4/19/07

For Harvin, surviving is a journey, not an acquittal
By Cathy Gilbert

CATHY GILBERT/Manning Times

Sales manager, legislator, mother and cancer survivor, Cathy Harvin relaxes in her Summerton home.

Thanks to reality television, the word “survivor” conjures up images of physically fit, youthful men and women facing the challenges of rough terrain, limited sustenance and tension-filled interpersonal relations.

However, for anyone who has faced cancer, “survivor” takes on a whole new meaning.

And for S.C. House of Representative member Cathy B. Harvin, being a survivor has been more about the journey and less about the outcome.

“I believe that being a survivor is continuance, not an acquittal,” said Harvin, a breast cancer survivor. “Being a survivor is a wake-up call and a gift. It helps us face the reality that each moment that we have is an opportunity to do something extraordinary with our lives; something for the benefit of others.”

Extraordinary indeed.

Harvin was first diagnosed with breast cancer in October of 2004. Because the mass was so large, her medical team opted for something called neoadjuvant therapy which means Harvin received chemotherapy before her tumor was removed.

“Unlike most treatment protocols, I had chemo first, because my tumor was the size of an orange,” she candidly explained. “By the time I had finished chemo, my tumor was essentially gone and surgery was done to remove some scar tissue and some lymph nodes, which were all cancer-free.”

Radiation followed the surgery and ended in October of 2005, ironically, the same week Harvin buried her husband, Alex.

By January of 2006, however, Harvin was noticing pain in her chest and back which her doctors at the Medical University of South Carolina diagnosed as costochondritis, or an inflammation of the junctions where the upper ribs join with the cartilage that holds them to the breastbone or sternum. Her doctors assured her that this pain was caused by her radiation treatments.

By July of that year, Harvin’s breastbone was protruding through her clothing and she knew something was not right.

“I went back to Dr. Duffy in Sumter who had overseen my radiation treatments,” she said. “He ordered some scans and in one look knew it was back. He believes there was a positive lymph node under my sternum that was left behind because it is really not operable.”

Another round of radiation and an oral form of chemotherapy called Xeloda (which Harvin will take for the rest of her life), have left Harvin without any detectable cancer.

Harvin is now under the watchful eye of oncologists at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida where she is currently seen, scanned, poked and prodded every three months.

“Late one night when all this recurrence stuff began, I was surfing the ‘net and came across the Mayo Clinic’s website,” she said. “I filled out a form, thinking it was merely a marketing tool and by 8:30 the next morning they were calling me to find out when I could come there.”

Harvin said they have been wonderful to work with, scheduling her visits so that she can see all her doctors and have all her tests in just one day.

Harvin said the recurrence experience has been a life altering one. And one that has taught her the importance of being in charge of your own health.

“Is there a more devastating verdict that a doctor can render than cancer?” she asked. “Reoccurrence – now there is a word that will truly take your breath away. When we find the lump, or feel the persistent unusual pain, we want so desperately to believe it is nothing. We wait and hope it will go away and when a health care professional says, ‘Its nothing,’ we resist the urge to challenge the decision because we want to believe we are fine. Herein lies one of life’s most difficult realities; we know our bodies better than anyone else and we have to be responsible for directing our own healthcare.”

For Cathy Harvin, taking that responsibility and not being content with the “it’s nothing” diagnosis, has probably meant the difference in life or death. And Harvin obviously still has a lot of living to do.

While not managing a full-time career as a major account manager for Dell Computers, handling K-12 education accounts, Harvin is enjoying her first full term in the S.C. House. Among other duties, Harvin is deputy minority leader, chair of the subcommittee on health and environmental affairs and a member of the medical, military and municipal affairs committee.

In short, Harvin doesn’t leave a lot of time for worrying about tomorrow or the future. She is too busy making the most of every one of her today’s.

“We have people who depend on us for work, for help and for love and we must continue on for as long as we can,” she said. “This is the essence of life’s journey.”