military family

1 in 8 women will fight breast cancer

By Mike Reid

Posted on October 6, 2011

Patti Eafrati and her husband Tom Eafrati.

By Scott Prater

CSMNG

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month, and the National Cancer Institute estimates that one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer during their lifetime.

While it’s likely that many people know someone who has battled breast cancer, few women ever expect to be diagnosed.

Patti Eafrati, 45, a former personal trainer at the Schriever Fitness Center never thought she would.

But, two years ago, as she sat watching television, she reached to scratch a minor itch and felt a hard spot on her right breast.

She thought nothing of it at the time, figuring at worst, it was a benign cyst, like the one she had removed while in her 20s. She procrastinated about visiting her doctor for a few weeks.

“Really, I was pretty sure it was nothing,” she said. “But, when technicians at Peterson Air Force Base viewed my ultra-sound pictures, they quickly called in a doctor, who studied the frames and ordered a biopsy.”

Her nonchalance quickly turned to worry and she was asked to come back to the doctor’s office the next day. That’s when a physician’s assistant walked in, sat down and told her she had breast cancer.

“Hearing that word — cancer — it’s a scary feeling,” she said. “You automatically fear the worst. I was thinking, ‘how long do I have to live?’ That day I went through a range of emotions, shock and fear, and I asked myself how I was going to tell my husband, Tom, my mom and my dad. But, at the same time I wanted to attack this thing. I wanted to know what the next step was.”

Her doctor at Peterson AFB referred her to a surgeon at the U.S. Air Force Academy, and to an oncologist.

Col. Scott Russi, an Air Force surgeon, recommended surgery to remove the tumor, while her oncologist recommended chemotherapy first in an effort to shrink the tumor before surgery.

Ultimately, after considering the matter with her husband Tom, she elected to have surgery first.

“I wanted this tumor out of me and Dr. Russi did a wonderful job explaining and describing exactly what would happen,” she said.

Following two surgeries to remove the tumor, some surrounding tissue and a few lymph nodes, Eafrati endured four doses of chemotherapy, throughout several months, and then 33 days of radiation treatments.

Her hair fell out, she lost a lot of weight and she grew weak and tired.

“The after effects of the chemo were hard to endure,” Tom said. “Hair loss, bone pain, self injections and all, it’s hard to watch someone you care so deeply about go through that physical pain and not be able to do anything to comfort her.”

She also takes one pill of medication per day, which she’ll take for another three years. Doctors found that the tumor was feeding off her estrogen, and so they’ve basically induced a menopause state to help prevent future cancerous tumors.

Eafrati was a personal trainer and what some might call a fitness fanatic. She works out regularly and sticks to a stringent, healthy diet and remains a model for healthy living. So what’s the point of maintaining a healthy diet and lifestyle when it can’t provide some sort of guarantee against serious diseases like cancer?

“I honestly think that with the medication I’m taking I’d feel the effects of menopause much worse,” she said. “When I found out what the medication was designed to do, I worried that I might start growing a beard, but all I notice are some occasional hot flashes. The exercise and the diet play a big role in mitigating the effects of the menopause.”

She wore a bandana and hat at work for more than a year, but her hair slowly grew back.

“Most people just thought I was trying to be cool,” she said.

And a year after completing radiation treatment, doctors can’t tell her she’s cancer free. She’s considered to be in remission, and hopefully will be for the next three years. She had her third surgery , this time for reconstructive purposes, last year and now schedules regular check-ups and breast exam.

The scary part seems to have subsided, but breast cancer has changed her life. She completed a living will, “put all of her ducks in a row”, as she called it, and prepared for the worst outcome.

Now, Breast Cancer Awareness Month has a whole different context for her. It presents an opportunity for her to educate people about prevention measures and recognize the many organizations and people who assist in the research and care for cancer patients.

“The biggest thing women need to know is they don’t have to be in their 40s to contract breast cancer,” she said. “It seems to be happening with younger women all the time. Annual mammograms and weekly, if not daily, self breast exams are important. Women need to familiarize themselves so they recognize when they find something out of the ordinary. Also, women should know they are fortunate to be living in a day and age where research and technology have become so advanced. Doctors these days are more educated and knowledgeable about it.”

Eafrati said the experience has opened his eyes to the plight of cancer patients.

“Patti’s diagnosis changed my life in terms of breast cancer awareness,” Tom said. “When you see what amazing things go on at a cancer center and the amount of people this disease affects, no amount of money is enough until a cure is found.”