By: Dalton J Lee

As Sandy Hendy starts to warm the class up for today’s spin class, she also reflects on the things that started her helping those like her. Although Hendy has Parkinson’s disease and has beaten breast cancer twice, she still makes it a point to volunteer at the local YMCA.  This is only one way she gives back.

When this 64-year-old plans her week, it is always based around some nonprofit group that she is helping at the time. She not only volunteers, but also leads this spin class to help the community of people with Parkinson’s who live in Roseburg.

Now she takes a deep breath and starts to pedal faster, “We are riding up to Crater Lake,” she says to the group.

After getting diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2005, Hendy thought that she had identified the hardest fight of her life. Then, she was diagnosed with her first case of breast cancer in 2010.

This first diagnosis led her down a road that involved 33 radiation treatments and finally a lumpectomy before the end of the year. This was time to rejoice for she was finally free of the cancer.

Victoria Waltz, a Physician’s Assistant who understands the medical aspects of breast cancer, mentions that this may have been premature. She stated, “I can think of at least 10 types of breast cancer off the top of my head.” In this she explained how different types of cancer can develop from one that is halted.

Exactly that happened to Hendy.

Hendy noticed a rash developing on her areola. She had numerous dermatologists check on this new development with her breast. Finally she was referred to an oncologist.

It was 2016 when Hendy was diagnosed with Paget’s Disease of the breast. This is a very rare disease that only one to four percent of breast cancer patients ever develop. “That was when I decided to downgrade from two to one,” she says with a laugh. Hendy tends to be very lighthearted about the mastectomy she received last year.

This lighthearted attitude has grown out of the decade of fighting different forms of diseases that have taken so many lives. She has spent so much time fighting them that her eyes were opened to enjoying the life that she has now.

As Hendy moves forward with her life, she explained to me that she plans to attend numerous walks, races, and other events to benefit the nonprofit groups that help people like her. As she leads this class, she is already planning to visit the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure this March. Hendy says that she will continue to help wherever she can, with her strength and positive attitude.