web1_TTl101015hahn.jpg

Professor Alexander Hahn of Notre Dame to speak at King’s College

web1_TTL101215smithfire.jpg

Fire prevention week at K.M. Smith

<p>Kathy Hughes survived breast cancer twice. The 58-year-old from Parsons was first diagnosed in 2005.</p><p>&#8220;I was shocked,&#8221; Hughes said. &#8220;I had no family history. I thought I was safe.&#8221;</p><p>Hughes recalled watching the news when a reporter encouraged viewers to call a friend and remind them to self-examine their breasts. She performed a self-examination and found an unusual lump in her right breast. It was stage 1 cancer. She was scared to death.</p><p>&#8220;I had two kids in college, and my youngest was in middle school. I just wanted to stay alive to raise them,&#8221; Hughes said of daughters Colleen, Kelly and Julie.</p><p>Hughes had the lump and half of her right breast removed. Following a cycle of radiation and chemotherapy, she was in remission for almost 10 years. The cancer returned, in the second stage, in January. Hughes underwent a double mastectomy and is once again cancer-free.</p><p>Hughes said she met women throughout her battle who felt the way she once did: If there&#8217;s no sign of family history, there&#8217;s an unlikely chance of getting cancer. As a mother, Hughes said it was important to inform her daughters not to have that mindset.</p><p>&#8220;Now they have family history,&#8221; Hughes said. &#8220;The ones who have history are checking themselves, but the ones with no history aren&#8217;t checking.&#8221;</p><p>She encourages all women to not be afraid to check themselves or think they&#8217;re invulnerable to developing cancer. But if cancer is the prognosis, Hughes says there&#8217;s hope at Candy&#8217;s Place, a cancer wellness center, in Wilkes-Barre.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s very hard for your brain to wrap around. It&#8217;s very overwhelming. The doctors are wonderful. They get you through it. But then you walk out the door and you need so much more,&#8221; Hughes said about being diagnosed with breast cancer. &#8220;You don&#8217;t want to talk to your family about it all the time. You don&#8217;t want to scare them. You want to talk to people going through it.&#8221;</p><p>After having a portion of her breast removed, Hughes said she wore a sock in her bra. When a woman in her exercise class at Candy&#8217;s Place overheard Hughes saying she stuffed a sock in her bra, the woman informed her of a better option: prosthetics.</p><p>&#8220;I now have a special bra that I could insert prosthetics&#8221; Hughes said. &#8220;Now my appearance is evened out. I didn&#8217;t know about any special bra before Candy&#8217;s Place. Nobody told me about that.&#8221;</p><p>Now Hughes says she finds herself introducing survivors to other options, and reminding those without family history that their genetics aren&#8217;t indicative to being diagnosed with breast cancer.</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_KathyHughes.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Kathy Hughes, center, after losing her hair during Chemotherapy in March. Her bald son-in-laws, Anthony Gratter, left, and Andy Carthy, right, posed with her. Granddaughter Cora Rose Gratter pictured on Hughes&#8217; lap. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_KathyHughes.jpg</photo0><caption0>Kathy Hughes, center, after losing her hair during Chemotherapy in March. Her bald son-in-laws, Anthony Gratter, left, and Andy Carthy, right, posed with her. Granddaughter Cora Rose Gratter pictured on Hughes&#8217; lap. </caption0><photoCredit0>Submitted photo </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Justin Adam Brown</p><p>jbrown@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Justin Adam Brown at 570-991-6652 or on Twitter @TLArts</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Why your family history with breast cancer means nothing