A Breast Cancer Survivor Urges Women To Be Aware, Seek Support

By Kaaren Valenta

Breast cancer awareness month is celebrated every October but as far as Diana Paproski is concerned, it should be a monthly observance.

“Women really have to know their bodies and do monthly breast self-examinations,” she said. “Not to be neurotic but you really have to be on top of things.”

An elementary schoolteacher and the wife of Newtown farmer Stephen Paproski, Diana Paproski, 49, is a breast cancer survivor. Until this year, however, she never dreamed that it would happen to her.

“There is no history of breast cancer in my family,” she said. “I had been to my ob/gyn [obstetrician/gynecologist] in February for a full exam on a Wednesday and was fine.”

Two days later, however, she noticed that a discharge had left a maple-syrup colored spot, about half the size of a tack, on the inside of her bra. She was not very concerned, but she called her doctor and was told that any discharge should be checked out by making a smear on a slide. By then it was gone, however.

“About 30 days later, I noticed the spot again on my left side,” Ms Paproski said. “My regular doctor — Dr Mahalingam Satchi, who is one of my heroes — was away, so I saw another doctor who opted not to do a slide. He recommended instead that I see a surgeon.”

“I made an appointment with Dr Vijay Patil, a surgeon. In the meantime, I was able to see Dr Satchi who did the smear on a slide, the results of which were sent to the surgeon.”

The surgeon looked at the results of Ms Paproski’s mammogram and an ultra sound, and saw nothing.

“The slide was the only piece of evidence that was positive,” Ms Paproski said. “Because the slide showed ‘Class 3 atypical cells, suspicious of carcinoma,’ Dr Patil suggested more tests, starting with an MRI, which showed ‘somewhat suspicious’ findings, then a biopsy at Danbury Hospital on May 25.”

The results came back three days later: DCIS, ductile carcinoma insitu, or cancer in the mammary duct. Diana Paproski got the news on her cell phone while she was shopping with her mother at a furniture store, buying a couch.

“It was awful,” Ms Paproski said. “I was in shock. But my mother and the saleswoman remained calm and supportive. I was told I was in an early stage, not a stage 4, but I was still upset because I really didn’t know what that meant. The next day I was told by a surgeon friend that if you have to have breast cancer, this is the type to get.

“I felt bad for my mother, being the first to know, but she and my dad [Jean and Charles Fadus] were wonderful. They told me ‘you are tough and you will be fine.’”

Diana Paproski soon learned that there were different treatment options available.

“I could have had a lumpectomy with radiation or a mastectomy,” she said. “I decided to get a second opinion at the Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York and got an appointment there within two days.”

By this time, it was the first week of June.

“Sloan Kettering recommended a lumpectomy and radiation, absolutely not a mastectomy, but Dr Patil suggested another type of mammogram to make sure the margins of the cancer were clear,” she said. “He and the radiation oncologist decided the margins were not clear. They said a lumpectomy would not be the best course of action, and recommended a mastectomy instead.

“How fortunate I was that Dr Patil was cautious and carefully studied all the findings before proceeding. Going through Danbury Hospital allowed my case to be reviewed by a tumor board there.”

The mastectomy was scheduled for July 16.

“At that time I didn’t want any implants or reconstruction of my breast. I have two young children and I just wanted my life,” Ms Paproski said. “But [plastic surgeon] Dr Boris Goldman told me that I was in a ‘survivor mode’ but that in a year from now I wouldn’t be.

“He was just so reasonable and so confident, that he made me feel it would be easy, as he reassured me of a better emotional recovery.”

The surgery that he recommended was called a LAT Flap, which uses the litissimus dorsi, a large flat muscle on the back, to reconstruct the breast.

“Dr Goldman gave me the name of a patient who had it done last year,” Ms Paproski said. “I called her and she had just got off the golf course!”

The reconstructive surgery was done at the same time as the mastectomy, in five and one-half hours of surgery. The surgery included a sentinel lymph node biopsy, a new diagnostic procedure that not every surgeon does. It involves the injection of a radiological dye the day before surgery, to determine whether the cancer has spread, or metastasized, to the lymph glands under the arms.

“The dye goes right to the sentinel node. If it goes to any others, they are also removed,” Ms Paproski said. “I had four removed and all were negative.”

This means that surgeons could avoid removing many of the lymph nodes from beneath her arm, making recuperation much easier. She has full range of motion in her arm and did not need to undergo physical therapy.

“I was lucky — the cancer was caught early,” Ms Paproski said. “The discharge never occurred again. Had I not noticed it those two times, it could have spread to the lymph glands and the outcome could have been much different.

“The neat part was that they asked me to be part of a research study,” she said. “They took 200 photos before, during, and after, and will use them for teaching and research. So maybe my surgery will help someone else.”

She had the surgery on a Friday and came home Sunday afternoon. “I never took any [prescription] pain medications, just Tylenol. Within two weeks I was feeling better after being pampered by my husband and my wonderful daughters, Stephanie, who is 14, and Shannon, 11. I also gained five pounds in five weeks from all the attention of my friends, who could not do enough for me.

“From day one there hasn’t been a person who hasn’t been empathetic, helpful, supportive. It’s amazing how wonderful everyone has been — they are all guardian angels,” Ms Paproski said. “Having so many friends that have had breast cancer also paved a way for me. They were so positive!

“There are also great resources available,” she said. “The Praxair Cancer Center at Danbury Hospital has a wealth of information and it is free to everyone. The hospital also has the tumor board led by Dr Patil that reviews each case.”

Ms Paproski is scheduled to return in the fall to her job at the Pequenakonck Elementary School in North Salem, N.Y., where five members of the staff also are breast cancer survivors. They have formed a team to walk in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer event this month.

“I thought I was exempt from breast cancer, but my surgeon told me that 70 percent of women in my age group that have breast cancer do not have a history of it in their families. It can happen to anyone,” Ms Paproski said.

“I appreciate life so much more since I was diagnosed. Having breast cancer was almost a gift. It gave me a heightened awareness of what life is and what a small price it was to pay.”

The experience has revealed something else to this cancer survivor.

“I’ve learned that the road to diagnosis and treatment may be rocky and not always clear cut initially,” she said. “It’s crucial to gather facts, feel comfortable with your physicians, and be connected with positive women who have been through this experience.”

After her surgery, she adopted an aging dog from the Danbury pound, who probably would have been put down. “Yetta is 15 to 18 years old, with no teeth. She is stone deaf, blind, has kidney disease, arthritis, a heart murmur, and cancer cells in her urine. But we adopted her,” Ms Paproski said. “She and I have another chance at life.”