Hurley woman celebrates five years of good health

By P.J. GLISSON

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Hurley - Kathy Santini will celebrate her fifth anniversary next month. It's been five years since a mammogram revealed she had breast cancer.

Santini said she'd been getting mammograms annually "for years," and the one in November of 2013 showed she had ductal carcinoma in situ, which she said means the cancer had not spread beyond the spot in which it was found.

"If you have to get cancer," she said, "that's the kind to get."

She said breast cancer did not run in her family (her mom is 94) and that no symptoms had occurred. "I was 69 when I got it," she said. "The chances go up when you're older."

She added that it helped to have her husband, Dan, with her when she spoke with the doctor, so a partner could help her to absorb the news. "The word 'cancer' gets in the way of everything," she said. She also did a lot of research because the more you know, the more it helps to "ease" your mind.

Soon after the discovery, Santini had a lumpectomy, followed by nearly 30 radiation treatments at the Marshfield Clinic in Woodruff, Wis.

The treatments were only about five minutes, but a two-hour roundtrip was required each time to get them. "That was a horrible winter," said Santini, recalling roads covered with snow and ice. But she said the Marshfield staff was "wonderful," along with her local physician, Dr. Enrico Braucher, at Aspirus Ironwood.

By the end of February, she was done with the radiation and then decided on her own to seek treatment from a reflexologist, which is someone who specializes in a form of alternative medicine that involves manipulating "pressure points" on the feet that are said to connect to all parts of the body, thereby promoting overall good health.

Santini's reflexologist also is a master of Reiki, which is another form of alternative medicine in which the practitioner promotes reduction of stress and the flow of "life force energy."

On the advice of her natural health practitioner, Santini changed her diet. Although raised on a farm, she said, "I don't drink milk anymore because my cancer was hormone-based, and milk has hormones." She also uses essential oils, which she said have a calming effect.

Santini still also continues standard medical care, which includes continuing mammograms, visits with her oncologist, and traditional medication. Her general lifestyle also helps.

Santini said one relief after the radiation was that she and her husband went to Arizona, where they normally spend the worst of winter months. "It was nice to have that to look forward to," she said, explaining that several relatives live there, including her oldest son, Paul.

Santini loves the weather there, along with the bougainvillea, the desert and the "green" that also exists there. "My husband likes to golf," she said, and they enjoy just being outside, going to movies or even simple pleasures such as breakfast. In addition, she said, "Danny and I enjoy the drive down there, too."

They have a son, Scott, and daughter, Jennifer, who live in this region as well, and Santini said her daughter has "a great farm with horses and chickens." Taking joy in grandchildren also is part of their routine.

"Our family laughs a lot, which helps, and we have a dog," she said. "He's very entertaining." Santini said they once had a Corgi named Sophie for 14 years and loved the breed so much that when they lost her, they made a habit of taking in senior Corgis. So far, they've adopted three of them, with the latest being Austin, age 11.

Overall, said Santini, she exercises and stays busy selling real estate and volunteering on the boards of the Hurley K-12 School Foundation and of the Highline Corporation.

"I'm a pretty upbeat person, so that's not usually a problem," she said, adding, "I have a really great circle of friends and a great husband and family."

As for her history, she said she just looked over her records from five years ago and said "it was really hard" because it "brought everything back again."

But she concluded that one shouldn't dwell on such things. "I'm probably more grateful than usual, and I have realized how important it is to listen to your body and to know your body and to find a way to be in tune with it."

In short, she said, "Onward and upward!"