The Avera mission, started by the system’s founders, was to ensure that patients not only receive the care and resources they need, but that they can get that care in their home community. One of the many examples of this mission in action can be found in Pierre, with one man’s journey with an unusual diagnosis.
“I had no pain, no issues, I wasn't ill. I've never had a symptom of any type. I just happened to feel the lump when I was putting on a pair of pants and here we are,” said Scott Bacon.
It was a rather uneventful September day in 2023 for Scott, but once he felt the small lump in his groin he knew it was something he needed to check out. Within a few days, he was at the doctor's office in Pierre and shortly after that was consulting with his childhood friend Riley Lamb, MD, a general surgeon at Avera St. Mary's Hospital.
“When your buddy calls you and he's concerned about a spot that wasn't there before that is progressively increasing in size, it raises your alert level just a little bit and you think, OK, we need to get you in, take a look and see what's going on. I took the lymph node out, sent it off to pathology and then the pathologist came back with a path report showing lymphoma,” said Dr. Lamb.
Getting a diagnosis of follicular lymphoma can be a crippling shock, but Dr. Lamb encouraged the Bacons to choose optimism.
“Yeah, he and Scott are friends. So he said if I had to throw all the lymphomas out on the table and say I had to give you one, he said, I guess this is the one I choose because just for that reason, there’s time,” said Scott’s wife Amanda.
Scott was able to get further work up done at Avera St. Mary’s Hospital in Pierre with tests that included bone marrow biopsy and PET scans. All of that testing confirmed the diagnosis, but also showed that his tumor was localized and had not spread. It's not very often that follicular lymphoma is caught in its early and more treatable stage.
“So then the discussion moved into does he need systemic treatment like chemo. For his particular cancer, the follicular lymphoma, he did not. The best chance at a cure was actually radiation,” said Jamie Hillmer, CNP an oncology specialist at Avera St. Mary’s Hospital.
“You know, that word radiation, I think is scary. We just thought we have to take every chance we can get to eliminate it, being 45 when I was diagnosed, there's hopefully a lot of time left. And just like everybody else said, here's the C word. You know, I hope I get six more years. That's how much I needed to get my daughter out of school. That was my first thought was I need to have six years,” said Scott.
Scott was then referred into the radiation oncology clinic of the Avera Cancer Institute and into the care of Andrew Figura, MD with Avera Radiation Oncology.
“Follicular lymphoma is a cancer of your white blood cells called the B cell. Basically every cancer that we treat with radiation, there's kind of different number of treatments that we use. And typically for the follicular lymphoma, they're very sensitive to radiation. So they really don't need a lot of treatments to have an impact. So in Scott’s case, he had 12 treatments,” said Dr. Figura.
Nowadays, through outreach and investments to rural cancer care, it’s the providers that are doing more of the traveling instead of the patients so that they can focus on what’s most important. In Pierre, offering radiation oncology locally was made possible in 2018 by a lead gift by the Helmsley Charitable Trust.
“Mentally to not have to be in Sioux Falls, you know it’s only three hours, but when you have surgery and radiation, you're just not in a good position to do the normal things that you've done. And it took until the springtime of 2024 before I kind of got back to my normal self, just get your stamina back and get to all the things that you kind of lose after those kind of treatments,” said Scott.
“Our mantra as a family became we're just going to do the next right thing. Like whatever is the next right thing for us to do, for you (Scott) to do, for Addie to do, for me to do. We're in it together. And we're just going to do the next right thing,” said Amanda.
Scott has completed his radiation and is doing very well. His last scans showed that the lymph node areas that were treated don't show really any evidence of disease or recurrence.
“And now I think our focus with him is just follow up and surveillance. And so Scott is stuck with us for the next few years,” said Hillmer.
Doctors are often taught to separate personal feelings between themselves and their patients. Something that is very hard to do in a rural setting, but Dr. Lamb believes that’s what makes practicing here so special.
“These aren't just patients. These are your friends. Folks whose kids are involved in the same activities as your kids. You're seeing them at the river. You're seeing them camping. And so we'll continue to follow him for the long haul and just make sure he does OK,” said Dr. Lamb.
Even with the current positive prognosis, there is a lot of follow up and milestones to reach, but it’s something the Bacon family is embracing.
“I don't know if I'm through it yet. I don't know if it is why they call it a journey. January I'll have blood draws and my second CT scan after radiation. And then we'll start talking about what's next after that. I just told the doctors, whatever you tell me to do, that's what I'm going to do. So that's what it looks like for now,” said Scott.
The Avera Health system spans a 72,000-square-mile footprint and has continued to invest in bringing top quality cancer care to patients regardless of their ZIP code.
