Sue Straatman sat in a doctor’s office in the Community Healthcare System (now Powers Health) Hospital Emergency Room next to her only son, Rob, when she received her ovarian cancer diagnosis in 2008. The team of five doctors sitting in front of her explained that she had stage four cancer, and it might be wise to begin getting her affairs in order. At that moment, she had only three wishes: to see her son smile again, to dance with him at his wedding, and to hold a grandchild.
Straatman had been complaining to her general physician for a few months of symptoms similar to those of ovarian cancer, but they were assumed to be symptoms that many women experience weekly, if not daily.
“I was admitted into the hospital immediately that day,” Straatman said. “I had a battery of tests done, and three days later, I had a bulking surgery to remove basically anything that the doctors could find so that chemotherapy had an easier job.”
Straatman had a 17x5x4 centimeter mass removed from her stomach that day. A week later, she became very ill and went in for another surgery to remove her ruptured colon. She was septic, and her kidneys, liver, heart, and most of her body were completely shutting down.
“I woke up three days after that surgery in the ICU with a colostomy bag,” Straatman said. “From there, I was just trying to get well and heal. I spent a total of five weeks in the hospital. It was not a fun ride.”
Straatman believes that her family carries a gene mutation that makes them susceptible to cancer. Her father passed away at 58 with prostate cancer, her sister had breast cancer, and her nephew had prostate cancer.
Straatman began utilizing the Cancer Resource Center (CRC) for friendship, support, and programming while she was in recovery. Alongside a woman she met at the CRC, Straatman started the Teal Hearts of Northwest Indiana to promote awareness and belonging for women with ovarian cancer. She also volunteered with the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition (NOCC) fundraising with a team for their annual walk and handing out pamphlets with a list of symptoms so that other women weren’t taken by surprise the way that she was.
“Last year, I became more involved with the NOCC, and they named me the Indiana manager,” Straatman said. “Our Teal Hearts group is umbrellaed under NOCC, so we have the benefit of the resources, materials, and supplies that the NOCC has to offer to help us flourish as a smaller organization.”
In 2018, Straatman relapsed with another diagnosis of stage four ovarian cancer.
“It was a quick stay in the hospital,” Straatman said. “It was just a tumor that was on my colon, and the doctor removed it, so then I started chemotherapy treatments. I breezed through it in comparison to the first time. My treatments went from being 12 hours long to only four hours.”
Straatman’s volunteerism with the CRC grew, and alongside two other women, she helped form the gynecological cancer support group at the center. After this, she was asked if she’d like to speak at the annual CRC Perennial Ball to tell her story.
“I had to pick my jaw up off my chest to be able to give my answer because I was so honored,” Straatman said. “Of course, I said yes.”
Straatman defied the doctor’s original statements about getting her things in order that day in 2009 as she sat next to Rob, who was only 18 at the time.
“I looked at Rob and thought ‘I am not done yet. I am not going out this way,’” Straatman said.
Since that day, she watched her son smile again when he was falling in love with his wife. She has been able to hold all three of her grandchildren. However, she never got the opportunity to dance with him at his wedding because there wasn’t dancing due to the style of the wedding.
“I was telling some of the board members about my story and my three wishes after my first diagnosis while I was helping them put the invitations into envelopes,” Straatman said. “I explained how I had checked off two of the three things. They told me that there would be dancing at the ball, so I would be able to dance with Rob and all of my goals would be met.”
Straatman gave her speech at the Hilton Chicago in front of 460 attendees, and as she finished, her son escorted her from the podium to the dance floor, and they shared a private dance to the song she chose, “I Won’t Let Go” by Rascal Flatts.
“It was my Cinderella Ball,” Straatman said. “I had no idea the board members planned it that way for me. It was just an amazing night.”
Today, Straatman spends time with her grandchildren, meditating, reading, and catching up on shows on Netflix.