Her breast cancer that had been treated successfully in 2013 had returned and was now in her liver, lungs and adrenal gland. An MRI a month later showed the cancer had also spread to the brain.

“I had no symptoms other than abdominal pain,” said Bernadette, who is known as Bernie. The South Dartmouth mother of a grown son and daughter, Bernie is also a 35-year employee of Southcoast Health, working in billing at the Southcoast Cancer Center in Fairhaven.

Dr. Patrick Gagnon, Southcoast’s Chief of Radiation Oncology, ordered a more detailed brain MRI to better show the size and location of the three lesions. And in December, Bernie underwent stereotactic radiosurgery at the Fairhaven Cancer Center.

The highly sophisticated radiation treatment, known as SRS, focuses multiple radiation beams directly on tumors, avoiding normal tissue. Unlike whole-brain radiation, SRS is much less likely to cause hair loss, memory loss or other impaired cognition that can be long lasting.

“Ten years ago, patients like Bernie would have been given whole-brain radiation,” Dr. Gagnon said. “But the data has shown that targeted radiation is more effective and has fewer side effects. We can continue to use the radiation to deal with tumors as they arise.”

Bernie said her first treatment took about 20 minutes, as she lay on a table with a mask holding her head still.

“I can honestly say I didn’t feel anything,” she said. “Your body moves with the table. Otherwise, you don’t realize anything is going on.”

Following radiation, Bernie was free from brain tumors for six months. But when an MRI revealed 17 lesions in June 2023, she returned for another SRS session. This one took about an hour, but Bernie again felt no side effects.

Bernie’s cancer treatment has also involved radiation and chemotherapy for the tumors elsewhere in her body. Most of them have disappeared, and those remaining are significantly smaller. She says she looks forward to resuming work and the active life she enjoys with her husband, Dave, a marine mechanic and foreman. The couple like to hike and dance, going wherever a good band is playing locally.

Dr. Gagnon says that SRS and an explosion of systemic targeted cancer treatments, such as immunotherapy, have made many serious cancers, including lung cancer, more manageable diseases.

“People return to work and live normal lives after these treatments all the time,” he said.

Bernie is grateful for all the advanced care available at Southcoast and for the medical professionals who treat her. Dr. Gagnon and Dr. Susan Kim, a Southcoast Health hematologist and medical oncologist, monitor her cancer and ensure that she receives timely treatments. She is grateful for the support of Dave and their children as she works to regain her strength.

“I know I’m getting the best possible care at Southcoast Health,” she said.

“Because of the treatments we have available at Southcoast, people like Bernie can continue to live with cancer, enjoying a much higher quality of life and without many side effects at all,” Dr. Gagnon said.

For more information on Cancer Care at Southcoast Health, visit Oncology Cancer Care Southeastern MA | Southcoast Health.