Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, August 26, 1993 TAG: 9308260024
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By Knight-Ridder/Tribune
DATELINE: PHOENIX LENGTH: Medium
Professional golfer Heather Farr has fought some gallant battles against breast cancer over the past four years.
Another battle looms.
Farr, once a budding star on the LPGA Tour, was recently diagnosed with her third occurrence of the disease. This time, she has a tumor that has metastasized at the top of her spinal column and has spread to three vertebrae.
The good news is that Farr has the opportunity to undergo a new innovative surgical procedure to destroy the tumors called spinal stereotactic radiosurgery.
The operation, which was made possible by the development of a spinal frame invented by Dr. Allan Hamilton and Dr. Bruce Lulu at the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center in Tucson, has been performed only three times, the first time in February. According to Hamilton, the procedure has been "highly successful."
"There are always some risks involved, but I feel fortunate to have this opportunity," said Farr, 28, who has undergone a modified radical mastectomy, breast reconstruction, chemotherapy, radiation and a bone-marrow transplant since she was diagnosed with the disease in July 1989.
Farr said she found out about her latest recurrence of breast cancer in early August, when she was at the Arlington Cancer Center in Texas. She was referred to UCLA Medical Center, and then to the program at Arizona.
She also revealed that she underwent emergency surgery on Aug. 16 at Tucson Medical Center to remove the original breast implant, which had become encapsulated and was seriously compromising the surrounding tissue.
Farr said she had the implant replaced by Dr. J.D. Stuart and is recovering in Tucson, where she hopes to undergo the spinal stereotactic radiosurgery in late September.
"From what Dr. Hamilton has told me, the treatment is a one-day thing involving radiation and takes about 12 hours," said Farr, a former Arizona State star. "They'll blast the tumor with a maximum amount (of radiation) without doing any damage to the spinal column. It's very complicated; I don't even know everything about it. . . .
"But these people are the best, and they're the only ones doing it in the world. I'm very hopeful."
Farr said she is up to the latest challenge.
"It's another scary thing, but we're hoping that the third time is a charm," she said. "I'm just thrilled to be able to do (undergo the treatment) so close to home."
Farr has always been a fighter. Many people considered her, at 5 feet 1 inch, too small to play on the highly competitive LPGA Tour. But she proved them wrong, joining the pros at age 20 and earning nearly $200,000 in three seasons before cancer cut her career short.
Despite the recent setback, she said, she still dreams of returning to the fairways.
"I'm not going to give it up," she said. "You have to believe. That's what it's all about."
Keywords:
GOLF
by CNB