Anna Beck's article

Oncologist has new outlook on cancer treatment
Brooke Adams The Salt Lake Tribune

Life's lessons are not always the ones you choose. But sometimes they deliver just what you most need to learn. Just ask Anna Beck.

In November 2007, Beck was toweling off after a shower and noticed dimpling on one breast. "I remember seeing my eyes in the mirror and it was like, 'Oh, that's not good,' " she said. For Beck, an oncologist who has treated about 3,000 breast cancer patients, it was a blink moment. A mammogram and breast biopsy later confirmed she had Stage II breast cancer. And just like that, the cancer specialist became a cancer patient. "I never thought I would get breast cancer," said Beck, 48. "It doesn't run in my family, I'm healthy, I'm young. It was a shocker." The months that followed the diagnosis were filled with standard care delivered by colleagues at Utah Cancer Specialists, which Beck helped found and where she worked for 15 years before partially retiring in 2005. There was a tumorectomy, lumpectomy, four months of chemotherapy and six weeks of daily radiation treatments. "In many ways, because I know the route to follow, it was easier," she said. "I didn't have to worry about whether I was doing the right thing, what the next steps were, or what to do. I was very fortunate in that respect." Beck also had the examples set by her patients about how to meet cancer treatment with grace, dignity and courage. "It was a gift from all my patients that accrued over all those years," she said. After coaching patients through treatment, Beck now was on her own journey, experiencing everything from the quiet fear that accompanies an MRI breast biopsy to the debilitating impact of chemotherapy and the havoc of being thrown into full-blown menopause. She wept at the loss of her hair and laughed at the funny wigs and weird hats that took its place. And in the midst of it all there was a personal transformation. "I had no plans to come back to oncology practice," said Beck, who became hospice medical director for Community Nursing Services in 2005. But then cancer happened. "I do believe things happen for a reason," she said. "I decided as I was going through it all that it would be a waste to not come back to practice. I do believe I have an extra degree of insight now." When Beck discusses side effects of chemotherapy or radiation or entering sudden menopause with patients, she speaks as one who knows. "They are not just empty words for me," Beck said. "I get that." And when she counsels a patient about how to share the news with a spouse or children, she speaks from experience about what a difficult, emotional challenge that can be. Beck was a single mother of two teenage daughters at the time she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She also happened to be dating a man with two teenagers whose first wife had died from cancer. Beck assumed her own children possessed a certain resiliency because of her work. "But when it happened, it was a stunner for them," she said. And sharing the news with her then-boyfriend's children was "huge." The two have since married. Her husband proposed in the midst of her treatment -- or, as Beck says with a laugh: "The night before all my hair fell out." Beck said that working with the four teenagers during her own cancer experience has made her much better at helping patients navigate the family turmoil brought on by a diagnosis. "I would counsel patients about that in my practice but when I was confronted with it, it was somewhat of a surprise to me [the children] were all so different in their reactions," she said. Beck returned to a part-time practice in January at Utah Cancer Specialities and also continues to work in hospice care. She doesn't dwell on why she got cancer despite no family history and a healthy lifestyle. She knows there is a simple answer: "I'm female and I'm getting older," Beck said. "When I told my daughters, one said 'How could that happen, how could you get breast cancer?' " she said. "But the reality is anybody can be struck by it. It is capricious. "I'd rather focus on what I can do that is meaningful -- taking care of my family and giving back to the oncology community," Beck said. brooke@sltrib.com Breast cancer facts In 2008, an estimated 182,460 new cases of breast cancer were diagnosed in American women. The rate of breast cancer is 128 per 100,000 white women and 119 per 100,000 black women in the U.S. The rate of breast cancer in Utah is 116 per 100,000 for the years 2000-2004. More cases are detected early because of screening tests. Warning signs: A change in the size or shape of the breast. A lump of thickening in the breast, area around the breast or under arm. A warm sensation in the breast. A change in the look or feel of the nipple. Discharge from the nipple. A change in the look or feel of the skin on the breast, nipple or areola. Breast pain Source: Susan G. Komen Foundation Web site -- Utah Cancer Specialists Utah Cancer Specialists has 11 clinics around the state. Its primary location is 1121 E. 3900 South. With 22 physicians on staff, the center serves about 60 percent of the cancer patients in the Salt Lake Valley.
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