Photo by Erin Nelson.
Suzan Doidge, a breast cancer survivor and executive director of the Mountain Brook Chamber of Commerce, sits on a bench outside Mountain Brook City Hall on Sept. 9.
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, an annual campaign designed to raise money to fight the deadly disease.
The campaign has special significance this year for Mountain Brook resident Suzan Doidge, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in August 2019.
She recently completed her treatments, which lasted for more than a year, and is cancer free. “I’m on the good side of things now,” she said.
Doidge, the executive director of the Mountain Brook Chamber of Commerce, talked to Village Living about her journey.
She described her reaction to the diagnosis, discussed her treatment and celebrated the tremendous support she received along the way.
Doidge also talked about her love for Mountain Brook and its small businesses and the way her job at the chamber helped sustain her during a tough year.
In addition, Mountain Brook city officials who’ve worked closely with Doidge praised the guts she showed as she fought cancer while continuing to work full time.
“She’s one of the most courageous people I know, and she’s one of the most uplifting, and I have never seen her down,” said Mountain Brook Mayor Stewart Welch III, another cancer survivor.
“She’s handled every aspect of her cancer with remarkable grace,” Welch said.
Even after Doidge got her diagnosis, “We couldn’t keep her from working — day or night,” said Mountain Brook Councilwoman Alice Womack, who also works with the chamber.
“Suzan is one of a kind,” Womack said.
THE ‘CANCER CLUB’
The cancer journey for Doidge began with a routine mammogram that showed an area in the right breast that needed to be biopsied.
Dr. Timothy Bullock, her surgeon, did the biopsy and found a small spot that he felt only needed a lumpectomy.
However, to be on the safe side, Bullock ordered an MRI, and it revealed a 6-centimeter mass in Doidge’s left breast.
Understandably, Doidge said she was “worried and scared” by the diagnosis.
Being diagnosed with cancer “is a club you don't want to be in,” she said.
However, Doidge is grateful Bullock ordered the MRI that revealed the cancerous mass.
“I probably wouldn’t have been here another year without him,” she said.
Her treatment began with surgery — a double mastectomy in October 2019.
The surgery went well, but Doidge was hit with an emotional shock in the aftermath.
The surgeon initially told her after surgery that they got all of the cancer and that it was not in her lymph nodes.
However, she was told the day after surgery that the cancer was indeed in her lymph nodes.
“When you hear there is something in the lymph nodes, you don't know how far it traveled in your body,” Doidge said.
“I was not going to feel comfortable until I found out that we got it all,” she said.
FACING THE ‘RED DEVIL’
Doidge began “aggressive treatment” at the Bruno Cancer Center at St. Vincent’s Hospital, she said.
She started chemotherapy in December 2019 using Adriamycin and Cytoxan, a drug cocktail referred to as “Red Devil.”
She heard from other cancer patients that “Red Devil” chemotherapy was “the worst thing ever,” she said. Her friends told her they couldn’t work or keep any food down.
However, Doidge said she “got through it pretty easily” overall, even though there were days she felt tired.
She credits her oncologist, Dr. John Piede, for making that phase of her chemotherapy more tolerable.
Piede had discovered that “if you do the ‘Red Devil’ for a longer time and with less strength, the outcome for the patient is better,” Doidge said.
After completing the Adriamycin and Cytoxan, she was given secondary chemotherapy, called Taxol.
She had a total of 39 weekly chemotherapy treatments, as well as 38 daily treatments of radiation with her radiation oncologist, Dr. Susan Salter.
She will have her final surgery, a reconstruction, in January with Dr. Stephen Steinmetz.
COPING IN MIND, BODY AND SPIRIT
Fortunately, Doidge had a strong personal support system to help her cope during treatment.
Her husband, Neil Doidge, was with her when she got her diagnosis and was “very supportive” through her journey.
She had the love and support of her two children: a daughter, Anne Raines, age 22, and a son, Campbell, age 19, both of whom were students at Auburn University.
Doidge stuck to a normal routine as much as possible. “I didn’t change my exercise routine,” she said. “I tried to walk every day.”
A simple philosophy helped sustain her.
“Every step along the way, I was just anticipating the worst but hoping for the best and being happy with whatever happened,” she said.
KEEP WORKING
Working at the chamber — except for a month following surgery — also helped Doidge cope.
“I think when you are not concentrating on something else and you let your mind go, things can be so much worse,” she said.
She also experienced an outpouring of support when word got out about her diagnosis.
“Immediately people were calling and sending flowers and cards and encouraging me," she said. “I can't put into words how much I appreciate that. It is humbling.”
This outpouring is perhaps not surprising, given Doidge’s place in Mountain Brook.
“She loves this community, and this community adores her,” Womack said.
Spiritual help was important, Doidge said. “My church stepped up for me and did a prayer vigil,” she said. “I really believe that one reason I fared so well was I had so many people praying for me.”
A CHAMBER CAREER
A Sylacauga native, Doidge graduated from Auburn University in 1980. She came to Birmingham in 1981 and moved to Mountain Brook in 1985.
Doidge has been chamber executive director for 11 years and said she can’t think of a better place for her to be.
“I’ve loved every minute,” she said. “Most of the business owners also live here. Not only are they members of the chamber, but they are my friends.”
“You see them in church and in the grocery store, you have a relationship with them,” she said. “We have so many unique businesses, such as small boutiques, and the people who own them are unique.”
Welch said Doidge is “all in” in terms of her love for the city and her love for the businesses and business owners in the city.
Janet Forbes, who works as the assistant to Mountain Brook City Manager Sam Gaston, said it’s so fun to work with Doidge because of her professionalism, thoughtfulness and respect for those with whom she works on a daily basis.
Womack described Doidge as a “connector” who loves people.
“She is a bridge builder and is perfectly suited in her role,” Womack said.
CONTINUING CARE
Despite being cancer free, Doidge will go back for scans and checkups every few months for at least five years, maybe longer.
She will also take “a chemo-type pill” daily for five years, she said.
It’s important for all women to get annual checkups, Doidge said.
“Breast cancer, if they catch it early, does not have to be a death sentence,” she said.
BACK TO THE FUTURE
It’s a relief for Doidge and her family to be finished with the major part of her treatment.
“It has been all-consuming for the past year,” she said. “We’re all happy to be on the other side of that.”
“We have all been living this diagnosis, so it's nice to put it behind us and plan for the future,” she said.
Meanwhile, Doidge is more grateful for life than she was before. “You just don't take things for granted,” she said.
“You know each day is a blessing,” Doidge said. “I appreciate being able to be outside on a beautiful sunny afternoon. I am a person of gratitude having gotten through this.”
