Jamestown woman relied on faith, medicine in battling breast cancer

May 27--Carol Ulrich and her family moved to Jamestown four years ago, not knowing she was about to start one of the biggest battles of her life.

Ulrich is a breast cancer survivor and will attend the 19th annual Stutsman County Relay for Life on June 5 at the University of Jamestown'sTaylor Stadium. Ulrich won't be a part of any team, but she wants to be there to talk with people as they walk and share their experiences with cancer.

Ulrich is from Pittsburgh, Pa., and lived in San Diego, Calif., for 13 years with her husband and children where she worked in sales. Her husband grew up in New Rockford, N.D., and the couple decided to move back to North Dakota to raise their children in 2011.

"We chose Jamestown because that is where most of my husband's family lives," she said.

Ulrich said cancer was something she never thought about, it was "never on my radar." She did all the self-examinations doctors told her to do as well as having annual mammograms.

Ulrich said she noticed a cyst about four years ago.

"It wasn't unusual, I have had a lot of cysts," she said.

Ulrich went to her doctor to have the cyst drained. As he was performing the procedure the doctor said to Ulrich, "This doesn't feel right." She said the doctor did a biopsy on the cyst and the test results showed the presence of cancer cells in one of her breasts.

Ulrich said her oncologist said she had triple-negative breast cancer, which is found in about 15 percent of people who get breast cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, the triple-negative type of breast cancer tends to grow and spread more quickly than other types of breast cancer and is mostly treated by chemotherapy and radiation.

Ulrich said she started chemotherapy treatment in Chicago right away instead of having surgery done right away, a decision she said she later probably would not have made.

"I think at the start of all this our decisions were based too much on fear, not fact ," she said.

During her first three months of chemotherapy, Ulrich said she contracted a staph infection, also known as MRSA. She said she contracted MRSA a second time and both times when she contracted the infection it came when she was undergoing chemotherapy treatment.

Ulrich said what got her through the treatment cycles of chemotherapy, radiation and later a double mastectomy was rediscovering her belief in God. She said she "found God" in the back seat of her minivan in 2012 when she was traveling to Fargo for a chemotherapy treatment.

"I lost my hair, I couldn't think, my body was falling apart," Ulrich said about the physical condition she was in during the ride to Fargo.

She said she felt sick and alone riding in the minivan and that is when she said she felt God come to her.

"I felt all alone, I couldn't even hold my husband because he was driving," she said. "I was reaching for anything, then it just felt like a blanket was pulled over me, this warmth of love. Then I heard a voice in my head that said, 'I'm with you.'"

Ulrich said after initially beating cancer, it returned in summer 2012. She went through more chemotherapy, stopped the treatment early and had the double mastectomy. Ulrich said she finished treatment in 2013.

"I went to the (Stutsman County Relay for Life) luncheon last year and I cried the whole time," she said.

Ulrich said she also attended Relay for Life last year and talked with people walking the track at Taylor Stadium.

"Some had cancer, some had people close to them who had cancer," she said. "Being there helped me with the whole process of healing. It also made me want to help others who were going through the same experience I had been through."

Ulrich is writing a book, which currently does not have a title, about her experience, including her path to rediscovering God.

___

(c)2015 The Jamestown Sun (Jamestown, N.D.)

Visit The Jamestown Sun (Jamestown, N.D.) at www.jamestownsun.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.