Cancer is a disease that not only impacts the patient, but also their family and friends. To help navigate this difficult time, a patient’s spouse or close loved one often provides invaluable support— from making treatment decisions to providing emotional solace. Kathy Goble and Bill Conklin, an Olympia-based couple married for over 20 years, were no exception.
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As health care providers who originally met in medical school, Kathy and Bill knew more than most about the intricacies of health care and the importance of maintaining their health. Kathy is a retired obstetrician-gynecologist, and Bill is an anesthesiologist. However, as providers they also found themselves leading very busy lives with less time to visit their own physicians.
In May of 2020, realizing that it had been a few years since Bill’s last annual check-up, Kathy reminded him that he was overdue for an appointment and Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) test— especially since his last exam yielded a slightly elevated PSA level. As a 57-year-old at the time, Bill was in a higher-risk age group in which doctors typically recommend annual prostate cancer screenings.
After the test revealed an elevated PSA level, Bill and Kathy headed to Seattle as soon as possible for a biopsy that would ultimately confirm his prostate cancer diagnosis.
Once they were safely back home, Kathy and Bill instantly took charge of his care by researching all of their options. They also sought advice from their friends in the oncology space to learn about the latest technology available. As a couple with three young adult children—who were all home during the pandemic— they were invested in finding a treatment option that would reduce damage to surrounding healthy tissue and minimize short- and long-term side effects.
After months of research and discussions, they decided to move forward with proton therapy treatment because it offered them a more targeted approach to radiation therapy.
As a team, Kathy and Bill traveled to the SCCA Proton Therapy Center to kick start his treatment in October of 2020. They drove each weekday morning from Olympia to Seattle for his treatment session and then back down to Olympia so Bill could work in the evenings as an anesthesiologist.
Kathy would drive part of the way to or from the Center, which was especially helpful as Bill started to experience fatigue, a common side effect of the treatment. She also helped organize appointments and medical information for the both of them. Her advice for spouses or life partners going through a similar experience is to provide support as your loved one needs it and to find small ways to brighten up their day.
Bill wrapped up his treatment in mid-November. He encourages fellow prostate cancer patients to continue leading a healthy lifestyle that fits their capabilities, whether it’s a daily walk or a more rigorous activity such as running. For Bill, outdoor hikes and weight training kept him grounded.
Today, they are happily resuming their lives. Bill’s energy and sense of humor has returned ten-fold, bringing smiles to his family’s face as usual. When he’s not joking around or working, he is tinkering with things around the house and on cars. Kathy continues to look after her family and is looking forward to enjoying in-person art classes once they start up again.
