Spring of 1970. Theresa, a mother of three young children and wife to a traveling ironworker, finally sought medical attention in a nearby city due to months of unexplained fatigue. She had brushed it off as the demands of being a stay-at-home mother, caring for her sports-loving 8-year-old son, her kindergartener daughter, and her mischievous two-year-old boy. Sitting in the doctor's office waiting for her test results, she hoped for a simple solution like vitamins or a B12 shot.
However, when Doctor Sedlachek entered the room with a grave expression, her hopes were shattered. Clutching her hand, he delivered the devastating news: cancer, advanced stage 3, confined to her colon and rectum. The chances of surviving with chemotherapy and radiation were only about 20%. Theresa, thinking of her young children, demanded better odds.
Doctor Sedlachek offered one more option due to the cancer's limited spread: surgery.