High-school sweethearts and "best friends," Robert and Janice Beecham are celebrating their 46th anniversary with a victory. Both have beaten COVID-19, while Janice faced a recurrence of breast cancer and a newly-diagnosed ovarian cancer, according to a CNN report.
After Janice Beecham’s February cancer surgery, the couple had been careful to follow quarantine safety rules when Robert began noticing COVID-19 symptoms.
Read More“I Was Feeling Pretty Terrible”
The next day, as Robert's condition worsened, he allowed his son to take him to Parkland hospital in Dallas. "He knew me agreeing [to go to the hosptal] without a fight meant that I was feeling pretty terrible," he said.Robert was admitted alone, according to hospital policy. The following day, his COVID-19 test came back positive.
Dr. Brieze Keeley Bell, an attending physician at UCSF Medical Center, offers guidelines for cancer patients on when to stay safely at home — and when to seek help from their doctor.
Meanwhile, Janice had also tested positive for COVID-19. Fortunately, her symptoms were mild, but her cancer treatment was suspended while she faced the virus.
Robert credits his doctor, Satyam Nayak, with inspiring his recovery. "Dr. Nayak and I would open up casual conversations and it would take my mind off the virus," Beecham said.
He told his doctors that hospitalizations for strokes he’d suffered in 2012 and 2016 had caused him to miss spending his wedding anniversary with his wife.
An Anniversary He Couldn’t Bear To Miss
With their anniversary approaching, Robert Beecham was determined to make it home to celebrate the occasion with Janice.
"We are doing everything in our power to ensure that there is no compromise of care for our patients during the pandemic," says Dr. Elisabeth Diver, a gynecologic oncologist at Stanford University.
Nayak came up with a plan to get Robert home and get the care he needed from his wife. He made it home in time for their April 15 anniversary.
"Once I got home, and we did the quarantine, I was getting progressively better but Janice still had issues with her health," Robert explained. “We’re best friends, it was just tough.”
“It’s A Blessing To Be Here”
Janice’s chemo treatment, delayed by her COVID-19 diagnosis, resumed after she recovered from the virus. After completing chemo, she has now been declared cancer-free.
"It's a blessing to be here because a lot of people didn't make it," Janice told CNN. She still faces preventative radiation but the couple feels grateful to be alive and together.
Robert believes they had help from above: “It would have been impossible to make it with all the odds against you without God, and he has been our help, all these many years.”
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