Sandra Baker - “Keep Your Life as Normal as You Can”

Sandra Baker, Southport, NC

Don’t just title Sandy Baker the “cancer survivor” – her character encompasses much more than the label expresses.

She said that although being a cancer survivor is part of her identity, it is not her entire identity. She said dislikes when others identify her as “the cancer survivor” in her community, rather than just as a Sandy Baker. She said that she is the same as she was before the cancer – a fun-loving person who likes to hike, play golf, and do yoga, and not just someone who has survived cancer.

“I was extremely self-conscious about that because [of] … the feeling I have that people treat you differently if they know you have cancer,” she said.

Baker found support in her church choir when she went to church without her wig for the first time. She said she was concerned because she did not know how people would react. However, Baker said that they all told her how they loved her haircut and a couple of people even asked where she got it cut at.

“It was just a wonderful, wonderful feeling of support from the choir. I do feel that my faith and my church friends who have really helped me through,” Baker said.

Baker’s doctor found what he thought was a nasal polyp in 2007. After visiting an Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist in Wilmington, the specialist told Baker that she had Sinonasal Undifferentiated Carcinoma.

Although Baker lived in Southport, N.C., at the time, she was treated at UNC Lineberger. After weeks of radiation and chemotherapy,  UNC surgeon Dr. Brent Senior  performed endoscopic surgery on her. Endoscopy is a type of surgical procedure that uses an endoscope inserted through a small incision to remove the tumor. In Baker’s case, the small incision was made in her nose.

The benefit of this surgery was that it is less invasive than alternative surgeries that were available to Baker which would have involved opening her skull: minimally invasive with maximum results. Baker spent one night in the hospital compared to a stay of a week  or moe if she had had to undergo the standard procedure. UNC is one of only a few places in the US to perform this surgery endoscopically.

“The recovery was a lot easier than if I had to have traditional surgery,” said Baker

Baker has encountered many angels since her cancer diagnosis. One came in the form of an owner of a Cary wig shop.
“She was like a treatment in herself; she makes you feel so good,” Baker said.

Baker’s hair fell out from the chemotherapy on her birthday in 2007. “That was not part of my plan because I thought ‘I’m not going to lose my hair,’” she said.

Baker then went to the Cary wig shop. “I felt like I was shopping, instead of a sick person trying to get help. …I felt like that was the best birthday present I ever had was landing in her place!”

Another struggle Baker face during the cancer is her fear of tight spaces. She said she had difficultly knowing she was in a tight space during MRIs and CT scans, but the combination of knowing people were praying for her and the kindness of the technicians helped her get through it.

Baker said, “When you start into this whole thing, all of a sudden you’re getting many tests done and everything goes so fast. You’re wondering how in the world you got there in the first place. It’s so consuming, you just get completely wrapped up in going through the motions and that’s where I think you can really lose yourself.” She said that her husband helped to remind her that she was still the same person inside.

Engaging in physical activity helped Baker through the cancer treatment as well. “I think to keep your life as normal as you can in every way is important. And also to find people who make you feel good and support you,” she said.