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Thursday, October 19, 2000

Survivor Rangel spreads the word on breast cancer
Cancer takes many forms, can be beaten with early detection
By Mary Moreno
Caller-Times

Rangel

Not all forms of breast cancer manifest themselves in lumps, state Rep. Irma Rangel wants women to know.
   After eight months of fighting a rare form of inflammatory breast cancer doctors told Rangel earlier this week she was in remission.
   Now Rangel, D-Kingsville, chairwoman of the House Committee on Higher Education, hopes her fight will educate women that breast cancer comes in more than one shape and that it can be beaten.
   "I want women to know that you don't only look for a lump on the breast, but you look at the color, swelling and texture," she said. "In the beginning it was very scary, because I didn't know if I would see the day when I could say I was in full remission. (But) it's much more scarier when you don't see the doctor, because cancer spreads."
   Although inflammatory breast cancer is one of the most aggressive forms of breast cancer, it only accounts for 5 percent of all breast cancer diagnoses, said local surgeon Dr. Paul Farek.
   Survival for women diagnosed with the most common form of cancer is near 70 percent, but for inflammatory breast cancer patients the five-year survival rate drops to 30 percent. In 50 percent of inflammatory breast cancer cases, Farek said, the cancer spreads to other organs in a couple of years.
   Farek said inflammatory breast cancer is usually treated with a combination of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. The main warning signal is redness of the breast. Other warning signs to look for include swelling of the breast or nipple.
   "It's (name is) really a descriptive term," Farek said. "You have cancer cells blocking the lymphatics of the skin - structures that collect fluid from the tissue and put it back into circulation."
   Rangel's cancer might not have been diagnosed in time had she not fallen in January. Concerned that the fall might have hurt her ribs, she sought medical attention. After an examination, the doctor told her he wasn't worried about the ribs. It was her red, irritated breast that concerned him.
   Rangel said she had noticed one of her breasts was swollen and red, but she thought it was the result of a bug bite or an infection and wasn't alarmed. Also, she had routine mammograms, didn't have a family history of breast cancer and took care of herself. She never thought the redness and swelling might be caused by breast cancer.
   She thought, "maybe it's just an infection that can be treated with antibiotics."
   The doctor ordered a mammogram and sonogram, but both came back negative. Still, her doctor wasn't satisfied with the results and suggested a biopsy. That's when she finally learned she had breast cancer.
   "I thought I was doing everything right," she said. "I was eating right and exercising. I was very surprised to find out I had cancer. Thank God I fell down, or else I might not have done anything."
   Six months of weekly chemotherapy treatments and two months of daily radiation treatments followed the diagnosis.
   "It was hard work," she said. "I responded fine to the chemo. I did fine up until the last two weeks, (then) I got a little bit tired."
   Rangel said she is sharing her experience to give women hope that even aggressive, rare forms of breast cancer like the one she had can be survived.
   "I strongly suggest that they go see their doctor," she said. "I am proof that there is treatment for it."



Staff writer Mary Moreno can be reached at 886-3774 or by e-mail at morenom@caller.com

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