Akron woman, 26, takes on breast cancer
AKRON – Twenty-six is the prime of life.
It’s an age when you’re still young enough to be cool, but old enough to be taken seriously as an adult.
It shouldn’t be a time consumed fighting for your life.
Victoria “Tori” Potemski is waging a fight for hers after being diagnosed in March with triple-negative breast cancer at just 26.
A social worker and graduate of the University of Akron, Potemski is undergoing treatment at Aultman Hospital and Mercy Medical Center in Canton.
She said she intends to use her professional skills and personal story to help other women to learn how to trust their bodies and navigate what can be a frightening and disorienting experience.
The story begins in January when Potemski, a case manager for Direction Home, a Canton-based social services agency that serves older adults and those with disabilities, began going to a personal trainer.
“I started noticing I was having trouble with significant movement; I was having a lot of pain,” she recalled. “That turned into severe itchiness. But I chalked it up to perfume, or detergent, or allergies.”
Then she found a lump.
“I have a history in my family of breast and ovarian cancer. That was my biggest fear,” Potemski said. “As soon as I felt that lump, I just knew that’s what it was. “
Potemski’s maternal grandmother had ovarian cancer, two maternal greataunts survived breast cancer, and her paternal great-grandmother had breast cancer.
Yet she waited to see a doctor, just on the outside chance that she was wrong.
“I wanted to see if it would get better, to see if it was dense tissue from caffeine,” she said. “I wanted to see if it would resolve itself. It got bigger.”
Potemski went to her gynecologist, who did an ultrasound, then to a breast specialist, who performed a biopsy.
“Doctors still thought it might be a cyst, but my family history prompted more testing,” she said. “Usually, they won’t, because it doesn’t occur in younger people, so I’m glad they were willing to go that extra step. I also had an abnormal lymph node.
“On March 9, the doctor called and said: ‘You have cancer. We don’t know what stage it is.’”
Not just one thing
She eventually learned her cancer was at Stage One.
When you become afflicted with a serious illness, you become an expert on it. Potemski said the experience has taught her that breast cancer “is not just one thing.”
According to the American Cancer Society, most breast cancer is caused by an estrogen receptor, a progesterone receptor, or the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, known as HER2.
If it’s absent of all three elements, it’s called a “triple-negative” cancer.
“Triple-negative is very aggressive and hard to treat because it doesn’t have those things,” Potemski said. “If a tumor is fed with estrogen, you treat it by removing the estrogen that feeds it. Same thing with progesterone.”
Though it accounts for just 15 per 100 cases, triple-negative breast cancer has
a high recurrence rate within the first five years after diagnosis.
The current and best line of defense is chemotherapy.
In 2018, the Journal of the National Cancer Institute published a study in which researchers identified five gene mutations that appear to be linked to an elevated risk for triple-negative breast cancer: BARD1, BRCA1, BRCA2, PALB2 and RAD51D.
Potemski said she underwent testing for abnormalities of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. The test was negative. She said there’s also research concerning a new protein found in the RAD51D gene, which interacts with BRCA1 and BRCA2. It may impact cellular response to DNA damage, such as cancer.
“They do not have a whole lot of information,” she said.
Potemski underwent a left-side mastectomy at Mercy Medical Center on March 27, followed by six rounds of chemotherapy at Aultman Hospital. She finished treatment in August.
She lauds her surgeon, Dr. Russell Ramey, plastic surgeon Dr. Michael McCormack and their staffs.
Through it all, she’s continued to work.
“I was offered a new job on March 8. On March 9, I put in my notice. Not even an hour later, my doctor called and diagnosed me,” she said.
Potemski said her employer has been supportive and accommodating, allowing her to work from home.
Ironically, because of the pandemic, Potemski has been able to get the treatment she needs.
“Because of COVID, I had primary treatment for my surgery,” she said. “I was able to get in very quickly because I had a lower risk of infection. It wasn’t elective surgery.”
‘A bright light of hope’
On top of everything else, Potemski is making plans to marry next summer. She met Zack Selker, a pharmacist, through a cousin in 2013. Prior to her chemotherapy treatments, Potemski
and Selker preserved several embryos through in vitro fertilization.
Asked to describe Selker’s support she replied, “I have no words.”
Selker said his fiancee has been a tower of strength for him and her family.
“The day Tori was diagnosed, I rushed home from work to be with her, as did her mother, father, step-mother, grandfather, and multiple other family members,” he recalled. “And I’ll never forget the emotions and tears that happened in those next few hours, but above all, I remember how it was Tori supporting those around her and bringing calm to the situation. At that moment I could sense the strength within her, that I always knew she had but had never seen it visualized in such a damaging situation.”
Potemski said she has readied herself for the news.
“I wasn’t surprised at my diagnosis,” she said. “I had prepared myself for those words. As soon as I got my diagnosis, I went into fight-or-flight mode. I was not willing to let it dictate my life, and turn me into a sick and decrepit 26year-old. I was otherwise healthy. I was ready for any poison they were ready to throw at me. I was willing to take it on.”
Selker said even before her diagnosis, Potemski was a person of “courage, grace, and strength.”
Attitude, she said, can be a huge difference-maker.
“Even if you don’t have control of anything around you, you have control of how you’re going to respond. It was the only thing I could control,” Potemski said. “It was refreshing to know that no matter how bad it got, I didn’t have to internalize it that way.”
It’s still taboo
Potemski laments that cancer is still a taboo illness.
“I feel good,” she said. “I’m getting an immunotherapy drug every three weeks, donated by a (pharmaceutical) manufacturer. I’m getting my energy back. My normal routine is back. I think it’s a shock for people when they hear
someone my age and they have cancer. Cancer has turned into such a dirty word. “People don’t talk about it, but if we don’t, change doesn’t happen in people.”
Dr. David Angari, a diagnostic radiologist at the Aultman Breast Care Center, said the disease requires “a multidisciplinary team of surgeons, radiologists, pathologists, medical oncologists and radiation oncologists to both diagnose and treat.”
The center performs about 21,000 exams a year, including mammograms, breast ultrasounds, and other breastimaging services on its campuses in Canton, Massillon, Carrollton, and Orrville.
Potemski said she’d like to visit high schools and talk to girls about health and body awareness.
“Particularly inner-city schools,” she said. “They don’t receive the same health care. Many times, they’re not established with a doctor. Triple-negative breast cancer is more common in the African-american population.”
Potemski has some advice for other women.
“The biggest takeaway I have is, even if you don’t have a family history, I would encourage everyone to get genetic testing done,” she said. “I think it’s going to turn into a big platform. It makes you a little more alert if you are positive for certain genes. Genetic testing is so easy. A lot of hospitals offer opportunities where it’s free. Most insurance covers it.”
She also stressed that women also should trust their instincts.
“We know our bodies better than anyone,” she said. “If a doctor won’t look into it, find another one. Keep looking until you are heard.“
Lastly, Potemski encourages women to make their own health more of a priority.
“Early detection saves lives – never miss an exam,” she said. “If there are financial concerns regarding tests or scans, reach out to your local breast center and there are social workers and patient advocates that can assist. Selfexams should be completed monthly and are the first line of defense.”