Cancer survivor to throw out first pitch
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Traci Hart is in training. Her dad, who coaches a T-ball team, has given her pointers and caught her pitches. Her 9-year-old son, Seth, has offered to be her coach and her husband has promised to practice throws with her as well. Her grandfather had this piece of advice: “Don’t throw like a girl.”
And what is all this preparation for?
On May 9, the 36-year-old cancer survivor will step onto the mound and throw the first pitch at the Connecticut Defenders game at Dodd Stadium. More than 30 friends and family will be attending the game and more than 100 staff members from the school where she teaches will be going with their families, all sitting together to show their support.
The game is the kick-off event for the Backus Breast Health Initiative, a $3-million investment in breast health, which includes adding the latest in digital mammography technology, improving the early detection and treatment of cancer and adding a new program to help guide women with abnormal mammograms through the healthcare system. The Backus Foundation is committed to raising $1 million to support the Backus Breast Health Initiative. The hospital and its community partners have scheduled a number of fundraising events to benefit the cause.
Mrs. Hart, who lives in Colchester, was nominated by two of her co-workers at the Charles E. Murphy Elementary School in Montville, where she teaches first grade.Debbie Murphy, a paraprofessional in Mrs. Hart’s classroom who has worked with her for 11 years, and Sue Jurczik, a second grade teacher at the school, put her name forth for the honor and are organizing the support from staff members.
“Traci Hart has heart. She’s our hero. She walks into school every day with a smile on her face. It doesn’t matter what she’s going through at the time, you would never know it,” Mrs. Murphy said. “She laughs and she makes us laugh. She fights her cancer with humor, optimism and with the love of those around her. Traci never gives up and therefore neither will we.”
Mrs. Hart was first diagnosed with breast cancer at age 29. Because her mother had been diagnosed a couple years earlier, when Mrs. Hart felt a lump in her breast she immediately sought treatment. Although she didn’t think it would be cancer at her age, she was diagnosed at Backus and the next week had a mastectomy and started chemotherapy treatments.
In July 2004, a spot on her hip was detected through a routine scan, and because she has a gene that indicates high risk for ovarian and breast cancer, she had her ovaries removed to try to reduce the estrogen hormone production that can feed the cancer.
She received radiation treatments for her hip and chest wall. Spots were found on her spine in winter 2007 and over the past summer, so doctors decided on an aggressive treatment with a pill form of chemotherapy, called Xeloda.
Mrs. Hart is very upfront when discussing her disease and treatment. Because of this, her surgeon, Thomas Sena, MD, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon on the Backus Medical Staff, has recommended patients call her before undergoing surgery to ask any questions they might have.
“I have a positive attitude, and at home we try to keep things as normal as possible,” said Mrs. Hart. “I have been able to work through all of this and the staff at school have been so supportive.” She also credits her husband, Darryl, for his ongoing support. They started dating at 15 and have been together ever since.
“This girl is just amazing and she handles everything with grace. I really believe it is because of her outlook that she does so well,” Ms. Murphy said. “Even when she is walking around in socks because her feet and hands are sensitive due to her medication, she doesn’t complain.”
Ms. Murphy thought this would be a great way for her friends and colleagues to show their support for her.
“She had been unbelievable through it all,” she said. “It all started with her original diagnosis, a few of us from school went over to her house to see her and she said ‘No one is allowed to come in without a smile on their face.’ She has kept a smile the whole time.”