CLEVELAND — Gov. Mike DeWine announced cancer patients will be included in Phase 1E of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout and one Ohio woman is looking forward to it bringing some normalcy back to her family.
What You Need To Know
- Gov. Mike DeWine announced cancer patients are part of Phase 1E and will be able to get vaccinated starting March 19
- Sylvia Sanderson was diagnosed with breast cancer in April 2020
- Sanderson is looking forward to getting the vaccine as it will provide some sort of relief to her and her family
Sylvia Sanderson has been in the fight of her life for the past year.
“COVID hit about March. I found the lump about mid-April and went in for my testing,” Sanderson said.
Since then, her life has been filled with appointments, biopsies, and scans.
“I just finished my radiation. That’s what some of this is here. Got some burns still going on,” she said. “I did chemo most of last year. Radiation was this year. I’ve had one surgery so far. I’m looking at about two more plus hormone therapy all going on over the next year.”
She has endured all of that in the middle of a pandemic.
“Most of it I’ve had to do completely alone because you weren’t allowed to have anyone else in there with you,” she said. “So my scans, my biopsies all of that was completely alone.”
Sanderson’s immune system was basically wiped out by her cancer treatments, so she, her husband, their three kids, and her mother, have had to be extra careful to not contract COVID-19.
“As soon as they walk in the door, they’re in the shower; they’re removing their clothes, putting new clothes on. I’ve got somebody else handling their clothes to put in the wash,” Sanderson said. “I mean it was crazy. It very much reminded me of like a hazmat situation, you know, like you see in the movies.”
It’s the reason she’s been looking forward to not just her, but her whole family, getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
“I know it wouldn’t completely eradicate us being able to get COVID, but it would be another barrier so that if I had to go into a store and grab something real quick I wouldn’t have to worry if I don’t have my sanitizer on my hip,” said Sanderson. “Just a huge weight lifted on top of I’d say a little bit of freedom.”
