Garden Accessories | Look Who’s Back To Tools, Flies, Hardware
Most people would call 2011 a tough year for Fred Benson, but he says he tries not to whine about it. The Lund’s Hardware store owner paused from work to battle a cancer best described as Burkitt’s lymphoma or one “like” it.
Benson emerged victorious.
“I’ve declared myself cancer free,” he said, adding that two recent high-detail scans and his doctors agree.
Benson said last week he feels lucky and extremely grateful to his wife, Yvonne; to the staff of Lund’s; to his family; and to the community.
“Support from the public was overwhelming,” he said, adding that he had lots of spirit-lifting calls, visits, cards, thoughts and prayers.
His ordeal began in early January when abdominal pain caused him to visit the River Falls Area Hospital emergency room.
A tumor had burst open his colon, calling for an immediate operation during which surgeons removed five feet of his colon.
He soon transferred to University of Minnesota Fairview, where he began chemotherapy.
Doctors wanted him to have eight two-week rounds, but, he says thankfully, the treatments stopped in early June after six two-week rounds.
He calls them not fun and marked by complications like pneumonia and blood clots. Benson looks at the bright side and considers himself lucky to have not needed a colostomy, an artificial opening from the colon to the abdomen.
He also feels fortunate to have been in River Falls when he started feeling badly. Had the pain struck him just a little later, he would have been on a plane to Phoenix, or maybe already there.
“I was very lucky to be close to home,” he said.
Benson spent a total of 75 nights in the hospital and said Yvonne was there every night and day, usually spending the night on a cot.
His is a fairly rare cancer. It’s one that usually afflicts people with AIDS or who have had a liver transplant, but neither condition applies to him.
Benson said nights weren’t the best for sleeping with a steady flow of doctors, nurses, aides, blood technicians and others coming and going from his room.
He said he tried to be likeable and met lots of diverse, interesting and “really cool” people. Benson says Yvonne has great hospital savvy and kept track of the many details.
He enjoyed and appreciated the positive messages posted to his online Caring Bridge site.
With a smile he explains how “his girls” (stepdaughters) kept the site
Benson said the upside to having no resistance to illness was that he got a private room most of the time.
He remains mindful about the 20% chance of re-occurrence during the first
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