I'm a Survivor: Cathy Fitzgerald

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Cassandra Whitman
  • 354th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska --  (This article is part of a series featuring Airmen and their families, as well as DOD civilians, who have fought or continue to fight a battle with cancer.)

March 2008

Cathy Fitzgerald, a financial and computer support assistant for the Air Force Office of Special Investigations detachment at Eielson had received care from Bassett Army Community Hospital at Fort Wainwright for more than 30 years. That day's appointment was like any other with normal check-ups and her yearly mammogram.

In April, she received a letter in the mail stating she needed a biopsy. Later, the results were in; the doctor's voice on the other end of the phone said it all.

"I have cancer!" she said.

She was 46 years old.

Tears fell down her face as she tried to find the words to tell her husband, Kevin, who is a retired military veteran.

The news was a shock for both of them. Wiping their tears away they said, "Let's beat this."

The day after, Cathy called her doctor's office to make an appointment. The doctor suggested surgery to test her lymph nodes. The results indicated microscopic traces of cancer so the doctor removed all of the lymph nodes in her left arm.

The next step for Cathy was to discuss having a mastectomy. She would need to travel to Madigan Army Medical Center in Washington for the surgery to take place.

June 2008

Cathy returned to MAMC for her surgery after an initial visit the previous month. A doctor and his team performed the mastectomy on her left breast and a different doctor came in immediately after to start the reconstructive surgery. Cathy needed to remain at MAMC for a week for follow up and recovery.

During her stay, Kevin and their two daughters came to care for her while she rested.

"They were all so helpful and supportive," Cathy said.

The family decided the best way to get through such a difficult time was to stay positive, joke around and have a good time.

Cathy returned back home, and had an appointment with her doctor at Bassett. They discussed the need to consult with an oncologist and begin chemotherapy. Every week, Cathy returned to MAMC to get saline injections for the expander placed in her chest to stretch her skin in preparation for her implant.

But complications arose. She developed an infection, requiring surgery to remove the infected expander and replace it with a new one.

July 2008

Cathy started seeing Dr. Jacqueline Cox, an oncologist at the Cancer Treatment Center in Fairbanks, Alaska. Cox recommended that Cathy start chemotherapy sooner, rather than later.

Cathy had to travel back to MAMC to get the second expander removed so she could start chemotherapy.

October 2008

Cathy had her first chemotherapy treatment. She was considered HER2+, meaning she would be getting three types of chemotherapy drugs.

Later that month, Cathy attended her first Breast Cancer Detection Center Gala event.

"I'll never forget how emotional all of us got when we heard the speaker telling her story," Cathy said. "Then they asked for everyone who was currently battling cancer to stand and hold hands.  I don't recall the song playing, but I sure do recall the tears that were rolling down my cheeks and those of my daughters."

After enduring many trips to MAMC for multiple surgeries, overcoming her infection and visiting the Cancer Treatment Center, Cathy returned home and fell into a weekly routine to receive chemo every Friday. She explained that her coworkers at AFOSI were very understanding, and helped arrange the schedule so she could take every Friday off. She would have three hours of treatment in Fairbanks those mornings and take the remainder of the day and weekend to rest.

Within a few months, Cathy lost all of her hair. She became very weak and had gone through several blood transfusions. She was at her weakest in December. She had to call and let her job know she needed to take a three-month leave of absence. AFOSI was very supportive and Cathy received leave donations for her three-month absence from people at work, people who worked across Eielson and from those in the Fairbanks area.

She continued with her weekly treatments with Kevin at her side through every moment.

Cathy developed a side effect called neuropathy during the treatment. This is where her fingertips and toes would become numb all the time. She couldn't wear certain shoes and she lost her sense of touch in the affected digits. She also lost her appetite and couldn't taste the food she was able to eat.

Cathy tried to find the humor in the situation and often joked with her daughters that she could afford to lose a few pounds. She lost 30 pounds throughout the course of her therapy.

March 2009

Cathy was ready to return to work, but due to the neuropathy, she was not able to drive. She started feeling helpless as she depended on her husband and daughters to get her to and from work, as well as to all of her appointments.

Despite all the hardships, she said she found the good in everything. Her hair was starting to grow back and she had regained the use of her taste buds.

October 2009

Cathy was finally done with her chemotherapy, but her journey was far from over. She continued to see her oncologist every month for follow ups and lab work. She was also ready to go back to MAMC to continue her reconstructive surgery and put the expander back in.

Once again, she traveled back and forth each week to get saline injections. Unfortunately she suffered another infection and had to again go through surgery to clean out the infection.

In early 2010, Cathy was headed to MAMC to get her breast implant. Her operation was successful and Cathy said she finally felt balanced out and had a moment of success.

Three years later, Cathy continues to visit her oncologist and has regained her driving abilities. The neuropathy is still a problem, but she said she's learned to deal with it.

January 2014

While on a trip in Mexico with her husband, Cathy started to feel pain where her breast implant was. She tried to wait until they were scheduled to return home to see her doctor, but her implant started leaking.

Her husband notified the resort they were staying at and an in-house doctor come to their room and examine what was going on. The news was not good; another infection had occurred.

She had two choices. She could try to get an emergency medivac to the nearest American hospital in San Diego, or she could go immediately with the doctor to the hospital used for resort guests. Cathy had a serious infection eating away at her skin causing the leakage.

With the help of her husband, they decided to go with the doctor and get treated right away.

Two hours later, Cathy made it through an emergency surgery to remove the implant and clean out the infection. She spent two of their last three vacation days in the hospital recovering and was released just in time to catch her flight back to Alaska.

As soon as she arrived back home, she went to her doctor for additional treatment of her surgical wound and was sent straight to Anchorage to see a plastic surgeon to close up the wound.

While there, she was told that because of the many infections with the expanders and now her implant doctors could conclude that her body was rejecting having a foreign object in it.

Cathy made the tough decision, with her husband's support, to not seek a new implant. Instead, she opted to get a prosthetic breast, rather than risk yet another infection.

Today, after all the trials and hardships endured by Cathy, as well as all the fears and frustrations felt by her family; Cathy is cancer free.

Cathy is a survivor.