Finding cancer early matters

Mammograms detected the cancer in both women while in the beginning stages.

By WILLIAM K. ALCORN

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

Breast Cancer Survivor.

“It’s not a club you want to be in, but once you are a cancer survivor, it’s a kind of a sisterhood,” said Annette Camacci of Poland.

“When I got the call, I was at work. I thought, ‘I have to go home and plan my funeral so my husband won’t have to take care of it. My mom shouldn’t have to bury me,’” said Vera Brown of Mineral Ridge. “That lasted about 20 minutes. It’s scary, but it’s out there and you have to deal with it head-on.”

Both women have done just that.

Their cancers were discovered in early stages by mammograms, long before a lump had developed that could have been discovered by self-examination or by a doctor’s examination.

“I’m a calendar girl for early detection,” said Camacci, whose cancer consisted of calcifications. It was defined as invasive, and hormone receptive with no lymph node involvement, and fortunately in its earliest stage.

Camacci’s cancer was removed by a lumpectomy, and she was treated with radiation.

“If it is caught early, you will be a survivor,” said Brown, who had ductile carcinoma insitu, which is also the result of calcifications that she said resemble grains of salt.

“As far as I know, it has not matasticized [spread] to other parts of my body,” said Brown, who eventually had a double mastectomy and breast reconstruction.

The women have several things in common, besides being cancer survivors.

Both were relatively young when they were diagnosed. Brown was 40, and Camacci, 48. Also, they say they want to tell their stories as a wake-up call to all women; that breast cancer can come anyone’s way, even if there is no family history of the disease; and that early detection and treatment are the keys to survival.

Also, they were determined to get the quality of their lives back. For example, both were avid runners before being diagnosed and continue to be now that they are cancer survivors. Both have gone back to their jobs and have added being spokeswomen for cancer to their agendas.

Vera’s Story

Brown, 43, of Mineral Ridge, is a 1982 graduate of Campbell Memorial High School and attended Youngstown State University for several years before going to the Mahoning County Joint Vocational School to learn medical assisting. She then moved on to nephrology, the study of the kidney, and became a Board of Nephrology certified technician and now works for the Center for Dialysis Care in Howland.

Her mother, Ann Skoufatos, lives in Campbell. A brother, Nick, lives in Poland, and a sister, Michele Mullarkey is of Canfield.

Brown was on the job April 19, 2005, when she got results of her biopsy. She was 40.

Her cancer saga had begun some six months before, when she was advised by her doctor, because of her age, to have a mammogram. It showed some abnormality, and she was advised to test again in six months.

At that time, the mammogram’s findings were “suspicious,” and on April 12, the area was biopsied.

“They said the results of the biopsy would be back in 5 to 7 days. It’s on your mind. I kept thinking, if it is cancer, we’re not going to be stupid. I refused to be in denial. I wanted to attack it head-on,” she said.

At that point, only Brown and her husband, Paul, a former Youngstown City policeman who retired on disability, knew she might have cancer. “We both kept saying no matter what, we’re going to get through it,” she said.

“I remember the time. It was 10:10 a.m. My gynecologist called and said: ‘Vera, it’s not good. It’s cancer.’ I asked what kind.” Brown called her husband at home and told him the results.

His reaction? “I was in shock and terrified. I had just lost my dad to cancer. I became extremely angry at the disease itself ... at the word cancer,” Paul Brown recalled.

Brown had a lumpectomy on her right breast in June 2005, and underwent radiation treatments. She went back for a checkup in six months and asked for mammograms on both breasts. A small cyst was found in her left breast, but it was considered noncancerous, she said.

In December 2006, Brown said she complained of scar tissue in her right breast, but it wasn’t just scar tissue. The cancer had returned. “I said, ‘Oh, Merry Christmas to you, too.’ I couldn’t believe it,” she said.

She went to an oncologist and discussed a mastectomy, “which I would never talk about,” and it was decided to do a double mastectomy.

It was while shopping for a plastic surgeon for breast reconstruction that Brown learned about a rare procedure called deep inferior epigastric perforator flap (DIEP Flap), in which a flap of skin and fat is taken from the lower abdomen and used to make new breasts.

She successfully underwent the 20-hour combination double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery on May 2 at the Cleveland Clinic. The operation requires surgery with a microscope, because the surgeon has to re-attach the belly blood vessels to a new blood supply in the breast area.

“I was in very good health and I did not smoke and was not overweight, which made me a good candidate for the surgery,” she said. In fact, at 5 feet 2 inches and 125 pounds, she was in such good shape that she did not have enough belly tissue for two complete breasts, so she is planning to have an implant in the near future to make them symmetrical.

Asked why, Brown said: “It makes you feel whole ... like you’re a woman again. When you look in the mirror, you know you are you. Things that have been taken away are put back.”

A runner who had competed in the Peace Race in Youngstown, the Columbus Marathon, the Susan G. Komen Race for a Cure and more, Brown was released to run again this summer and participated in the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life Race at Cafaro Field in Niles.

“I appreciate everything I have. I have cancer, it doesn’t have me. I have good support from my husband and family and friends. Yes, you get depressed and emotional. Sometimes I cry, but I never said, ‘Why me?’ I just hate cancer. When I have a bad day, I go for a run or bike ride or swing in the backyard. You have your pity party and move on.”

Annette’s story

Annette Camacci, 50, lives in Poland with her husband, Dave, and daughter, Lauren. A 1974 graduate of Chaney High School, she is an administrative assistant in the health insurance division of First Place Insurance in Boardman. She volunteers at Holy Family Parish in Poland, as well as for cancer-related events. Her husband is chief financial officer for Aerolite Extrusion in Boardman. Lauren is a freshman at College of Wooster.

Camacci has a history of breast cancer on her mother’s side, and two of her father’s brothers and a sister “all had some sort of cancer.” Still, she did not see it coming for herself.

As a member of the Youngstown Junior League, Camacci had been involved in the organization’s annual Pink Ribbon Tea for cancer survivors 13 years, including several times as co-chairwoman. Also, she got involved in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.

She was diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2005 and had a lumpectomy a month later.

“I went in for a regular exam and a mammogram. It never crossed my mind that I might have cancer,” she said.

A couple of days later, she got a call to come back, that they needed another view.

“They had me wait to make sure the picture was good. The radiologist walked into the room and I went cold. He started talking about calcification. And once he said carcinoma, everything else he said became a white noise,” she said.

She call Dr. Nancy Gantt, who is a friend, and Dr. Gantt told her to get the films and come over and she’d give her a second opinion. “We did it in her kitchen,” Camacci said.

A week later, on Feb. 18, 2005, a biopsy confirmed the diagnosis.

That day a friend, unaware of the diagnosis, picked Camacci up to go shopping. “I got in the car and told her. We went shopping. I didn’t know what else to do. I couldn’t stay home and cry,” Camacci said.

The husbands in their group of friends annually cook their wives a Valentine’s dinner. “We were shell-shocked, but we still celebrated. We had a good time,” she said.

She had the lumpectomy March 8, and the surgeon also took out four lymph nodes to biopsy. They were not cancerous, and it was determined the cancer had not spread.

Camacci also underwent a genetic test, called Oncotype DX, that she said looks at 17 genes within the tumor sample to give a score that predicts the likelihood of recurrence, and helps determine if chemotherapy is needed.

In her case, chemotherapy was not necessary. As follow-up to surgery and radiation treatments, she has bloodwork every three months and is on Tamoxifen for five years. Tamoxifen is a medication that interferes with the activity of estrogen, which Camacci said fuels the growth of breast cancer cells.

“I feel very blessed. If I had to get breast cancer, this was the one to get,” she said. “I pray a lot, and try to stay positive. Cancer doesn’t have to be a death sentence.”

Since her recovery, she has gotten more involved in cancer activities. In 2005, she and her daughter helped in the survivor tent at the Boardman Relay for Life, an American Cancer Society event; and this year at the relay she was involved in enrolling women in ACS’ Cancer Protection Screening 3 study.

The cancer society wants to enroll 500,000 women who have not had cancer in the 20-year study and try to track how lifestyle, the environment and genetics impact their chances of getting cancer.

Camacci said working on the cancer events, such as the Pink Ribbon Tea and Relay for Life, reminds her that somewhere in the future her cancer could return, and makes her wonder how she would handle it.

“When I look at women who have had much more trouble than I have with cancer, I do so with love and admiration and concern. And I think, if they can do it, I can do it,” she said.

alcorn@vindy.com