Alaska’s legislators had to put their lives on hold during an extraordinary 181 days of session.
Sen. Shelley Hughes, R-Palmer, put her cancer diagnosis on hold.
Hughes, a 59-year-old first-term senator, said her doctor found something suspicious during a routine mammogram earlier this year.
“You get those mammograms, and they saw something they wanted me to come back and check. In fact, I was pushing that appointment back, because we were down here,” she said. “It was supposed to happen in (late) April.”
After an extended regular session and two special sessions, she got that appointment and on Tuesday announced the diagnosis: breast cancer.
“Basically, I’m taking the bull by the horns here and rip-roarin’ to go to beat this thing,” she said on Thursday while in Juneau for the Legislature’s one-day special session.
Lawmakers can expect to see her stick around, she said.
“I’m not going anywhere, and I’m continuing to serve the district. People are like, ‘Well, you’ve got to take care of yourself.’ I am taking care of myself and I’m in good shape to take care of the district, too,” she said.
Hughes isn’t alone in the Legislature. In the 2015 interim, Rep. Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak, was told she had a particularly aggressive form of cancer.
“When I got my diagnosis, they said it’s inoperable and you have 6-8 months to live,” Stutes said.
Unlike Hughes, Stutes decided to keep her diagnosis quiet.
“I didn’t tell people I had cancer because I felt like I didn’t need people saying, ‘Oh my God, I’m so sorry.’ I was thinking, I’m just going to kick its ass and move on,” she said.
Stutes underwent accelerated chemotherapy and radiation treatment, all with the goal of returning to Juneau in time for the 2016 Legislative session.
Stutes’ approach worked. While doctors said her survival chances were just 2-5 percent, she completed her treatment and returned to Juneau in time.
“When I came back, of course I’m balder than a cue ball, so I’m wearing a wig and get into the elevator with Sen. (Dennis) Egan. He looks at me, he says, ‘You got a new hairdo over the interim!’” she said with a laugh. “I looked at him and said, ‘Senator, that’s exactly what I did.’”
Hughes, in a July 25 Facebook video for constituents, said she wanted to explain her diagnosis because “when you choose the life of a public servant, your life is not your own in the same kind of way.”
She wanted to kill rumors and share good information, she said.
Stutes said she feels “80 percent” of beating cancer is mental and about keeping a good attitude. That’s something she’s shared with Hughes.
Hundreds of others have shared their support as well. Hughes said she was particularly struck by the messages on social media.
“You have everything from atheists sending positive energy and thoughts to good karma on you, to all the way to pleading the blood of Jesus over you,” she said. “It’s pretty incredible, the wide array of messages and support.”
Hughes also got a call from U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan and one from former Anchorage Rep. Cynthia Toohey, who served two terms in the House and survived breast cancer.
“She calls me up, this old lady, and she’s like, ‘Honey, you’re going to beat this thing,’” Hughes recalled.
Reached by phone in Anchorage, Toohey said that when you’re diagnosed with cancer, getting support is important.
“You’ve got to have that support,” said Toohey, who turned 83 on April 16.
She added that when you’re diagnosed with cancer, people ask you what you’ll do next.
“We don’t have a choice,” she said. “We have to get it done.”
Correction: Hughes represents Palmer/Chugiak, not Wasilla. This story has also been edited to clarify the timing of the scheduled followup examination.
Contact reporter James Brooks at james.k.brooks@juneauempire.com or call 523-2258.
