Susan Belanger Cancer Relief Fundraiser

Hey everyone!

My name is Adam Belanger. My Mom, Susan Belanger, has always been the strongest and hardest working person I know. Anyone that knows her knows how kind and giving she is. She has volunteered her time to many causes over the years, such as PTA, fundraisers, plays and countless dance recitals (just ask my sister!).

Now she needs help. Last fall, after months of being told she was fine by doctors and the ER, she was diagnosed with stage 4 Lung Cancer. It was a shock to my whole family. To see my Mom be so scared and uncertain of what the future holds made us all feel helpless. She immediately went into intense treatment at Maine Medical Center while still working full time. It didn't seem real.

She told very few people what she was going through. But, after struggling for almost a year, on August 25th she opened up and shared this ordeal on her Facebook page.

“Ok today is the day I stop procrastinating and tell you about the journey we've been on for a year.

To be honest this last year or more has been the hardest of my life and although my family and some others know, I guess I had to finally just decide that today is the day to tell the rest of you.

On September 20th of last year I was diagnosed with cancer. It was like being hit with a hand grenade and I couldn't speak. I hadn't been feeling right for about 6 months with my biggest symptom being excruciating pain, burning and numbness running down my left arm from my neck to my fingertips, and headaches. I have disc problems and thought for sure I had a pinched nerve but then it would wrap around my chest and go up into my head and I would end up in a massive panic attack.

I thought for sure I was having a heart attack or a stroke which would prompt several visits in the middle of the night to the ER at Maine Med from January through September.

Each visit they would check my blood, vitals, give me an EKG, check me neurological, etc. and every time they would comment on how wonderful my heart was, my bloodwork, etc. They'd tell me I needed to stop working so much because the computer was causing the pain and then the other symptoms would cause me to go into a panic attack. They'd give me some meds, tell me to follow up with my PC Dr and that's what I did.

There is something comforting about a doctor checking you out and telling you you're ok. However deep inside I knew something was wrong with me. My body was trying to tell me something and it just became a viscous cycle.

However, on September 20th, John brought me to the ER at 5 in the morning. He had to wait in the car because of covid. I knew exactly what was going to happen and exactly what they were going to say. After the same old routine, I burst into tears and the doctor sat next to me and said, " tell me a little more about your shoulder." I told him where it hurt and said to him " why won't anyone listen to me?" Actually, I think I yelled it? He looked at me and said, "do you mind if I do a chest x ray?" I said, "you can cut my arm of with a chain saw right now if you think that will work!"

He gave me a hug and as I was going for the x-ray I thought that it must have something to do with covid. I was wrong. He approached me a short-time later, had teary eyes, held my hands and looked at me and said" I'm just a dumb old ER doc with a hunch, but you have a mass on your lung and I'm pretty sure it's lung cancer. I am so sorry!" I said, "are you f**king nuts????" So that is how my nightmare began. By the next morning I was at my PC who immediately got me to the oncology department at Maine Med and in the next 6 weeks, once a week I had either scans, MRIs pet scans, a biopsy, lung function tests, etc. so they could not only confirm it but stage it and determine the treatment plan.

The oncologist already told me the first time we met her that she was pretty sure it was stage 4 because she could see that it had already spread to the lymph nodes in the middle of my chest. I asked her what that meant, and she said, "we will do all these tests first and then we will decide whether we can treat it or make you comfortable!"

We walked down the corridor and John was dragging me as we both sobbed. Definitely worst day of my life. The worst part was not having all the answers yet. So we kept it to ourselves until we knew the results and could tell the kids and our family everything from diagnosis to treatment plan to prognosis. John and I held each other every night and cried.

I'd get up in the morning and put on my game face and head to work. Almost every day I'd need to pull over and cry and reapply my makeup, so I could walk into my office with my smiley stage face and say good morning to everyone, pretending everything was fine. It was torture.

Well, the end of October we had our zoom call with the oncologist to find out the scoop. I was never so scared in my life. She said "it's better news than I expected. You have stage 3B adenocarcinoma lung cancer. Three years ago or so, this was treatable but not curable." Because of medical advances she said, "I'm planning on curing you!" I made her repeat it 3 times. So, the Monday after Thanksgiving my treatment began and continued until February. She told me I would simultaneously have chemo and radiation. So for 8 weeks Monday through Friday I had radiation 5 days a week and then went to work.

Monday became my day off as that was my chemo day. So, after radiation on Monday John would take me to chemo for the day and then I'd go home and crash. I worked 60 hours a week through all of it and besides being exhausted and having lung cancer, I did pretty well.

Once that was done we gave my body a break for 5 weeks, let the radiation keep working and then I went for my scan in April to see where we were. Everything reduced by 60%, the doctors were blown away and when we compared the 2 scans I couldn't believe it. The doctor said I am cautiously saying you are in "partial remission". We need you to stay that way for 5 years and then you will be considered cured." So that was very good news.

I just had another scan and will have one every 3 months going forward and things have shrunk a bit more. Most of what we are seeing right now is the scarring left from all of the radiation. That was part 1 of the treatments and the most important. I felt so triumphant like I had won!

However I started feeling lousy as I began the next phase, which is the immunotherapy . My doctor told me that's to be expected as my body had been through so much. So, I just had my 7th of 26th infusions of the immunotherapy, which I will receive twice a month for a year. So, I had to stop working in April and not only lost my income but my insurance too.

However, the immunotherapy is the new advance and it revs up my immune system and trains it to look for cancer cells and kills them so I have a better chance of it not returning. So hopefully I will be able to work again once I recover but I need to get through this first.

This stuff does a number on your body. Some days I'm so exhausted I can't do anything and other days I feel pretty good. So, I've lost my income and my insurance but I still have a battle to fight so right now I'm alive and thankful for things I took for granted so many times.

So if you have your health, a roof over your head and food in your cabinets be thankful, be kind and don't sweat the small stuff. XO”

We didn't realize the emotional, physical, and financial toll it would take on her. She lost her job and her health insurance in April. The treatments left her unable to work, and the bills have piled up. She has no paycheck and no health insurance anymore. My parents are proud people and have kept this battle to themselves up until now.

Now that she has shared it publicly, I want to ask for your help. She came out on other side of chemotherapy and radiation with her cancer in partial remission! While it’s good news, the immunotherapy and other treatment will be ongoing for years. She’s getting immune therapy infusions (including one today) and they wipe her out for about 5 days after treatment.

Please donate what you can and share my mother's story to show your support and help my family get through this difficult time. My mom will use your donations for rent, food, her car, and medical bills. My parents could really use the help and appreciate everyone's support endlessly. I let them know that even though they now live in Scarborough, they have a North Conway community that still knows and cares for them and is willing to help if we just ask.

Thank you all for your support!