JOHNSTOWN —
As Christmas of 2010 approached, all seemed well in Annette Hines-McFadden’s world.
The 49-year old Ebensburg woman was looking forward to spending quality with her husband, Mick McFadden.
The couple had just returned from a hunting trip to Alaska.
They had four grown children between them and six grandchildren. There was extended family, their home and a beloved dog.
Hines-McFadden had lost her job at Cambria Tractor – when her husband sold the business in July 2010.
“I left there thinking I would have a little time off to do whatever I want to do,” she said.
A few months before Christmas, a conversation with her mother revealed how she felt about her life.
“I told her that if I were to go, I have had a great life – I have nothing to complain about. I have been lucky.”
Then, on Christmas Eve, she found a lump in her breast and knew instinctively that it was a problem.
“I had a sick feeling, but I couldn’t do anything about it ’cause it was the holidays,” she recalled.
Until then, she hadn’t worried much about breast cancer.
In fact, she skipped her mammogram that year.
“I never had a problem and I thought I’d get around to it,” she said.
Within weeks of finding the lump, Hines-McFadden had her mammogram done at Richland Care Center.
“I knew by their faces” that all was not well, Hines-McFadden recalled.
She was referred to Dr. Gerard Gargiulo at Johnstown Breast Center.
“It was the best decision I made,” Hines-McFadden said. “He is wonderful.”
After a biopsy, “Dr. G” gave her the news.
She had infiltrating duct carcinoma – a treatable form of breast cancer.
Unfortunately she had a condition that allowed cells to divide abnormally fast.
She also tested positive for a gene that predisposes individuals to breast and ovarian cancer.
Hines-McFadden then saw Dr. Ibrahim Sbetian, an oncologist with Conemaugh Cancer Center.
Within weeks of her first chemotherapy treatment, the tumor had shrunk.
She lost her hair and was exhausted. She also had issues with her taste buds not working normally.
But she continued to live her normal life throughout her ordeal.
“I didn’t stop doing anything because I had cancer,” she said.
Hines-McFadden could have had a lumpectomy but she opted for a biliteral mastectomy.
She also will have complete hysterectomy.
Hines-McFadden was fortunate. The cancer had not spread. Her lymph nodes were clean as were CT and bone scans.
She will continue with medication and will be monitored, but her future appears bright once again.
Her life is pretty much back to normal.
She attends church faithfully and belongs to a quilting group. The group often donates items they make for charity – including Project Linus, which provides blankets for children in hospitals.
Since cancer has touched the group more than once, it also works on projects to benefit cancer charities.
The friends recently created the quilt for a raffle that was part of St. Francis University Relay For Life.
Yet things are not quite the same for Hines-McFadden.
“What I have gained is a great faith and a really deep love for the people around me,” she said.
“I do think that there is help from above. I had exceptional medical care, perpetual and prayerful support of family and friends, comforting advice from women who battled breast cancer and above all, divine intervention.”
She encouraged family members to be tested for the gene she carries and was thrilled to learn that her daughter does not have it.
“Hopefully, it stopped with me,” she said.
She has a bit of advice for women.
“Don’t forget your mammogram,” she said.
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