Diane Schooley-Pettis—Never Give Up

BSU PROFESSOR OVERCOMES BOUT WITH PANCREATIC CANCER

Diane Schooley-Pettis was looking forward to the basketball game in San Antonio more than five years ago, where she would get a chance to see Michael Jordan play in person. But the Boise State University (BSU) associate dean and finance professor wasn't even able to make it through the entire game.

“I told my husband I had terrible pain, and I couldn't tell if it was in my back or my abdomen,” says Schooley-Pettis. The pain marked the beginning of a tough road ahead for Schooley-Pettis. Upon her return to Boise, the 41-year-old was diagnosed with inoperable pancreatic cancer.

A SHOCKING DISCOVERY
Schooley-Pettis readily admits that the news of her cancer was difficult to take. “I was in shock for a couple months,” she says. “I went through the motions, but it took awhile before I could actually say the words out loud.”

But Schooley-Pettis also recalled a message she received from Judi Bean, the nurse practitioner who diagnosed the cancer. “I remember her saying it is not a death sentence,” Schooley-Pettis says. “I hung on to her words, although I didn't know anything about pancreatic cancer at the time.”

OVERCOMING THE ODDS
What Schooley-Pettis discovered about pancreatic cancer was devastating. “I found out that the survival rate is very, very poor for people with pancreatic cancer,” she says. Despite the odds against her, Schooley-Pettis decided that she would vigorously fight the disease.

“I'm not sure why, but I thought, ‘I am going to live longer than the average survival time of five or six months,'” she says. Schooley-Pettis's determination to beat the disease received more reinforcement when she began to develop a special relationship with Alice M. Forsythe, M.D., a medical oncologist and hematologist with the Cancer Care Center at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center.

“She told me the truth about my condition, yet she didn't say that there was no hope,” Schooley-Pettis says.

COMBATING CANCER
Under the direction of Dr. Forsythe and the medical team at Saint Alphonsus, Schooley-Pettis began an aggressive treatment program to fight the cancer. She underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatment at the same time—a standard procedure for treating pancreatic cancer. After six weeks, a computed tomography (CT) scan showed that the tumor had shrunk. But a short time later, further tests showed that the tumor had once again grown.

For the next two years, Schooley-Pettis continued to receive chemotherapy and take various medications prescribed by Dr. Forsythe. Every three months she would have another CT scan and hear the same news—that her condition had not changed.

Then in April 2004, Schooley-Pettis had a PET scan. When she reported for her regular chemotherapy session, she received some startling news. “The nurse told me that I wouldn't be having chemo today,” Schooley-Pettis says. “I thought it was because my white blood cell counts were low. But then she said, ‘You don't have cancer anymore.' That was the best news I could ever get.”

A MEMORABLE EXPERIENCE
Schooley-Pettis would recommend Saint Alphonsus's Cancer Care Center to anyone who has the misfortune of getting cancer.

“My experience was the best it could be, given I had cancer,” she says. “I think that the people who are drawn to work at a place like this have compassion. The doctors and nurses I saw for different procedures were very caring, and treated my spirit in addition to my physical problems. Meditating, which I learned how to do from a Cancer Care Center social worker, helped me attain a sense of peace throughout my treatment.”

“I feel that I am still here on earth to help people in any way I can,” Diane says. Through family, friends and co-workers, Diane has connected with many people in Idaho and neighboring states who have been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. They share information about treatments, and what it's like to be faced with cancer. Diane also volunteers at the Cancer Care Center at Saint Alphonsus.

“Sometimes I check the infusion room to see if someone needs a warm blanket or something to drink, because those types of things made such a difference to me when I was a patient,” she says.

The bout with cancer has strengthened her faith, and also given Schooley-Pettis a new outlook on life. “I want people to know that there is always hope.”