Julie Tidd tries to live each day to its fullest because, she said, “None of us is promised tomorrow.”
Tidd’s tomorrows are precious to her as she continues treatment in her battle against stage 4 breast cancer.
The statistics are there for all to see. A person with stage 4 breast cancer has a 16 to 20 percent survival rate of living five years, she said.
“I know I have this summer, and I plan to spend time teaching my kids how to cook and do the laundry. I want them to be able to help each other and their dad,” she said.
Tidd and her husband, David, have six children, Josh, 21, Joel, 19, Jason, 16, Jonathan, 14, Jennifer, 10 and Jessica, 8.
Tidd was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2003. She had noticed a lump under her right arm but had had a benign lump before and thought it could wait until she finished nursing her youngest child Jessica.
“I went to the doctor. A mammogram confirmed my worst fears. During surgery cancer was found in three lymph nodes. I had a mastectomy and a series of chemotherapy and radiation treatments,” she said.
In 2004, when she went for her annual checkup no signs of cancer were detected. There is no history of breast cancer in her family.
But the cancer had found a place to hide in her body and once again invaded her chest in December 2010, she said.
She noticed her voice was getting hoarse. She also found it hard to get a deep breath to play her flute when she was preparing for the annual Vespers concert.
The prognosis from her doctor was one she had lived in fear of — her cancer was back.
A tumor on her vocal cords kept them from vibrating, impairing her speech. The lining around her left lung was also infected with cancer and generated an excess amount of fluid which made it hard for her to breathe.
She was sent to a surgeon who drained 7 cups of fluid from her lung. The surgery has helped but at anytime the fluid could reoccur, she was warned by the doctor.
At the same time an enlarged lymph node was found by her collarbone.
On Jan. 6, Tidd made a trip to the emergency room at the hospital. Her doctor made arrangements for her to go to the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City.
“He told me to be prepared to stay for at least a week. I was there 20 days,” she said.
Her oncologist confirmed that her breast cancer had returned.
Tidd has made a trip to Kansas City every three weeks the past several months for chemotherapy which has shrunk her tumors. She took her last treatment today.
She will continue to go to Kansas City every couple of weeks for medication for the breast cancer.
“How long the treatments will take I don’t know, but as long as they help I will go,” she said.
MUSIC HAS always been a part of Tidd’s life.
She said she grew up in a home in McPherson filled with music. Her mother was a music major in college and enjoyed playing the piano. Her mother also taught music in a country school.
“I guess I caught mom’s love for music,” she said.
Tidd received her degree in music from Wichita State University in 1984 and moved to Iola to teach instrumental music for seventh through twelfth grades.
She resigned from the school when her first son, Josh, was born in 1990.
“David and I decided I would stay at home with our children, but I couldn’t control my passion for music. All my children are involved in music one way or another,” she said.
Josh is a senior at Pittsburg State University majoring in trombone performance and Joel is in the band at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. Her other children are either in the band or take piano lessons.
“I am so grateful that I am able to play in the Iola Municipal Band this summer. As long as I can sit and play small portions of a song I’m OK. I finally have enough breath to play my flute,” she said.
Tidd, her husband and son Josh and her parents, Mel and Eunice Tarum, are planning a trip to see Joel in Maryland in the fall.
“We have our plane tickets and motel reservations. I refuse to let my illness keep me from planning for my future. I am going to make the most of every day that I have whether it be tomorrow or 10 years from now,” Tidd said.
