Every month FOX 25 brings awareness to different types of cancers in our FOX 25 Fights Cancer series. This month, we're highlighting Sarcomas.
In 2010, life was normal for Barbara Thornton of Oklahoma City. But in November that year, Barbara noticed something odd. It was an egg-shaped lump on her right collarbone.
"I would look at my other clavicle and think 'oh well I think they look the same,'" said Barbara. "Because we can train our mind to believe whatever we want."
Barbara didn't think much of it until the following February, when she pointed it out to her doctor during a routine physical. Her doctor sent it to an orthopedic surgeon, who ran her through an MRI to get a better look.
A few hours later, Barbara got a call.
"Anytime you get a call back the same day you've had an MRI and it's from your doctor, you know the news is not good," said Barbara.
The doctor told Barbara that the lump was likely a tumor, and could be a sarcoma. It was a word Barbara wasn't very familiar with, but she wasn't alone. Sarcomas make up only around one percent of all cancer diagnoses each year, and Barbara tells us neither of her doctors had ever seen one before.
Finally, the diagnosis came in. It was, in fact, a sarcoma.
"I sat in the car in the doctor's parking lot with my hands on the steering wheel, and I just stared ahead and was in disbelief," said Barbara. "This can't be happening, My life is good, I was in good health. How can this be happening?"
This wasn't Barbara's first bout with cancer, she'd beaten thyroid cancer decades earlier. But she never thought she'd have to battle the disease again.
Barbara's next stop was Boston, to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Doctors there recommended proton therapy, and in one of her few wins in months, they sent her back home for treatment at the Oklahoma Proton Center.
"I felt guilty because I live so close. 15, 20 minutes I could be at the Proton Center," said Barbara. "And there were people in there from Washington state, Texas, from England."
But Barbara's treatment would be daunting. She'd have to undergo 45 minutes of proton radiation treatment a day, for 35 days.
"So I was burned from the inside out, which is what they were trying to do," said Barbara. "My skin burned, my esophagus burned, I couldn't swallow."
But Barbara persevered. She turned to music, Barbara Streisand's 'Higher Ground' album was a favorite, but also her faith and her husband Niles for support.
"I felt supported by that spirituality, by my church, by friends, by family," said Barbara.
Despite the intense treatment, Barbara tells us she feels the proton therapy was all worth it.
"I think the radiation was the most important part though. I think that saved my life," said Barbara.
Ten years later and Barbara is still cancer free. It's given her a decade longer with Niles and, maybe most importantly of all, the chance to see her grandkids grow up.
"My grandchildren growing up," said Barbara fighting back tears. "I would've missed that."
Barbara tells us she feels very fortunate to be here today, given she waited four months to get her tumor checked out. Her advice to others: if you see or feel something wrong with your body, tell your doctor. It could just save your life.