Tara, Jeb and Marion.
Tara Heisler LaBarre was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 30 years old. Today she is 46. She is the daughter of Tim and Myrna Heisler, longtime residents of Devils Lake.
At the time she was single and living in Minneapolis and had a career in Health Care Marketing.
Tara did do self-exams as there was a strong family history. Her Mom had had it.
One New Years Eve, she felt quite a large lump close to the skin in her right breast that hadn’t been there before. She immediately went to a walk-in/urgent care clinic “And of course because it was New Years Eve, they couldn’t really do much. I got in at my regular clinic on January third.
She had a mammogram and a biopsy “they told me someone would be get a hold of me within a day or two, so a couple of days later I got a call while I was getting ready for work, they asked me if I wanted to come in for the results or just get them over the phone. I said just tell me over the phone and they told me I had cancer. Tara did not make it to work that day. “I called my mom right away. I didn’t cry until I talked to my mom. I was scared, not really in a daze, but very overwhelmed.”
Tara started chemo; she got very sick. When she first started losing her hair, she wore wigs “but when I was really sick, I Just didn’t care about that anymore, they were just too itchy and uncomfortable, I just usually wore scarves then.” During her treatments, her mother, Myrna was diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time. “Me and my mom went through chemo at the same time – the same place, same time, same room.” Literally together, not your ideal mother daughter moment. When Tara had completed her chemo treatments, she underwent a double mastectomy. She did not have her ovaries removed because she was hoping to have children one day. Tara had tested positive for the BRCA gene, so leaving those ovaries intact was a risky choice. She underwent fertility test to see if having children was even possible and it was.
After the mastectomy she then went on to have reconstruction surgery. “The mastectomy was painful. Losing your hair and then your breasts, these things are a big part of your identity as a woman. Yes, it’s gone (the cancer) and you’re alive, but it is different. The hair is good because that comes back, but even that is different.”
Because Tara did test positive for the BRCA gene her siblings were all tested. One sister and a brother tested negative; one sister tested positive. She opted for a double mastectomy.
“The medical bills were overwhelming. I had bought a cancer policy from my brother-in-law, he had just started selling insurance and just to help him get started I bought a policy, they paid out one lump sum one time.”
“It was hard for everyone because I was so young and had tested positive for the BRCA gene.”
At age 40 Tara married Jeb Labarre and had her first child. “I kinda did it backwards, most people usually get married and have kids younger and get cancer when they are in their 40’s. I guess I had a different plan, well it wasn’t my plan…”
Her mom Myrna was diagnosed again, this time it was ovarian cancer. “That was my reminder to go get those ovaries out” She had a total hysterectomy, and the ovaries came out, too.
Her prognosis is good. She said she feels good. “I did everything I was supposed to do with my follow ups” “ I feel like some of the effects will never go away. I don’t want to say I still have “chemo brain” but somethings just aren’t the same cognitively.”
Chemotherapy brain fog (chemo brain) happens when coping with cancer or cancer treatment affects your ability to remember and act on information. Usually, chemotherapy brain fog is a short-term issue, but some people may have symptoms for months after they’ve finished treatment.
Tara’s advice to anyone who is diagnosed with cancer “let yourself experience the emotions, get mad, get sad, let yourself mourn, mourn for your old life, mourn for your former body. Strong is a beautiful word, but it’s a hard word. You shouldn’t be strong all the time; Sure, you were strong, you beat it but there are still a lot of emotions to work through.”
Tara did join a support group through Fairview [Hospital*], they met in person. “Back in 2008, those things were still done in person.”
These days Tara has a family life, and does not work outside the home, they live on a farm near Webster.
She bowls on Thursday nights and “loves cooking and spending time with family out at Wood Lake and chasing her five-year-old daughter around to her activities.”
Tara has remained cancer free for 15 years.
*Now it is called M Health Fairview Southdale Hospital. At that time it was just Fairview in Minneapolis.
Correction for Debra’s Breast Cancer 1 story from Oct. 10: Barbie lives in Anamoose and has friends in Fessenden. Sorry, I got them mixed around. — Debra Lee, for the Devils Lake Journal
