Facing Cancer Head-On: One Woman’s Powerful Fight and the Care at Calaway-Young Cancer Center That Got Her Through

Beth Krasemann had only lived in the Roaring Fork Valley for nine months in May 2023 when she was bitten by a dog. She hadn’t even found a doctor yet. So, when she sought medical attention for the bite at Valley View’s Roaring Fork Family Practice in Carbondale, she figured she should schedule a mammogram while she had a doctor’s attention. Soon after her mammogram Beth headed to Europe for her summer break. “I came back to three letters from Valley View saying I had to come back for more tests.” She wasn’t worried because that had happened before in previous mammograms. But this time was different.

A biopsy showed she had cancer; a PET scan followed, which revealed the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes.

“The floor just drops beneath you. You hear the word, and it’s so charged, and you think you’re going to die,” she said. She recalled being overwhelmed with a biopsy, MRI, genetic testing, PET scan and the installation of a chemotherapy port all in one month. “It all happened so fast, but I liked the pace of it,” she said. She obtained three appointments in one week to get the treatment going as soon as possible and was grateful for the attention and promptness.

“I moved here from Connecticut and at first, I thought I’d go to Denver, but I didn’t have to go anywhere. I got everything I needed right here and felt so good about my care,” she said. “I think it’s world-class here and they treat you as an individual and you really feel seen and heard with your concerns. It’s smaller at the Calaway-Young Cancer Center and that fact gives you more individualized care and the doctors know you.”

From the get-go, she said the staff at Valley View didn’t leave her side, looked her in the eye and reassured her without making empty promises. Her oncology team was made up of Dr. Alexandra Donovan and Dr. Peter Rossi, and her surgeon was the now retired Dr. Elizabeth Brew. Beth took advantage of the comprehensive and integrative services at Calaway-Young Cancer Center, including acupuncture and massage. She said everyone who took care of her did the same thing. “They put their screens away, put the iPad down, rolled up their chair and just talked to me. They were so present and professional.” Several of her doctors gave her their personal cell numbers and said she could contact them anytime.

One of her favorite parts of her experience might be unexpected. “There’s a man named Michael who plays piano in the hospital lobby. I think I went there 70 times, and you walk in and hear this beautiful music, and I loved that. One time there was a harp. It’s strange that those moments stand out but when I was going through such big treatments those little things stick out and it was truly amazing,” she said.

It hasn’t been an easy year and a half. Beth had one surgery, 20 rounds of chemotherapy, 28 rounds of radiation as well as has taken dozens of meds and follow-up appointments and she said the doctors, nurses and technicians showed up for her every time. “They always showed up for me as a human, not like I was patient number 10 that day,” she said. Through it all she kept running and walking because that is what made her feel alive. She even managed to do the Power of Four Ski Mountaineering race in Aspen while bald and hung over from chemotherapy. “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done but I couldn’t let cancer win.”