border,
it's breast cancer, the disease
that kills more than
39,000 women a year in the
U.S.
Suspicion prompts trip
to Fargo
When Linnae discovered
a lump in her right breast in
2011, she sought help at
Sanford Thief River Falls
Medical Center. After an
exam, mammogram and
ultrasound, Linnae’s nurse
practitioner referred her to
Sanford Breast Health in
Fargo.
“From that point on,
everything moved very
quickly, including the biopsy
in late December,” says 40-
year-old Linnae. “On Jan. 3,
I found out I had cancer.
That was hard to hear, but
they thought it was small
and early stage. I felt pretty
good about that. Thank
goodness for my honey and
thank goodness my two kids
are grown.”
The next day, while she
and Scott headed to the
cabin, she got a phone call
from a nurse navigator at
Sanford Roger Maris Cancer
Center. The nurse explained
the next steps, including an
important meeting with the
oncologist and surgeon in
Fargo, N.D., to learn more
about her particular type of
cancer and treatment
Tobacco price increase is a
step in the right direction
Fewer Minnesota kids
will start smoking and more
adults will quit thanks to
Gov. Mark Dayton’s decision
to include a price increase
for tobacco in his state budget
announced Tuesday.
Dayton plans to increase
the price of cigarettes by
$0.94, which is a step in the
right direction toward helping
Minnesota kids break
the cycle of addiction and
tobacco-related disease.
“As an organization dedicated
to fighting cancer, we
appreciate the governor
including a tobacco price
increase in his budget, however,
we would encourage
the governor to raise the
price of tobacco products at
the same level as suggested
in legislation introduced last
week,” said Matt Schafer,
Minnesota government relations
director with the
American Cancer Society
Cancer Action Network.
“Rep. Ann Lenczewski’s bill
calls for a tobacco price
increase of $1.60, which
would be more effective in
saving lives in our state.”
Making tobacco significantly
more expensive is
proven as one of the most
effective means to reduce
use and thereby reduce the
number of tobacco-related
cancer deaths.
A significant increase in
the price of tobacco, like the
one suggested in
Lenczewski’s bill, is estimated
to keep 47,700 Minnesota
kids from becoming tobaccoaddicted
adults, help 36,600
current Minnesota smokers
quit and save 25,700
Minnesotans from premature
smoking-related
deaths.
Minnesota currently
spends nearly $3 billion
annually in tobacco-related
health care costs. By
increasing the price of tobacco
significantly, the state
would save an estimated
$1.4 billion in long-term
health care costs.
“The governor’s proposed
tobacco price increase is a
step in the right direction,
but Minnesota can do better,”
said Schafer. “We plan
to work with the governor
and legislators to get the
most out of our efforts to
reduce the state’s burden of
tobacco and reduce the number
of cancer diagnoses and
deaths in Minnesota.”
options.
Scott pulled over, so
Linnae could carefully listen
and write down her appointments.
“I’ve had a nurse navigator
throughout this entire
process. It’s been so helpful,"
says Linnae. “I always knew
who to call with questions,
and I knew I'd get answers I
could understand, even if it
took more than one explanation.
We also appreciated
how all our doctors took the
time to explain the data and
the latest studies. We felt
very well informed.”
Cancer care close to
home
For the next seven
months, Linnae underwent
a three-phase treatment for
stage 2 breast cancer. She
took a leave from her job as
a registered nurse at
Sanford in Thief River Falls,
putting 100 percent into her
cancer battle. Her treatment
included:
• A lumpectomy in
Fargo to remove the cancerous
tumor and determine
the spread of disease.
Linnae’s surgeon was Dr.
Michael Bouton. “I had no
idea Sanford had a specifically
trained breast surgeon,”
she says. “He did a
super job.”
• Weekly chemotherapy
at Sanford Thief River
Falls. “Chemotherapy is
powerful, and the nurses
who administer it really
have to know their stuff. The
Thief River Chemo
Department was awesome,”
says Linnae. “It helped, too,
that my oncologist Dr.
(Amit) Panwalkar traveled
up to Thief River to see
patients.”
• Seven weeks of daily
radiation therapy at Sanford
Bemidji. “When we found
out they had new top-of-theline
radiation therapy equipment,
we chose Bemidji. It’s
so much closer than Fargo,”
says Linnae. “Radiation
oncologist Dr. John
Bollinger and his crew were
outstanding. They became
like family.”
Even with treatment
spanning three locations,
Linnae experienced wellcoordinated,
well-communicated
care. “My doctors conferred
with each other and
my nurse navigator always
knew what was going on,”
she says. “At every point in
this breast cancer journey I
have felt safe. That’s huge to
me.”
She also appreciated the
hometown support of
friends, family, coworkers
and community. “Scott and I
would have driven anywhere
for top-notch treatment, but
to be able to get it up here
made things so much better,”
she says, getting tearyeyed.
“I had incredible support.
When you’re going
through cancer, that means
everything.”
A dream delayed
Linnae completed radiation
therapy on July 3. Four
days later, she attended her
son’s wedding. Today, with
successful treatment behind
her, she’s back to work at
Sanford in Thief River Falls,
but not her usual 12-hour
shifts.
“I’m really tuckered,” she
says. “I used to be a very
high-energy person. The
energy is slowly returning,
but it sure takes time. That’s
been the biggest challenge
for me.”
Linnae gazes out the window.
The pines gently sway
in the wind.
“Our dream before this
stupid cancer was to move to
Alaska. We were so excited,”
she says, pausing. Then her
smile returns. "We're very
hopeful Alaska is still in the
cards. We're ready for our
next journey."
Klobuchar pushes
for lower
prescription drug
prices for seniors
Sen. Amy Klobuchar reintroduced
legislation to
help lower prescription drug
prices for seniors. The bill -
the Medicare Prescription
Drug Price Negotiation Act -
would empower Medicare to
negotiate for the best possible
price of prescription
medication for America’s
seniors who are enrolled in
Medicare Part D. Current
law only allows for bargaining
by pharmaceutical companies
and bans Medicare
from doing so. The bill
would help cut costs for
more than 35 million seniors
and boost Medicare savings.
Klobuchar introduced
similar legislation in the
previous Congress.
“We shouldn’t be saddling
our seniors with inflated
drug prices for vital medications,”
said Klobuchar. "This
is a matter of fairness for
our seniors, who deserve
affordable prices for their
prescription drugs, and it is
a matter of fairness for
America's taxpayers, who
deserve less waste in our
system. This legislation
would mean more affordable
drugs for seniors and real
savings for Medicare.”
The
Medicare
Prescription Drug Price
Negotiation Act would allow
the ecretary of health and
human services to directly
negotiate with drug companies
for price discounts for
the Medicare Prescription
Drug Program, eliminating
the “non-interference”
clause that expressly bans
Medicare from negotiating
for the best possible prices
even though the government
can often negotiate
bigger discounts than insurance
companies. Senators Al
Franken (D-MN) and
Jeanne Shaheen (R-NH) are
cosponsoring the bill.
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ATTENTION THIEF RIVER FALLS & ST. HILAIRE
NEIGHBORS AND DRIVERS
ENBRIDGE PIPELINE MAINTENANCE
WEEK OF FEBRUARY 3, 2013
Impacting area near Highway 32
and County Road 75
DURING THE PLANNED MAINTENANCE PROCESS RESIDENTS
CAN EXPECT ADDITIONAL CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY,
ELEVATED NOISE LEVELS, UNUSUAL GAS ODOR AND
POTENTIAL FOR LOW VISIBILTIY TO LAST 2 TO 3 DAYS.
FOR YOUR SAFETY, ENBRIDGE ASKS YOU TO PLEASE
USE CAUTION WHEN DRIVING NEAR THIS AREA.
FLAGGERS WILL HELP CAUTION DRIVERS.
Enbridge Energy operates the world’s longest liquid
petroleum pipeline, which transports North American
petroleum through Pennington County. As part of our ongoing
integrity program, a pipeline section in your area is undergoing
routine maintenance that is expected to last a few days.
We appreciate your
patience and apologize
for any temporary
inconveniences.
Thank you.
Your safety is
important to us.
PIPELINE MAINTENANCE
WEEK OF FEBRUARY 3
Delivering Secure North American Petroleum for 60 years.