‘It’s your life and you’re in charge of it’

That’s what Earlene Deffenbaugh Boone, a 70-year-old breast cancer survivor from Natural Dam, advises anyone who’s going through cancer treatment or any health issues. “Keep a log or diary of everything that you are told — when, where tests are done and results, medications given, etc. Ask to get copies of labs and reports.”

Earlene knows what it means to be strong and in charge. She and her husband, Richard, own and manage a successful cattle farm of 145 acres, Mountain Fork Hereford Farm, with 140 cows, calves and bulls. But when the call came from her doctor November 28, 2006, she felt frightened and powerless.

“I was at home. I knew when I heard his voice it was not good and I was right. He read the results to me but all I heard was the ugly word cancer. From there my mind went in every direction. What about my husband, my dear, sweet girls and my granddaughters? I want to see them all grow up, see my younger daughter on her wedding day and see her children. To have many more years with my husband whom I cherish, who is a good man, husband and friend.”

She said her family was supportive and concerned, “probably more than me. I knew I was going to be OK. I just had to be. I had too much to live for. So, I pulled myself together and started a plan of action. I have always been strong, and I was not about to stop now.”

Earlene was diagnosed with stage 1 invasive ductal carcinoma. There had been no lumps or other symptoms. She decided to get three opinions from physicians in Fort Smith, Northwest Arkansas and Little Rock. After tests and consults with three different surgeons as well as an oncologist and radiation oncologist, she elected to have a double mastectomy at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in Little Rock. The surgery was performed on February 23, 2007, followed by reconstructive surgery. She also had eight aggressive chemo treatments, two weeks apart, beginning in March and ending “just in time to see my youngest daughter get married.”

Before her diagnosis, Earlene said her life was good. “I had been retired for four years and was enjoying my family, my farm and doing the things I enjoyed. I wasn’t afraid. I knew what I had to do. The hardest part was just getting there. While it took me three months to get all the information I wanted on my options and then made the decision, the hardest part was done. I was ready and positive that I would have a good outcome. I knew I was is in for the fight of my life.”

She also had the BRACA genetic test, which was negative for passing the cancer gene on to family members. This is important information for Earlene, considering her family’s history with cancer. “My family is not new to the monster cancer. I have a 20-year-old granddaughter who’s now undergoing treatment for Burkett’s Lymphoma. My daughter is a survivor of thyroid cancer, and I lost my mother 28 years ago to lung cancer.”

While Earlene doesn’t worry that her cancer will recur, she said she knows “that life can throw us curves, and with family, God and friends, I can handle it. But I pray every day that the monster stays away.”

She stays active, tries to maintain a healthy diet and pursues the things she loves — “photography, flower gardening, painting and being around all my animals.”

“I was ready and positive that I would have a good outcome. I knew I was is in for the fight of my life.”

Earlene Deffenbaugh Boone