Cancer can’t stop Santa Rosa sisters (w/video)
The enduring image of Santa Rosa sisters Catherine and Ann DuBay as each faced down breast cancer is of sneakers and sweat, and hairless women in snug hats running, walking, placing one foot in front of the other.
Longtime running enthusiasts dedicated to fitness, both say exercise got them through long months of chemotherapy and noxious side effects that took a toll on mind and body.
But the sisters, individually, said their commitment to working out was as much about a determination to maintain some sense of routine amid the disruptions of a life-threatening condition as it was about the physical and mental benefits of exercise.
Catherine DuBay, general manager of the Montecito Heights Health and Racquet Club and a well-known figure in the racing community, said her path isn’t necessarily for everyone. But running, swimming, walking, “made me feel strong,” she said. “Running, being with running friends, wearing running clothes, made me feel normal.”
Those who saw the sisters confront their diagnosis and treatment would say both displayed a strength and optimism that continues to inspire and draw others dealing with breast cancer to them.
Ann DuBay said she took to heart her oncologist’s advice to resist letting cancer define her life - that “life continues.” And in her three-days-a-week, predawn spin class, she found herself in the embrace of friends who offered love and social interaction as she embraced the exertion and endorphins that helped subdue her symptoms.
“Just being on a bike, even if I couldn’t spin very hard, felt normal to me,” she said.
Catherine’s husband, Mark Mathewson, said neither sister was “willing to spend any time … wallowing in their misery.”
“They really are my role models,” said Carol DuBay, a third sister. “I say that with all sincerity. I feel like I got the best role models right here in our own family. I don’t have to look far at all.”
Ann and Cathy are the bookends of four daughters each born about a year apart to the late Bette and Tom DuBay, both public school teachers. Ann, who turned 54 Monday, is the oldest. Catherine, 50, is the youngest. Jeannette Engel and Carol DuBay, both also Santa Rosa residents, fall in between.
The sisters first encountered breast cancer as young adults when their mother was diagnosed. Bette DuBay underwent surgery and chemotherapy, and was pronounced cancer-free, until a recurrence claimed her life in 1991 at age 56.
Several years later, one of the sisters’ first cousins on their mother’s side developed cancer. She was 39 when she died.
As the oldest sister, Ann DuBay, a former editorial writer for The Press Democrat who works in community and government affairs for the Sonoma County Water Agency, generally led the way among her sisters. Her reputation for thorough research, vetting of alternatives and intelligent, fact-based decisions meant her sisters could feel comfortable, for instance, electing for themselves whatever pediatrician or preschool Ann determined was best for her son, Jake, now 21.
Finding a lump
Cancer, said Catherine DuBay, “was really the first thing that I had to go through on my own, first.”
Catherine found a lump in her breast in late 2008. An initial biopsy suggested it was benign, and she was told to return in three months.
“I was obsessed with it,” she said. “I don’t know. I just had this feeling.”
By February 2009, the mass had grown, and a more exacting biopsy found cancer. She had a double mastectomy the next month, and started chemotherapy the month after that. She was 44 when she was diagnosed. Her daughters, now teenagers, were 8 and 11.
It was around that time all four DuBay sisters sought genetic testing. Both Catherine and Ann were found to have a mutation in the BRCA1 gene that puts them at high risk for breast and ovarian cancers. Their mother, they figure, and cousin, too, probably had the same mutation. One of the cousin’s two sisters tested positive, as well.
When Catherine had breast reconstruction surgery in August 2009, she had her ovaries removed as a preventive measure. She’s now past five years, cancer-free.
By a coincidence of scheduling, Ann had surgery the same day in 2009 for removal of her ovaries and uterus, diminishing her risk for both reproductive cancers and for breast cancer.
She intended eventually to have a double mastectomy but “felt like I had a little breathing room” because of the earlier surgery.
A sister’s diagnosis
In early 2013, Ann and her cousin were talking about the likelihood of having mastectomies in the coming year. Before either could pursue the surgery, they both were diagnosed with breast cancer, three months apart. Ann was diagnosed in June of that year, underwent six months of chemotherapy and had her breasts removed in January. Her last surgery, for reconstruction, was five months ago.
UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy: