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Mother and daughter face cancer with courage

Submitted Photo Pam Pavot (standing) and daughter Megan both were diagnosed with potentially fatal cancer in 2018, but are each on their way to recovery. They found ways to sometimes enjoy life in the past year, such as a walk last fall along a Twin Cities metro area river.

MARSHALL — Cancer struck twice in 2018 for the Pavot family, but by all indications Pam Pavot of Marshall and her daughter Megan Pavot are likely to remain cancer survivors for many years to come.

Both have improved substantially in recent months since last summer, when their cancer concerns were at their worst. Pam, who faced breast cancer for the first time, now only needs an annual check-up. Megan is regaining her health after life-threatening bone cancer, her second cancer situation and her first in 15 years.

Their cancer battles over the past year began at the end of February 2018 with Pam’s breast cancer diagnosis. Treatment involved surgery and radiation treatment, which required spending five days a week at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.

In early April 2018, Megan was diagnosed with a form of bone cancer. She had been cancer free since 2001, when a lymphoma cancer diagnosed in September went into remission three months later. She went through with surgery in January 2002 since the operation reduced the odds of a recurrence.

The bone cancer turned into a longer recovery process with more hospitalization. For six months, the bulk of her time was spent as an inpatient at Mayo and at Park Nicollet in Minneapolis. Gradually she was able to transition into spending more time at her home in Spring Park, located in western Hennepin County between Mound and Orono.

Inpatient treatment continued to be necessary because of how chemotherapy was followed by repeated infections and low blood counts. She also was given a titanium implant to compensate for the removal of part of her tibia.

She’s been unable to walk or prepare meals by herself since May. She can walk short distances with the help of crutches, but her progress has been slowed by an ulcer on one of her heels.

Throughout the rehabilitation process, Megan has successfully kept her seat on the Spring Park City Council, missing only one regular council meeting.

She has also kept her job as a statistical analyst. Her employer arranged for her to telecommute on a limited part-time basis.

Meanwhile Pam’s breast cancer treatment plan led to progress, to the point that she’s considered cancer free. She said Megan’s experience kept her focused on her daughter’s well-being, while her own was not nearly as much of a concern.

“As a mother, I hardly ever worried about myself,” Pam said. “Megan’s health situation kept me from doing that. I just hoped and prayed that she would get well.”

Pam’s improvement enabled her to provide caregiving services to Megan at Spring Park, while her husband and Megan’s father, Bill Pavot, finished his last semester of teaching as a Southwest Minnesota State University psychology professor.

Their older daughter, Nikki, lives in the Twin Cities suburb of Andover. She and her family, including two grandchildren named Gavin and Selene, have provided additional firsthand support throughout the process of facing two immediate-family cancer situations.

Bill said his own life was greatly influenced by the uncertainty facing both his wife and younger daughter. His dedication to teaching and research kept him going in his profession while he also spent as much time as he could traveling to Rochester and then Spring Park to be with family members.

“I felt devastated a year ago,” Bill said. “I thought a lot about how my life might never be the same. Things gradually got better, starting when Pam saw improvement.”

He said it also helped after he finished fall semester, his last term for teaching classes. When he was based in Marshall for much of the week, he drew a great deal of support from friends both at SMSU and in the community.

“I’d go to Mass on Sunday morning, and every time a dozen or more people would come up to me to ask about our family,” he said. “The support I’ve received on and off campus has been overwhelming.”

Pavot earned his four-year degree at Purdue University in Indiana, then his graduate degrees at the University of Illinois. He has been a psychology faculty member at SMSU since 1991. He has a long list of research publications, many of which focus on the subjects of happiness, social adjustment and perceived well-being.

Although those specialties seem tailor-made for the situation he was facing, he found that no amount of research or data can define the personal side of those experiences.

“Up to a point, what I’ve gone through validated the most widely accepted theories,” he said. “There’s more to it when it’s personal. There’s an extra dimension, one that different people react to in different ways.”

Megan found that her own outlook varied from one day to the next, sometimes even hourly. It wasn’t unusual for her to really want a particular choice for a meal and then a short time later not be in the mood for it.

She remembers two highlights of the year as ways of bringing some joy to what was for the most part a sad experience.

One was a trip to the Minnesota State Fair, something she was determined to do in much the same way that she wanted to fulfill her commitment 17 years earlier to sing a solo for All My Favorites concerts in Marshall after her first cancer diagnosis.

A co-worker went out of his way to help in making the state fair excursion a reality. He arranged for handicapped parking, wheelchair transportation at the fairgrounds, and food selections such as sweet corn and cheese curds.

She also made a trip to a Twin Cities theater to see a well-recommended movie, “A Star is Born.” The occasion inspired to walk in and then out of the theater with help form her crutches.

One of her nurses, a sled dog racer at winter events such as the Iditarod in Alaska, brought dogs and puppies to the hospital for Megan to enjoy.

“There were time I really needed some fun,” Megan said. “I spent much of my time feeling miserable. There was a lot of pain.”

She also set and achieved some long term goals, which included making crocheted scarves for her nurses and laying the groundwork for a Rochester-based lodging facility for medical patients who have pets. One of the reasons she and Pam chose to commute to Rochester was the limited rental options for people with pets.

“A big part of what helped me was support from my family and friends,” she said. “I’m lucky to have plenty of people wishing me the best, both in Marshall and the Twin Cities. My Marshall friends were there for me the first time, and now even though I’ve moved they’ve been there for me again.”

Looking ahead to the future, Bill and Pam plan to remain in Marshall for the time being, until there’s a chance to think about long range goals for retirement.

Megan said she’ll also take one day at a time, with the goal of continuing on her path to full recovery.

“I want to get more of my mobility back,” Megan said. “That will be the biggest hurdle. I also want to succeed with my work, make progress with getting a house in Rochester for pet owners, and enjoy what life has to offer.”

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