For two years, Regan Pflasterer didn’t feel well.
The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
Joy Swearingen, Quill Correspondent
For two years, Regan Pflasterer didn’t feel well.
She had headaches with an aura, nausea, double vision and brief seizures. “I would stare and stop what I was doing for a short period of time,” described Regan.
At the time, she and her husband, Tom, lived in Lomax, with their two-year-old daughter. Regan was a temporary worker in Burlington area factories, including Case and IHC. It was good work, but as a temp she did not have health insurance.
She treated her pain as best she could, with shots for migraines, chiropractic treatments and over the counter pain medicine.
Finally she was hired full-time at the ammunition plant in Burlington in May of 2020. She was working in material handling that included driving a fork lift.
She made an eye appointment because of her recurring double vision, and was sent on to Great River Medical Center for an MRI.
“It showed a seven centimeter cystic solid lesion in the medial frontal cortex,” Regan said. “That is the part of the brain that manages thinking, emotions, personality judgment, self control, the ability to learn and store memories.”
She was sent to Iowa City by ambulance. Because of COVID restrictions at that time, she was only able to have brief visits from her husband.
“I remember being relieved when everyone else was scared,” Regan said. “I finally had an answer to my symptoms. I was convinced that the tumor was benign, that they would remove it, and I would be fine.”
Regan’s surgery to remove the tumor was Sept. 19, 2020. She went home just two days later.
“I had lost feeling to my right arm. I had many wires and cords and had trouble moving my mouth,” said Regan. “I assume it was the feeling someone might have when they have a stroke.”
It took two weeks to get the biopsy results. On Oct. 5, Regan and Tom traveled back to Iowa City where they learned her lab samples were malignant.
“It hit hard, having gone from relief for having an answer, to an unexplainable feeling,” Regan said. “I would receive radiation and chemotherapy.
“My husband made the difficult calls to our family while we both cried on the way home.”
She was offered group therapy or individual counseling at Iowa City, but Regan felt she had all the support she needed, and did not want to spend any more time away from her family.
“Friends, family, co-workers and the community pitched in to help make meals and raise money. The love shown during that time of being off work and going through treatment can never be repaid.”
Regans’s radiation started Oct. 15, and continued with 34 treatments that ended Dec. 3. She had a schedule of friends and family who drove her to Iowa City, since Tom could not always get off work.
Her chemotherapy came in the form of pills that arrived in the mail. She took that treatment until July of 2021. Fortunately, she did not have serious reaction to the chemo, but her life still had many ups and downs.
“My daughter had started to school. I was happy to be able to put her on the bus and hear about what she was learning when she returned home.”
Regan had been told her life could end in 15 months, depending on how she responded to treatment, so she tried to get things in order while still maintaining a relatively “normal” life.
“I lived a day-to-day life. I struggled with some memory loss and finding words that I knew. I was embarrassed and felt little motivation. I was already taking medication for depression and anxiety, and those doses were increased.”
Her check-ups became further apart. First three months, and then six months. She was able to go off of seizure medication. Going back to work helped.
“I had been placed on short-term disability from my job. After six months I was able to return to work,” she said. As a material handler for the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant, her forklift license was pulled and she was given light duty.
“It was good to have tasks to keep me active and build my strength. I was finally able to convince the doctors that I no longer needed light duty and was able to get back my license.”
In 2024 she was offered a supervisor position for her area.
“It was hard to accept that I needed to move forward with my life and take the opportunity. It was good to exercise my brain,” she said.
Since then another opportunity has come for an environmental position that is even better for her physical and mental health.
At her last appointment in April of 2025, the scan was clear, and she was offered stretching appointments to once a year.
“My husband quickly declined. It gives us and my family peace of mind to know everything is okay,” she said.
“With this kind of cancer you can’t say, ‘I am in remission.’ The cancer cells are always there. It is something I live with.”
But that is what Regan and her family are doing. In 2023 Regan and Tom bought a home in Dallas City with apple trees and space for their daughter to enjoy the outdoors.
She is very aware she is long past that first 15-month prognosis.
“I responded well. I am a young woman. There’s so much research and I had a great team. It is important to accept what you do have. Just keep living and moving forward. Do what’s right for you.”
This week marks five years since Sept. 19, 2020, when Regan had the first surgery that started her cancer journey.
“There isn’t a day I don’t think about the fact that I have cancer, but there are more days that it doesn’t bother me as much. Now, instead of day-by-day I make plans months ahead of time. You need milestones. I plan to see my daughter graduate.”