Site search
sponsored by
News
Sports
ENLARGE
Liza Castleberry was visited by the Relay for Life of Douglas County Committee on Tuesday when they brought her baskets of food and gifts to help out at Thanksgiving.
|
ENLARGE
|
Last year, Liza Castleberry began losing feeling in her hands, hampering her art. The sensation was later discovered to be caused by a cancerous brain tumor. Though she can draw more now, chemotherapy has interrupted the creative outlet for the past year.
|
|
ENLARGE
|
Liza Castleberry holds a golf ball statue made by a friend that represents the size of the tumor removed from her brain in January.
|
Words sometimes slip Liza Castleberry's mind and she still repeats herself some.
Magazines she bought months ago always seem brand new.
But her blood count is good, she's healthy and in four months her treatment for a rare form of brain cancer will wrap up.
After a busy fire season last year, the woman who works on the U.S. Forest Service's fire staff for the Umpqua National Forest was getting headaches and hearing and seeing things.
At first the 45-year-old blamed it on work stress.
Then the nightly artwork she drew to relax came to an end when her left hand began to lose feeling and dexterity. The loss of sensation crept into her dominant right hand.
A battery of tests and neck surgery relieved some tension and stiffness, but some of the things she was seeing and hearing were unsettling and she said she often thought of herself as “conductor of the crazy train” and believed she was losing her mind.
In January, a massive seizure rocked her in the middle of the night and her 12-year-old daughter, Patricia, woke to the sounds of her mother yelling and pounding on the alarm clock.
Twenty-four hours later, she woke in the hospital to learn a golf ball-sized growth had been removed from her brain.
It was several more weeks before it was confirmed that the tumor was a third-stage anaplastic oligodendroglioma, a rare type of brain cancer.
“Our lives changed on a dime – I went to bed thinking I had a headache,” she said.
“Dendro,” meaning tree-like or describing the branching characteristic of the cells, was a word Castleberry recognized from forestry, but luckily her tumor was encased and she said her doctors are confident they removed all of it.
On Tuesday, Castleberry and her family received a welcome helping hand.
The Relay for Life of Douglas County Committee visited the Castleberrys bearing early gifts of food, Umpqua Knights T-shirts and a book — “Hell Roaring: The Life and Times of a Fire Bum” — an addition from the USFS office.
The committee's “blessing” is one of three in the year. For the last five years, the committee has delivered gift baskets to one family at Thanksgiving and two at Christmas to make the holidays easier.
Jenny Kluver said the holiday effort by the committee is also a way to keep Relay for Life and cancer research in the forefront of the community's thoughts and not just during the summer when the daylong fundraising event happens.
“Because cancer never rests,” she said.
Castleberry was humbled by the outreach, but admitted that she hadn't cooked in almost one year because it made her sick.
Magazines she bought months ago always seem brand new.
But her blood count is good, she's healthy and in four months her treatment for a rare form of brain cancer will wrap up.
After a busy fire season last year, the woman who works on the U.S. Forest Service's fire staff for the Umpqua National Forest was getting headaches and hearing and seeing things.
At first the 45-year-old blamed it on work stress.
Then the nightly artwork she drew to relax came to an end when her left hand began to lose feeling and dexterity. The loss of sensation crept into her dominant right hand.
A battery of tests and neck surgery relieved some tension and stiffness, but some of the things she was seeing and hearing were unsettling and she said she often thought of herself as “conductor of the crazy train” and believed she was losing her mind.
In January, a massive seizure rocked her in the middle of the night and her 12-year-old daughter, Patricia, woke to the sounds of her mother yelling and pounding on the alarm clock.
Twenty-four hours later, she woke in the hospital to learn a golf ball-sized growth had been removed from her brain.
It was several more weeks before it was confirmed that the tumor was a third-stage anaplastic oligodendroglioma, a rare type of brain cancer.
“Our lives changed on a dime – I went to bed thinking I had a headache,” she said.
“Dendro,” meaning tree-like or describing the branching characteristic of the cells, was a word Castleberry recognized from forestry, but luckily her tumor was encased and she said her doctors are confident they removed all of it.
On Tuesday, Castleberry and her family received a welcome helping hand.
The Relay for Life of Douglas County Committee visited the Castleberrys bearing early gifts of food, Umpqua Knights T-shirts and a book — “Hell Roaring: The Life and Times of a Fire Bum” — an addition from the USFS office.
The committee's “blessing” is one of three in the year. For the last five years, the committee has delivered gift baskets to one family at Thanksgiving and two at Christmas to make the holidays easier.
Jenny Kluver said the holiday effort by the committee is also a way to keep Relay for Life and cancer research in the forefront of the community's thoughts and not just during the summer when the daylong fundraising event happens.
“Because cancer never rests,” she said.
Castleberry was humbled by the outreach, but admitted that she hadn't cooked in almost one year because it made her sick.
Fifteen-year-old Miranda said she and her sister had taken on more responsibilities this year that mom used to do, including cooking.
Miranda looked at the mountain of Stovetop stuffing and canned foods that she might be in charge of for Thanksgiving.
“I don't know how that's gonna go,” she said, raising her eyebrows.
Some of the more difficult things the girls have had to take on this year is discussing what happens if Castleberry should die before they finish school in the Roseburg School District.
Tuesday, their mother said her estate and living wills had been drafted and will soon be complete.
The ability to focus in crisis and tackle scary, dangerous tasks are characteristics that distinguished her in field operations during fires. Her USFS colleagues see that same strength now during her own emergency.
“It's taken its toll on her, but she's still upbeat and she does what she needs to do,” said Bryan Benz, a botanist for the Umpqua National Forest.
However, there are times Benz has had to hold his friend and motorcycle-riding buddy back on days she feels stronger than she is. He even threatened to take the wheels of her motorcycle once.
The historical family atmosphere of the Forest Service was expressed through friends' support. They organized yard crews and Benz lined up a twice-monthly cleaning service, which has been a big relief to her and her family, Castleberry said.
Cheryl Caplan, public affairs officer for the Umpqua National Forest, said without Castleberry in the office, temporary detailers picked up her tasks during the heavy fire season and when needed, but her job is still available when she can come back.
Caplan said Castleberry's “no-nonsense” approach to life and work is refreshing and sorely missed around the office.
As her cancer treatment has progressed, Castleberry has become a staunch advocate of people paying attention to their health and familial health history and supporting the local doctors at Roseburg's Community Cancer Center, which allowed her to stay near her family during treatments.
She also stays tapped into the scientific research and associations that helped her research her cancer and be her own best patient advocate with her doctors.
For now, she and her girls are taking things easy and looking forward to developing their “bucket list” once Castleberry's treatments are finished.
“Some mornings I wake up and say, ‘Why not me?', you know, ‘Why me, Why not me?'” Castleberry said. “We all wake up and want to keep on going.”
• You can reach reporter DD Bixby at 957-4211 or by e-mail at dbixby@nrtoday.com.
Miranda looked at the mountain of Stovetop stuffing and canned foods that she might be in charge of for Thanksgiving.
“I don't know how that's gonna go,” she said, raising her eyebrows.
Some of the more difficult things the girls have had to take on this year is discussing what happens if Castleberry should die before they finish school in the Roseburg School District.
Tuesday, their mother said her estate and living wills had been drafted and will soon be complete.
The ability to focus in crisis and tackle scary, dangerous tasks are characteristics that distinguished her in field operations during fires. Her USFS colleagues see that same strength now during her own emergency.
“It's taken its toll on her, but she's still upbeat and she does what she needs to do,” said Bryan Benz, a botanist for the Umpqua National Forest.
However, there are times Benz has had to hold his friend and motorcycle-riding buddy back on days she feels stronger than she is. He even threatened to take the wheels of her motorcycle once.
The historical family atmosphere of the Forest Service was expressed through friends' support. They organized yard crews and Benz lined up a twice-monthly cleaning service, which has been a big relief to her and her family, Castleberry said.
Cheryl Caplan, public affairs officer for the Umpqua National Forest, said without Castleberry in the office, temporary detailers picked up her tasks during the heavy fire season and when needed, but her job is still available when she can come back.
Caplan said Castleberry's “no-nonsense” approach to life and work is refreshing and sorely missed around the office.
As her cancer treatment has progressed, Castleberry has become a staunch advocate of people paying attention to their health and familial health history and supporting the local doctors at Roseburg's Community Cancer Center, which allowed her to stay near her family during treatments.
She also stays tapped into the scientific research and associations that helped her research her cancer and be her own best patient advocate with her doctors.
For now, she and her girls are taking things easy and looking forward to developing their “bucket list” once Castleberry's treatments are finished.
“Some mornings I wake up and say, ‘Why not me?', you know, ‘Why me, Why not me?'” Castleberry said. “We all wake up and want to keep on going.”
• You can reach reporter DD Bixby at 957-4211 or by e-mail at dbixby@nrtoday.com.
