Family, friends, and community members come together in support of Keri Hemrick. Photo Creds: Keri Hemrick
Mia Llibre, Editor in Chief of The Powderhorn
On Saturday, February 23 at 10 a.m., rows of eager runners cheered as they crossed the start line from Watauga High School’s 5k course. The annual Love Run supports and provides visibility to the breast cancer community, founded in remembrance of Elayne Bishop, who passed away in 2019 due to this disease. This year’s Love Run was distinct in that all funds went directly towards Keri Hemrick, Watauga High School teacher who was recently diagnosed with a recurrence of a malignant breast tumor.
After being pronounced disease-free merely a year earlier and proclaimed a breast cancer survivor, Ms. Hemrick’s relapse was at once absurd and frightening.
“At the beginning, when it was first re-diagnosed, everybody was just really angry,” said Hemrick. “You go through the stages of grief, almost, and I felt like I had failed at something. I remember crying at Wake [Forest Baptist Medical Center] when I had that second opinion. And I'm like, ‘Did I miss something? Was there something over the past three years I should have done differently? Did I not get a scan?’ I jumped right to that feeling. But like last time, we all got through it.”
The recurrence was found in Hemrick’s lymph nodes. Where before it had been contained in the breast, it was not detected by the scans. However, since the spread of the cancer through the lymph nodes, it had traveled systemically through the body and was found by lesions on her sternum and the sacrum, the lower backbone. The cancer had progressed to stage four.
“My chemo[therapy] treatment worked, and it has been shrinking my lymph nodes, and the active lesions that were on the bones have scarred, so they've died,” said Hemrick. “You can still see it on a scan, because it's a bone. It's not like a lymph node that would grow and shrink with the disease. Those lesions won't ever disappear from my bones, but they're dead.”
During a state of physical and emotional turmoil, Ms. Hemrick had to take off 18 weeks in order to proceed with her chemotherapy and protect her immune system. She most missed the feeling of normalcy, with her students and familial routines that provided her solace and encouragement.
“It came out of nowhere. It wasn't even on my radar,” said Hemrick. “A year ago, the first diagnosis made me be more aware of being in the moment, and just being here now and enjoying it. It makes you more grateful and all that. Now, that voice is even louder in my mind with, ‘OK, I don't know…just say yes?’ My mantra before was to be here now, and now my mantra is, ‘Say yes,’ which is so obnoxious, to always just want to lean in, but to say ‘I can make that work.’”
These clinical challenges have surfaced as a critical matter of women’s health, as women are diagnosed at increasingly younger ages and relying more on ongoing medical advancements. Treatment for metastatic cancer is complex, beginning with diagnosis and followed by intensive chemotherapy, a double mastectomy, immunotherapy and targeted antibody therapy. Ms. Hemrick seeks to advocate for women facing metastatic breast cancer and to become involved in the community as someone who has been able to remain active and hopeful through the efforts of her loved ones.
“I feel very lucky for everything that I have learned and that all my doctors know and have provided me access to, but I am concerned,” said Hemrick. “A lot of research has just been halted right now until they can determine if it meets the criteria of this administration. People who had been on clinical trials, through Wake Baptist, where I go, and all that right now is halted, so there are people who have been on a regimen and been on a cycle of a medication, and they're being told, we're not allowed to administer this to you right now, and that's reducing their efficacy.”
Ms. Hemrick was able to take paid family medical leave while ensuring that her students were still moving forward in their course work. She expresses a profound gratitude for having the privilege and position to be granted days off undergoing chemotherapy.
After hearing that the Love Run would be hosted for her and her family, Ms. Hemrick was beyond thankful to be chosen as the recipient for fundraiser and is continually amazed at all the support the Watauga community offers.
“My family in Hendersonville is all coming for the weekend,” said Hemrick. “I am going to show up with my people, and show how grateful I am. They're going to drive in for the day with their kids and their families, and I love that. I definitely want our school and Student Council to know how much appreciated this gesture is, because I don't take it lightly. This is really kind and very special.”
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