Photo by Hannah Wingert
Vicki Musel and Heather Barth paths first crossed when Heather signed her daughter Sydney up for a Just for Kix dance class that Vicki was teaching. Then, both Sydney and Vicki’s daughter Leena ended up in the Fillmore County 4-H Horse Project, and Vicki and Heather found themselves spending a lot of time together.
Last year, Heather and Vicki’s friendship deepened in an unexpected way. A biopsy revealed that Vicki had breast cancer at the end of August. Just over a month later, Heather found out that she also had breast cancer.
Vicki’s biopsy took place in mid-August at Olmsted Medical Center and two weeks later, she received the news that it was cancer. She was then seen at Mayo Clinic where she underwent additional testing to determine what type of cancer she had. She explained how she spent a full day at Mayo meeting with all of her doctors to plan her treatment and then went straight from there to the annual 4-H horse show. Overwhelmed with all of the information and reeling from the news, she remembers wondering if she would even be there the next year for the show. “And now I have,” she said. “We just finished doing the horse show again.”
Heather had an idea that something was wrong, but put it off because of how busy she was with 4-H. “First it was the county fair, then the state fair, then the horse show,” she said. After those were done, a friend got stern with her to get checked out so she finally called Olmsted. After Heather’s biopsy and mammogram, she was immediately referred to Mayo, just like Vicki had been. “Then it was a whirlwind,” she said. On October 10th, 2024, her daughter’s birthday, she found out that she had breast cancer.
To determine which type of breast cancer patients have, doctors test the cancer cells for estrogen receptors or ER, progesterone receptors or PR, and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 or HER2. Vicki had triple positive lobular breast cancer, an aggressive form of cancer. Heather’s news wasn’t any better. She was diagnosed with triple negative, invasive ductal carcinoma with inflammatory skin involvement. “We had completely opposite cancers,” Heather said. Yet, their shared experiences brought them closer together. “It was cool to have someone to talk to at the 4-H events we were at,” Heather continued.
In addition to the triple positive lobular cancer in one breast, Vicki also had ductal carcinoma in situ in the other breast. After six rounds of chemo which started in September 2024, she had a double mastectomy and expanders placed in February followed by 15 rounds of radiation. A test showed that 99% of the cancer had been eradicated, but anything less than 100% means continued treatment so Vicki is currently doing immunotherapy. Unfortunately, that lowers her immunity, making her high risk for infections. Several weeks ago, one of her expanders had to be surgically removed due to an unexpected infection. Once Vicki is done with the immunotherapy, she will have reconstructive surgery.
Heather’s treatment was similar with two sets of chemotherapy, followed by a single mastectomy in March and then 25 rounds of proton radiation. Her treatment plan had to be changed when she developed a terrible rash all over her body. “I looked like I had third degree burns,” she said. A biopsy revealed that she was allergic to her immunotherapy, which had to be stopped immediately. She is currently taking oral chemotherapy until the end of this year which will aid in preventing a recurrence as she also did not have a full response to chemotherapy treatment before surgery.
Both women were able to work through their cancer treatments for the most part. When Vicki received her diagnosis, she was working full time from home as a clinical analyst, part-time at the Branding Iron in Preston, and was on-call as an EMT for the Preston ambulance service. Due to not knowing how she would feel from day to day, she had to drop her job at the Branding Iron and was no longer able go on ambulance calls. She’s still part of the ambulance crew and hopes to be able to return to full service at some point. Heather, who works as an office support specialist for the Fillmore County Veterans Service Office and the U of M Extension Office in Preston, ended up having to work from home half days during part of her chemotherapy, but was still able to keep up with her work.
Heather and Vicki both were supported by their families and friends as they went through cancer treatment. Heather’s niece and mom went to almost all of of her appointments and her daughter was also able to come to a few. Vicki is originally from Virginia and that’s where her family still lives. It’s been hard for her to be so far away from them, but they have support her from afar and her in-laws in Minnesota have been with her every step of the way. Vicki credits her faith with getting her through her treatment. “My faith has been hugely helpful and more prevalent since this happened,” she said, adding that she appreciates being able to listen to her favorite christian music during radiation.
Both Heather and Vicki received support from the community. In January, the FCLMC Wolves hosted a Takedown Cancer game with proceeds going to help Heather with treatment costs and she also has a donation account set up at First Southeast Bank of Harmony. Brenda Eickhoff, owner of the Sweet Stop and Sandwich Shoppe, organized a fundraiser with B&B Olympic Bowl and the Branding Iron for Vicki who has also received help from the First Baptist Church in Preston and Root River Community Church in Rushford. The Fillmore Central football team also hosted Tackle Cancer on October 9 with proceeds going to Vicki and several others fighting cancer. Vicki has a donation account set up at F&M Community Bank in Preston.
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