How Lisa Schneider Found the Mental Strength to Fight Breast Cancer

On December 2014, TriHealth patient Lisa Schneider was diagnosed with breast cancer. After undergoing two lumpectomies and a year of radiation treatment, she was feeling like there was hope.

She was 52 years old at the time and had just started making retirement plans with her husband – her grandchildren had even moved to town recently!

However, in December 2015, Lisa found out that her cancer had metastasized to her ribs, spine, pelvis, and skull. She was now stage IV.

“We were so thrilled with how well I was doing up until my metastatic diagnosis,” Lisa explained about her first round of treatment. “Now I had to go through more radiation and aggressive chemo for six months – I quit my job, lost my hair, and suffered miserably during this time.”

Despite the challenging prognosis, Lisa was confident there was one person who could lift her spirits and give her hope – her oncologist, Dr. Edward Crane.

“Dr. Crane took our very grim outlook and helped us turn it into the possibility of a future and a life – a normal life,” said Lisa. “His attitude and approach gave us a new lease on life, and hope that I had time. He was so right.”

Lisa has had many medical obstacles to overcome since she started her battle in 2014, but she faces each of them with a tenacity and positive attitude that she truly believes makes a real difference in her outcomes. She attributes much of this to her relationship with Dr. Crane.

“He has the ability to help us believe we have the power to overcome,” she recounted. “If the positive attitude is the secret to my longevity, I have no one to thank but Dr. Crane.”

Lisa found that she has learned many lessons from her treatment over the past nine years, but she is especially focused on not putting off the things that will make her enjoy life.

“Living happy today has served us better than waiting for the inevitable – waiting for the what-ifs,” Lisa mused. “Dr. Crane even encouraged me to proceed with my plans to replace my knee and get all my teeth fixed because he believes I will be here long enough the enjoy the benefits of these procedures… I had put them off previously, but not anymore.”

Lisa recently got the knee replacement she had been thinking about for so long. She also went ahead and decided to get orthodontia work and is now enjoying a brand-new smile!

“I now know that I have the ability to keep fighting and winning,” says Lisa. “Dr. Crane really believes in his patients, in me– the least I can do is be a believer also!”