Photo courtesy of Pam Sciara.
0413 Pam
Pam Sciara, left, and son Austin wore pink wigs to their first Race for a Cure in 2011. Sciara, a breast cancer survivor, believes her purpose is to share her story, which she intends to continue doing at this year’s Relay for Life in Chelsea.
Pam Sciara sat quietly as her son Austin cut her hair into a Mohawk.
Moments before, the 10-year-old had shaved his father’s head. Sciara’s husband, Samuel, was showing moral support and trying to ease their 8-year-old son Vincent into the family’s new look.
After the Mohawk, Austin gave Sciara a new style she called “G.I. Pam.” There was brief moment of ensuing laughter. Vincent, though, was hidden in his room. He failed to see the humor in the situation.
After all, his mom had cancer.
A mammogram performed in July 2010 during Sciara’s annual checkup had shown abnormal results. She wasn’t worried until her second test yielded abnormal results, as well.
A month prior, on her sister’s birthday, Sciara and her husband received the news: she had Stage 2B lobular carcinoma, a form of invasive breast cancer. Less than two weeks later, doctors performed a double mastectomy and learned cancerous cells were in 15 lymph nodes. She was prescribed 12 rounds of chemotherapy and 35 rounds of radiation therapy.
In order to keep family and friends updated on her treatment, she started a journal with caringbridge.org. In it, she mentioned the first four weeks were the worst, nicknamed “the red devil” and retold she got a “Halle Berry cut” to prepare herself for chemo’s side effects.
Less than two weeks after starting chemo, Sciara started seeing signs of hair loss and had Austin shave her head. She ultimately decided to go without a wig. Her aunt made her a hat that said “No Hair Day” to protect her head.
“I wasn’t ashamed, and I wanted my boys to see faith and courage,” she said, “and just because I looked different, I was the same person inside.”
Sciara didn’t want her illness to affect her children negatively and was grateful to finish chemo before Christmas.
“My sons weren’t used to seeing me laying on the couch not feeling good,” Sciara said. “I wanted it to be as normal as possible when they were out of school for Christmas break. I wanted us to celebrate and not worry about cancer.”
But their break was short lived. In January 2011, the second round of her treatment began: radiation therapy.
Sciara drove herself to the Shelby Cancer Center every weekday for seven weeks for radiation.
During treatment, Sciara took a leave of absence from working as a substitute teacher and for an after-school day care at Chelsea Park Elementary.
“My youngest didn’t like seeing me like that,” she said of Vincent, so she felt it best not to worry the other children.
Her husband worked extra hours to make up for lost income, and her friends brought the family meals.
“You truly find out who your friends are,” Sciara said.
When she was finally deemed cancer-free, the suffering wasn’t over. Sciara had a hysterectomy shortly after radiation therapy as a preventative measure for relapse. The tissue expanders she had implanted after her double mastectomy caused issues throughout her treatment and finally collapsed, as her tissue kept rejecting reconstruction.
In one year, she’d had seven surgeries. She had had enough.
“I just wanted to be a mom and take care of my boys,” Sciara said. “I didn’t want them to have another summer with me constantly at the doctor.” After reconstruction failed, she settled for using a prosthesis.
“Breasts aren’t as big of a deal as my life,” she wrote in a journal entry.
On May 16, 2011 as a part of Relay for Life Chelsea, Sciara participated as a first time cancer survivor and held a sign during the Survivor’s Lap. Going around the track and telling her story with other survivors made a lasting impression on her.
Two years later, in February 2013, Sciara found herself standing before the Chelsea Relay for Life Kickoff Party telling her story again. She spoke about the mammogram that changed her life and God’s help through it all. At 43, Sciara believes she has a purpose to share her story and to advocate getting yearly checkups and mammograms.
Relay for Life Chelsea will begin at 6 p.m. on May 3 at Chelsea High School and run until 10 a.m. the next day. Sciara will be there with her team “Pam’s Purpose,” walking and sharing her experience with others.
Relay for Life of Oak Mountain will be held at 4 p.m. on April 26 at Heardmont Park Stadium.
For more on either Relay event, visit relayforlife.org or contact Paula Johnson at 918-3212 or paula.johnson@cancer.org.
Relay for Life of Oak Mountain will be held at 4 p.m. on April 26 at Heardmont Park Stadium.
