Survivor Series - Meet Patricia Santacroce

‘I drew the short straw on this, but I’m in a really good place right now.’

 By ELLYN SANTIAGO

In June 2021, still in the grips of the pandemic that had disordered our globe, Patricia Santacroce’s world was “turned upside down.”

For the now 53-year-old, the breast cancer diagnosis was a “nightmare,” but one she eventually woke from as a survivor.

The lifelong Southeastern Connecticut native, Patricia, and her husband Matt, of the same geographical lineage, are parents to adult children Matthew and Jackie, and Golden Retrievers Dakota and Montana. A decades-long Pfizer employee, currently a manager in the Legal Division/Intellectual Property group, the call following that mammogram wasn’t necessarily alarming.

“I remember getting a call to come back for an ultrasound and didn’t really pay attention to what the scheduler was saying, as I had been called back before,” she explained.

It was a different story when she arrived at the appointment.

“I got there for the ultrasound, and they said, ‘OK. We are looking on the right side.’ And I said, ‘Are you sure? I’ve always been called back for the left.’”

She knew something was not right.

“At that point, I had a huge pit in my stomach. After the radiologist was done, a doctor came in, and I knew it wasn’t good news,” she remembered like it was yesterday.

She had a biopsy three days later. When the call came in, she was on a teleconference for work and let it go to voicemail, but she hurriedly returned the call, anxious. Her regular doctor was out, so another gave her the news. She would end up being diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ grade 3 mixed with invasive carcinoma Stage 1A. I was HER2-negative but estrogen and progesterone positive.

“She gave me the news over the phone! My world was turned upside down at that point.” She called her husband. He stopped packing for a planned family weekend camping trip, and the couple went to the doctor's office to get answers in person.

“I remember thinking this can’t be happening. Then, ‘What do I do? I knew no one who had breast cancer. I didn’t even know where to begin. So we asked her, ‘What would you do if this was you or your child’? She gave me the name of a surgeon and sent off the referral.”

As soon as she got home, she called her parents and best friend, with her parents arriving swiftly. Both of her parents were beside themselves on what to do, as no one in her immediate or extended family had breast cancer.

“It was harder on them and my husband initially than on me,” she said. “I remember thinking this can’t be real, and I’ll wake up from this nightmare.”

Patricia and Matt are career project managers, so they made a plan. She met with a breast surgeon and the oncologist the following week and started scheduling all appointments.

“Everything fell into place, and by July 2, I had a lumpectomy,” she shared. “At the time, all I could think of was…I wanted it out as soon as possible!”

Working from home due to COVID, only her boss and a few colleagues were aware of her breast cancer diagnosis. Her son was at home that summer, “working on the ferry,” but her daughter was working at a summer camp in Lake George.

“It was hard keeping it from her, but I wanted the surgery done, and then I would tell her,” Patricia shared. “It was the hardest thing I had ever done -- telling her over FaceTime. I told her, ‘I got this and will have a full life ahead of me. You do your job, and I’ll do mine to conquer this.”

Next up was the DCIS test, and though some offered reassurance, the 35 score “meant I needed to have chemotherapy.”

“Adamant” that since both her kids were away at college, “I thought if I don’t work and keep busy, I was going to lose my mind.” Her first treatment was the day her son drove back to college in Florida, and two weeks later she moved her daughter into school in New Hampshire.

During treatment weeks she took a couple of sick days, and the rest of the week did what she could comfortably do.

“Generally, by the weekend, I felt OK. At the end of each cycle, we celebrated with friends and family outdoors. It was nice to have a sense of normalcy for a day.”

Her last round of chemo was Oct. 17, 2021. Next up was the radiation, 19 rounds, beginning in early December. Patricia had another idea.

The break we all needed.

The Santacroce family and their friends enjoy long walks, hiking, cooking, and traveling and try to vacation in the Caribbean annually with Jamaica as a favorite destination. “Jamaica is my favorite island, and we have been there many times. The people and culture is what drew us there,” Patricia said. When not relaxing under swaying palm trees near an azure blue sea, one can also find them at their camper at Ashaway RV Resort in Bradford, Rhode Island. “Our home away from home,” she said, “And my refuge during treatment.”

The travelers that they are, an after-Thanksgiving trip to St. Lucia with friends had long been planned.

She and her husband spoke to her doctor. “We wanted to start the radiation after the trip. I wanted to go and have a break from it all.” With an OK from the doctor, there was a little matter of COVID-19 testing, but fortunately, all were negative, and off they went to the Caribbean.

“It was the break we all needed. The sunshine and warm water soothed the soul,” Patricia said.

As soon as she was home in Connecticut, the radiation began and continued until the end of the first week of 2022. Some medication adjustments followed, but by August 2022 things were getting “a little better.”

“Today, my outlook is very good.”

Wrapped in the arms of her family, friends, and community.

“It’s funny how something like this makes you look at things that are important to you,” a sentiment many breast cancer survivors share.”

She and Matt’s family and her close friends, including best friend Jodi and her husband and kids, were always there for her, even friends she’d lost touch with “were suddenly back in my life.” Neighbors helped out and looked out for her husband Matt, who was “amazing.” She and her sister became closer, her two brothers were “constantly checking in on me.” And her extended family on both sides were stalwart supporters. As were her adult children, who she was moved by when she saw how “resilient my children were.”

“Everyone pitched in when I couldn’t manage to do it myself,” she said.

So she had a lot of support, but she was the one coping with breast cancer treatment, which can feel like a lonely place even when surrounded by love.

“I felt like I lost myself during the treatment, especially when I had to shave my head.  It wasn’t that I was vain, but that it was part of me that was no longer there.”

No regret in life going forward.

Patricia and Matt decided that once they’d survived breast cancer, they’d have “no regrets in our life going forward.” And that meant lots of travel and time to explore new places. In May 2022, the family took an 11-day national parks tour trip.

“I was exhausted by the end of every day but cherished our time together,” Patricia said. They visited seven parks in 11 days, which she described as a “whirlwind.”

“The hardest part of the trip was traveling down to Bryce Canyon. I was so focused on getting down to the bottom, that going back up took forever, but I felt like I conquered it,” she said confidently. “I wasn’t going to let my recovery get in the way.”

Some days, the memory of her breast cancer battle “feels like yesterday.” But on other days, it feels as if it were a “lifetime ago.”

“We started an annual tradition on the second of July with a cookout and my dad getting a cake -- with favorite raspberry filling -- to celebrate another year cancer-free,” she shared. “We have our family and friends join in on the celebration. It’s a reminder of how far I have come.”

Back to work

Patricia returned to work last fall and shared her journey with colleagues.

“Some people were shocked to hear what I had been through and never realized that I was out,” she said. “It was very bittersweet.”

She received a General Counsel award in December 2022 for a project with three other colleagues. “It was very surreal to be in NYC with my colleagues for this award, knowing how far I had come.”

And she’d come far. And each treatment milestone was celebrated.

“It was what we looked forward to,” she recalled. It was a countdown for us to the end of treatment.”

Some days, she still feels the radiation and chemo effects, but said she reminds herself “That I beat it, and I am getting healthier every day.”

On a mission for TBBCF

Shortly after her diagnosis, she learned about the TBBCF signature Walk for a Cure, and decided to form a team, Mama’s Love, for the Oct. 2, 2021 walk. She had a chemo treatment five days before. “We only did the 5K as I wasn’t sure how far I would make it,” she said. And what a crew it was! Ten walkers and several cheerleaders.

In 2022, she did the 6.5 mile walk with her mother, husband, bestie, and their families, “My mom was a trooper doing the 6.5 miles at age 77.”

In 2023, Mama’s Love had grown a bit, and they all walked.

Looking forward to this year’s walk, and hoping her daughter can make it, she wants to raise a lot of money.

“It’s my mission to raise as much money as possible for the Foundation as it all goes to research,” she said. A little shy, she’s held back so far but hopes to become more involved with TBBCF.

“For the cure!”