The Cancer Stories: Sarah Graham

Thanks to community members who have graciously shared their personal and poignant stories, St. John's Health is honored to share the real-life experiences of local cancer patients and their challenging and often complex journey to healing. It's a road that St. John's Health is working to make shorter by bringing comprehensive cancer care, including radiation therapy, closer to home.

During a tough season, this was a new low.

Sarah Graham had been in the car for 45 minutes. She’d made it four miles. And she still had nearly 100 to go.

Just a few weeks earlier in January 2023, Graham had visited St. John’s Health, where she also worked as a nursing director at Sage Living, for her annual mammogram appointment. What she’d expected to be a typical routine screening—a well-established part of her yearly wellness routine at age 49—ended up revealing shocking news.

She had breast cancer.

Graham immediately knew where she’d be turning for care: "I knew I would get the best care available at St. John’s Health."

Fortunately, Graham’s prognosis was good—a fact she attributes to her commitment to regular screenings. She’d need surgery, and a course of radiation treatment, but she was expected to make a full recovery. Emotionally shaken, but secure in the hands of her St. John’s Health colleagues, Graham began her journey to healing.

After the shock of diagnosis and the intensity of surgery, Graham assumed the hardest parts were behind her. She didn’t expect that some of the most challenging moments were still to come.

"The worst part, even worse than hearing I had cancer and having surgery, was going back and forth to Idaho Falls for 25 treatments over five weeks," Graham explains.

"The team in Idaho Falls was so great, but the drive for what usually was only a 15-minute treatment session was demoralizing and exhausting.”

When she’d arrive at the clinic in Idaho, Graham would take note of the many Wyoming license plates in the parking lot. That sight always made her nurses’ empathy kick in, and she worried about the other patients who were traveling long distances for treatment, too. She says it was something she often talked to other patients about, “people from places like Pinedale and Star Valley."

Finally, Graham made it through her treatment cycle. Though she was declared cancer free, her body still required rest and recovery. Her planned 12-weeks off from work turned into six months. When she was able to return, she chose to step down from her previously held leadership role into a staff nurse position. “My experience with cancer reduced my ability to handle the stress of being a manager,” she says.

One bright spot in her journey? The St. John’s Health Survivorship program.

Graham credits the program with getting her back on her feet, helping her connect with others who had gone through a similar journey and introducing her to a new favorite activity: knitting. In addition to acupuncture that helped ease lingering sleep and temperature regulation side effects, the camaraderie she found in the Survivorship program helped her through the end of a tough road.

Looking back, Graham feels grateful for the care she received at St. John’s Health, saying “I never felt like a number, and since I was close to home, I was able to receive amazing support."

Thanks to our generous community, the road to healing is about to get shorter. To learn more about our plans for a comprehensive new cancer center, visit www.stjohns.health/cancercenter.

Those interested in supporting the Foundation campaign are invited to contact Foundation President Anna Olson at 307-690-7669.