美国国家公共电台 NPR Cancer Leads Athlete To Tough Choice

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

BrittLee Bowman was always the portrait of health as a cyclist, kale smoothies and workout photos on her Instagram feed. That changed last year. She was diagnosed with breast cancer. Bradley Campbell has a portrait of how one athlete copes with cancer.

BRADLEY CAMPBELL, BYLINE¹: Before BrittLee Bowman made the biggest decision of her life, she lined up at a cyclocross race in Queens.

BRITTLEE BOWMAN: And then they blew the whistle.

(SOUNDBITE OF WHISTLE)

BOWMAN: And then we were off.

CAMPBELL: Bowman immediately jumped out front, along with three other women, all elite² racers.

BOWMAN: Yeah. We're flying through the course.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Go Britt.

CAMPBELL: Cyclocross is a sport that throws obstacles at you, from sand pits to staircases to knee-high barriers. And this one, at a public park alongside the Hudson River, was no different.

BOWMAN: And so the three of us are going, going, going.

CAMPBELL: Bowman pedaled. People cheered. And if you saw her that day, you probably had no idea that decision she was wrestling with. Do I have both my breasts removed?

Fast forward several weeks, Upper West Side, BrittLee Bowman's apartment. We sit on a couch, split a french press of coffee. And she tells me how it all began.

BOWMAN: You touch your boobs sometimes. Like, you are familiar with your body, especially as an athlete. Like, you should be familiar with your body. And I just, you know, was, like, touching⁴ my boob and felt a lump.

CAMPBELL: What went through your head?

BOWMAN: Literally⁵, I was like, hm, that's weird⁶. I wonder what it is.

CAMPBELL: Stage One multifocal invasive ductal carcinoma, ductal carcinoma in situ and lobular carcinoma in situ, all in her left breast. Her right was unaffected. Her doctor told her her options - lumpectomy, single mastectomy or double mastectomy.

BOWMAN: So basically, if I chose double mastectomy and then take care of everything right now, then I hopefully will not have a recurrence⁷ of this cancer.

CAMPBELL: But that's a big deal. At 34 and single, she wanted the option to breastfeed in the future should she have kids. She also wanted to keep the option to have kids, and some treatments impact fertility. Then there were a host of other concerns, including how it could impact her athletic⁸ career and how she looks at her body.

BOWMAN: It wasn't totally the fear of it changing my body. It was, like, more about, like, the fear of it changing how I felt about my body.

CAMPBELL: She soon had her surgery date but still hadn't decided⁹ which surgery to get.

BOWMAN: I didn't have much time to make my decision.

CAMPBELL: This had to be just, like, constant.

BOWMAN: Yeah. It was the thing I thought about every moment.

CAMPBELL: All that was going through her head when she entered that cyclocross race in Queens.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Go Britt.

CAMPBELL: Bowman was powering through the course, battling for second place alongside rider Rachel Rubino. The two were competitors and friends.

BOWMAN: You know, she was saying really encouraging things to me.

RACHEL RUBINO: Hey. I've been thinking about you so much all week and just want you to know, like, (laughter) I love you so much.

CAMPBELL: Wait, you said this in the middle of the race?

RUBINO: Yeah. Like, while we were racing¹⁰ (laughter).

CAMPBELL: By the last lap, Rubino was in second, and Bowman had third place in the bag.

BOWMAN: And so, like, I just enjoyed riding it, especially in the last lap, just, you know, finishing out, doing each obstacle and feeling, like, the full power of my body, what I can do with it, what it has done for me, what I appreciate about it.

CAMPBELL: They'd stand on the podium together. It meant a lot for Bowman, but it meant a lot for Rubino too.

RUBINO: For me, a lot of people in my family have had cancer. My mom passed away of breast cancer when I was 22. So that's, like - for me, it hits this really deep place, you know. Like, being a woman and being an athlete, it's like this can happen to any of us.

CAMPBELL: Days after the race, BrittLee Bowman made her decision. She'd have surgery to remove both her breasts.

BOWMAN: So they they placed the IV in my arm while I was in the holding area with my family. And then they eventually said, OK, it's time. And they walked me down a hallway, and there was an elevator. And I was with the nurse, and I had to, like, say bye to my family. The doors closed, and I was, like, in the elevator with the nurse. And I was just crying and - yeah, it's just like, you know, you don't want to have to do that. But, like, you know that, like, you're trying to fix the problem.

CAMPBELL: She walked into the operating room in her gown past the table of surgical¹¹ tools. She climbed onto the table, and she stared into silver lamp lights.

Three weeks after her surgery, I met up with Bowman at her apartment. Her body was still healing. And as she told me her story, I couldn't help but wonder if she'd ever ride a bike again. It's just so key to her life.

BOWMAN: Oh, my God, of course. (Laughter) Like, I got on my bike on a 28-degree day here in New York City. While I was riding, I wasn't totally thinking about, like, my surgery area. I was thinking about, you know, wow, like, this is how I feel when I take three weeks off the bike and then get back on it normally. It's hard.

CAMPBELL: Bowman is quick to remind me that she just had Stage One. She's young, and there are a lot of women dealing¹² with far worse. That said, there's still radiation ahead, along with five to 10 years of Tamoxifen to ward³ off a reoccurrence. Even then, who knows?

But BrittLee Bowman is an athlete. She excels at charging at obstacles and past them. It's just who she is. For NPR News, I'm Bradley Campbell in New York.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

3 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

4 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

5 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

6 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

7 recurrence   

n.复发，反复，重现

参考例句：

• More care in the future will prevent recurrence of the mistake.将来的小心可防止错误的重现。
• He was aware of the possibility of a recurrence of his illness.他知道他的病有可能复发。

8 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

9 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

10 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

11 surgical   

adj.外科的，外科医生的，手术上的

参考例句：

• He performs the surgical operations at the Red Cross Hospital.他在红十字会医院做外科手术。
• All surgical instruments must be sterilised before use.所有的外科手术器械在使用之前，必须消毒。

12 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。