The Family Plan: Facing Cancer as a Team

It was the day after Christmas and time to tell the kids.

Still flush from holiday celebration and time with family, surrounded by decorations, Jenn and Jeremy Galvin sat down with their children and told them that Jenn had cancer. The news of the breast cancer diagnosis came as a shock to the children, but after a couple hours of discussion and more than a few tears, the family emerged united in the face of the coming battle.

Jenn had a mammogram December 4 that returned a suspicious result that required additional testing. By the following week, they knew it was cancer.

“That was a pretty tumultuous couple of weeks,” Jenn says, looking back. “Just not knowing what the future would hold, not knowing what the treatment plan would be. We're planners. And so, we wondered, what is the next year going to look like? Our medical professionals just kept saying, ‘Trust the process. Once we get all of the results, you'll get your treatment plan, and you'll feel a lot better’.”

Together in the Fight

It also felt better to huddle with their three children Annie, Lillie and Ben and commit to moving forward as a team.

“I just remember at first I was in shock,” says Annie. “I think me and all my siblings were. We didn't really know how to react or what to process. They just came straight to the point.”

“We were all really sad about that,” Ben adds. “I was just worried that other stuff could happen.”

“Once they explained everything and how the treatment plan was going to go, it reassured you and you had in your mind that it was all going to be okay because they know what they’re doing, they’re specialists,” Lillie says.

An Exceptional Team

Joining the Galvins in the fight was the care team at William R. Bliss Cancer Center. Jenn’s care was overseen by Dr. Debra Prow, McFarland Clinic Medical Oncology. Additionally, she was served by Clinical Psychologist, Dr. Eugene Glass, PsyD, of the Cancer Resource Center.

“She just imparted all of this knowledge and advice to us,” Jeremy says, recalling the couple’s first appointment with Dr. Prow. “She said, ‘Jenn, you don’t want to be remembered or known as a cancer patient. You want to be known as a mom, as a professional, as a friend. Go out and do what you want to do.’ I think that set the course for the attitude we took that cancer wasn’t going to be Jenn. She was going to beat it. Dr. Prow gave us that permission to do so.”

Dr. Prow says that putting the patient at the center of care is vital.

“There has been a lot of data that looks at what is important to a patient in general, and the most important thing is that patients feel they are a person, not just a patient,” she says. “So I treat them as an individual and do everything I can to get the care that they need.”

“Dr. Prow is never too busy to stop and listen,” Jenn says. “She knew that care meant not only physical care and your plan, but there is the whole other side. The people side. When I look at the Cancer Resource Center and I think of all those resources, I think I could cross off about 90% of the pieces that I have taken advantage of. We relied on all of their resources.”

Sensational Support

Indeed, the Cancer Resource Center and its staff played a vital role in Jenn’s care. Supported by private gifts to the Mary Greeley Foundation, the Cancer Resource Center provides an array of services ranging from nurse navigator services to counseling, genetic education, cosmetic services like wigs, fitness and nutritional services, survivorship and follow-up care, and more.

“Our services are comprehensive here at the Cancer Resource Center, and we actually do a very multidisciplinary approach with our patients so that both the physical, psychological and genetic issues that come up are addressed,” Dr. Glass. “When you come to the Cancer Resource Center, what we like to say is that you are being treated in a whole way and a holistic way by all of the disciplines that we have here.”

That team approach was just what the Galvins needed.

“When you have these urgent things that interrupt your life, you feel really reassured when all the medical professionals are able to be there and provide you care in a timely manner,” Jenn says. “Getting into a psychologist can take weeks, and we were able to talk to Dr. Glass within 24 hours.”

The Value of Family

Throughout the journey, Jenn, Jeremy and the kids felt like their needs were being met at every turn by the medical team at Mary Greeley, McFarland Clinic and the Cancer Resource Center, and by those closest to them.

“One thing that we all learned is that when people want to help, it's okay to accept their help,” Jeremy says. “And it was so great to see people, whether it was family, friends, neighbors, colleagues, college classmates that showed up at the door wanting to do anything that they could. And for us, I think that was big. It was exciting.”

Now nearly two years removed from her diagnosis, Jenn is doing well, and Jeremy says the family is closer than ever.

“The team was what was going to get us through this,” he says. “And it’s not just with this situation that we have been through. It’s every day, and I think that is what we want. What we want to instill in our kids is the value of family; the value of people that you have relationships with. We are a team.”