Eileen Geraghty

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Breast Cancer Survivor

By Erin Hayes Burt • Photography By James Gregg

Eileen Geraghty has a passion for teaching; whether it’s swimming, skiing, country swing dance, or special education, for which she earned a Master’s degree from the University of Arizona. She later earned a Doctorate in Educational Administration and currently teaches children with behavioral and learning problems.

As of late, teaching has enabled 57-year-old Geraghty to pursue her life-long dream to own a horse and compete in barrel racing — a rodeo event where competitors complete a clover-leaf course, marked by barrels, in the shortest amount of time.

But this dream nearly remained unfulfilled. After losing her first dog, she questioned whether she was strong enough to bear the hurt of losing a horse. It took a fight with breast cancer for her to realize that she was much stronger than she ever imagined. Now cancer free, Geraghty travels around the state competing in barrel racing on her beloved grey gelding, Tommy.

OVM: Are you a native Tucsonan?

EG: I grew up in Bayville, Long Island, which is a 3-mile long beach town in New York. My family owned a marine sales and supplies business so I grew up with boats, not horses. I moved to Tucson in 1976 when I was offered a fellowship at the U of A for my Master's degree in Special Education.

OVM: How did you wind up in Marana?

EG: I owned a home on Ruthrauff but wanted horse property. When I saw my present home with 4.5 acres, I fell in love with it. I enjoy more rural living and a small town life, like how I grew up.

After moving here, I discovered skiing at Sunrise Park Resort, and having to fulfill some self-imposed life goals, I started teaching at Sunrise and continued to do so for the next 10 years.

OVM: Can you explain what you mean by “self-imposed life goals”?

EG: To enjoy the present to the fullest, but always set a goal to reach for, a purpose to improve myself. ‘Be all you can be’ and ‘Do all you do well.’

OVM: Turning to your struggle with breast cancer, how did it all begin?

EG: In 1987, I was engaged to be married when at a routine doctor’s appointment, my primary physician found a lump in my breast. He immediately referred me for further testing. It was biopsied and I was told the lump was benign. A year later, I complained of a lump in the same location. I was told it was scar tissue. Another year passed and I still complained of the lump.

I was referred to a surgeon who ordered another biopsy. My mother was going to be in town, so I scheduled the biopsy while she was with me, still believing the lump was nothing.

OVM: What did you find out?

EG: I received a phone call from the surgeon a day or two later, asking me to come to his office immediately. He explained that the biopsy indicated a malignant tumor and that I should schedule surgery as soon as possible.

OVM: That must have been a shock.

EG: This is truly the most frightening time: knowing you have a condition that may be fatal, but waiting to do something to defend yourself against the disease. I recall thinking that I had accomplished everything I could have done to this point in my life and felt thankful for this.

OVM: There are quite a few treatment options for dealing with breast cancer. How did you determine what was right for you?

EG: I was 34 years old at the time, and was told that breast cancer is more aggressive in young women. The oncologist explained that lymph nodes would be removed from both armpits and biopsied. My family and fiancé were told that if cancer had spread from its point of origin to the right side that there would far less chance of survival and little that could be done.

I woke to a report from my surgeon that the left lymph nodes were clear. I decided on a lumpectomy, as opposed to a mastectomy, after conferring with my surgeon. This choice was gut-wrenching. Afterwards, I was told that there was surrounding tissue that should be removed and the doctors were at odds concerning further treatment or surgery. The radiation oncologist recommended aggressive radiation as opposed to a mastectomy.

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OVM: How did you fare with the treatments?

EG: The chemotherapy was given in alternating doses. I was dreadfully sick for two to three days after what I called my "big" treatment. I would go in on Fridays, be nauseous every 15 minutes or so over the weekend, and be ready for work on Monday. My blood count became so imbalanced at one time that I was not permitted to leave my house. I had radiation halfway through the chemo treatments and was admitted to the hospital once for intensive radiation. The chemo commenced and what little hair I had grown fell out again!

OVM: How did the treatments affect your “normal” life?

EG: I continued dancing, teaching, and performing as well as teaching skiing, all while wearing either a wig reinforced with tape, or a hat or a turban from a growing collection. The phone rang off the hook with support, good wishes and questions about what people could do to help. My advice would be to just do what you can for someone diagnosed with cancer, because they may never ask.

My wedding was planned for that December, when I should have been finished with treatment. But the treatment schedule had been thrown off by my blood counts, so I actually took a liquid treatment on my honeymoon. However, my marriage did not survive grad school and cancer.

OVM: After your treatments you took up barrel racing, what’s that story?

EG: I was introduced to barrel racing through a friend who was taking lessons and running barrels with a local club. I was fortunate to be able to purchase property and my first barrel horse. My first full season racing with Scooter, we won the Second Division saddle, and then tied for first place the following year. I was able to purchase my Women’s Professional Rodeo Association/PRCA card in a little over a year. A Pro card enables a contestant to enter all PRCA rodeos.

I am also on the board of the Tucson Rodeo Committee, an officer of the Arizona Women's Professional Rodeo Association, a long time member of Cowgirls and Cowboys Open Barrel Racing Association and a member of the Grand Canyon Pro Rodeo Association. [In early September,] Tommy, my Grey gelding and I, placed fourth in the Sonoita rodeo with 16.56 time!

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OVM: It sounds like life after cancer been very fulfilling.

EG: First and foremost, I have not allowed cancer to dictate my life’s design. I returned to teaching — I retired as a principal four years ago — so I can afford my barrel racing goals of being the best my horse and I can be. I presently work with students who have been suspended or removed from their home schools due to their behavioral or learning needs.

More recently, I was recognized at a Susan G. Komen barrel racing benefit in Casa Grande held by the Southern Arizona Barrel Racing Association. I was presented with a beautiful “Tough Enough to Wear Pink” barrel-racing pad, a pink calla lily, and a complete set of tack decked out with pink Swarovski crystals. This was the first time since 1986 that I had ever been publicly recognized as a cancer survivor. I hope that this recognition enables other women to have at least one person they can turn to if they are faced with the diagnosis of breast cancer.

OVM: How long have you been cancer-free?

EG: I have been cancer free for 22 years! I thank God for every day he has given me and ask that I may help other women who may be faced with this frightening but ever more treatable disease.

OVM: Congratulations. Thank you for sharing your story.

The Camisole Connection
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No decision about having a mastectomy is easy, but fortunately for Kathy Thompson she had a doctor who was up-to-date on the latest technology in after-care for breast cancer surgery. “We went in his office for the consult the day I found out, and there were three chairs. One for me, one for my husband, and one with a camisole on it. He told me, ‘When you come out of surgery, you’ll be wearing that.’”

Thompson explains, “When you have a double mastectomy, you wake up and there are tubes coming out of your chest to drain the fluid. The camisole has pockets for all that apparatus. It also has room for a prosthesis on each side, so you can go out in public, be comfortable and look normal.”

She hadn’t thought much about the gift from her surgeon until she met other survivors and even medical professionals who had never heard of the camisoles. With her belief that mental recovery from treatment is as important as physical recovery, Thompson created a nonprofit site, CamisoleConnection.com, to educate women and their doctors about post-surgical camisoles. The site also provides a comprehensive nationwide list of camisole dealers.

Thompson is a three-year survivor of breast cancer and a volunteer for Susan G. Komen For the Cure Southern Arizona.-EHB

Visit CamisoleConnection.com to find out more about one of the latest breast cancer after-care treatment options.

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