Cancer amplifies the voice of Sheila Nuss
By Michelle Bosworth
Staff writer
Marion County Relay for Life is July 29 and 30. Not only does it raise awareness of cancer victims and survivors, increase funds for cancer research, and provide comfort and camaraderie for families of those lost to cancer, it also is a time to celebrate the smallest of victories.
For Sheila Nuss, that day marks victories over cancer as she celebrates her 59th birthday. In the past year and a half, Sheila was forced to learn the meaning of words like stoma, laryngectomy, and squamous cell carcinoma, and relate them to her life. It was the second time she learned she had cancer.
When she was 24, cancer attacked her uterus, making it necessary for her to have a total hysterectomy. She learned that cancer respects no boundaries and refuses to grant even the young freedom from its grasping claws.
About 15 years ago, Sheila moved from California back to Hillsboro. She began driving a school bus for the USD 410.
A year and a half ago, Sheila began experiencing difficulty swallowing a pill. She felt like it was just stuck in her throat.
She made an appointment with Dr. Michael Reeh and he recommended she see a specialist.
She saw a doctor in McPherson who ordered a biopsy.
Sheila learned Feb. 26 that she had a malignant cancer called squamous cell carcinoma, an extremely fast-growing cancer caused by cigarette smoking.
Sheila's uncle, Orville Warkentine, had battled that same cancer a few years earlier, and she had taken him to doctor's appointments in Kansas City.
Knowing Dr. Tsue and being familiar with the KU Medical Center, Sheila opted to have surgery there.
She had watched her uncle struggle and suffer from radiation treatments before surgery, and knew she didn't want to go that route.
She opted for the surgery but refused chemotherapy or radiation treatments. She decided, "If that doesn't work, I will just go with what happens."
During the March 3 surgery, Dr. Tsue removed Sheila's voice box and vocal chords. At the base of her neck he made a hole, called a stoma that connects almost directly to her lungs.
She breathes only through the stoma. She can no longer take in or let out air through her nose or mouth because her airway has been altered.
After a week in the hospital, Sheila came home. Her husband, Brad who is a long-haul trucker, took 12 weeks off work to care for her.
Sheila had tubes sewn to her nostrils, and had to be fed a liquid diet through those tubes for two to three months. When she resumed eating solid foods, she had to learn to eat small bites because of the smaller diameter of her throat.
Every day for a month, she had to use a humidifilter to aid in her breathing. It is a machine that adds moisture to the air that enters her stoma, doing the job that her nasal passages used to perform. The machine is loud, and at first Sheila had a difficult time sleeping because of the noise. Now she has adjusted to it and only needs to use it at night.
About three weeks after her laryngectomy, Sheila noticed a lump on her neck. She saw Dr. Reeh and he recommended she call KU Medical Center.
When she arrived in Kansas City, the doctors were alarmed because she had developed a fistula which was located extremely close to her carotid artery. Without prompt, specialized treatment, the bacteria could have eaten a hole through the artery and she could have bled to death.
Sheila spent another week in the hospital. However, when she returned home she continued to battle illness.
Since her esophagus doesn't close and she has no feeling there, doctors fitted her with a prosthesis during her second hospital stay.
After arriving home, she became violently ill and couldn't stop vomiting. A 3 a.m. trip to the emergency room helped solve the problem and the prosthesis was removed. Since then, she has regained her ability to eat and keep food down.
Her lungs are easily irritated and because she has no natural filtration system, she finds herself getting dizzy and fainting from certain odors and chemical fumes.
Sneezing and coughing sometimes cause her to get dizzy and faint as well.
Breathing hot or cold air is especially difficult for her, so she remains indoors where the temperature can be regulated.
Despite the frustrations and changes, Sheila keeps an upbeat attitude.
"You just do what you have to do. It really doesn't seem like that big a deal though," she says. "I think it is harder on my family than me." She is concerned about the toll her health problems have on her family.
Before this last bout of cancer, Sheila had undergone heart bypass surgery. Last May doctors fitted her with a stent.
The financial strain as well as being constantly alert to new challenges is stressful.
Sheila is thankful for the help from her family, employers, co-workers, and church members.
Her daughter, Kelly is an registered nurse and provides assistance when Brad is on the road. All family members are tuned in to the sound of her amplified voice, and immediately respond when she calls.
Her employer, USD 410 has been helpful as well.
Co-workers have offered to donate sick leave so she wouldn't have to suffer financially as well as physically. They also have helped by checking her bus, warming it up, and bringing it to her home on extremely cold days.
Students on her bus also help by manning the radio when she receives a call while driving. Because she has to hold the voice amplifier up to her throat in order to talk, Sheila can't drive and talk at the same time.
"Everybody's done all they can to help me," says a grateful Sheila.
A special orange sticker on Sheila's car notifies people that she is a "neck breather." She wears an emergency bracelet saying the same thing. The bracelet reveals a message directing responders to a bundle of information cards in her purse that list her medications, what to do in an emergency, and how to help her breathe.
Living with the results of a life-threatening cancer has taught Sheila many things.
One especially important lesson has been embedded in Sheila's heart throughout this whole ordeal. "I've learned how precious people are," she says with a smile and a twinkle in her spirited eyes.
As people gather July 29 to participate in the Relay for Life, Sheila will remember all she has endured because of cancer.
And she'll celebrate her 59th birthday by being thankful for the people in her life — and remembering that every breath, even the ones taken through a stoma, come straight from the hand of God.
