clear of any growth. She maintained stellar health, and her images continued to look good. An avid golfer, Wolfe was liberated to go golfing again. She power-walked. She hiked. She collected more than 100 hats in over 30 different colors. Her journey back to normalcy was definitely pitted with emotional exhaustion, but she chinned up the entire way. “There were days I would look at my husband like, ‘I can’t take this anymore,’” she says. “I’d be invited to a Christmas party and be so happy to go, but then have to look in my closet for a hat that goes with black silk. I said, ‘the heck with it: I’m wearing my golf hats wherever I go!’ There were days I didn’t want to go to the medical center anymore. And that’s when I said, ‘wait – who’s whining? That’s where my life is going to be saved. The car is on autopilot.’” In September 2013, Wolfe went in for the first of her final two-part reconstructive surgeries, which would
her family. The expertise and technology are here at your fingertips. For those who think they can stick it out with concerning symptoms or have to be away from home to receive top-notch care, Wolfe affirms that we have it all in San Antonio: “MARC is so unique. Go see a specialist. They have every type of specialty doctor that you need. On the same day, they will pull together the team you need. San Antonio is blessed to have the UT Medical Center. It’s onestop treatment. You have access to the dream team.” “We are a group of 700-plus physicians all under the same umbrella, the same system and with the same mission of patient care,” Floyd says. “We’re very patient-centered. We treat patients like members of our own family.” The UT Health Science Center became a second home for Wolfe and a place she went to see physicians who became her friends. “If he could, my dad would adopt my two surgeons!” Wolfe jokes. Otto even gave his personal cell
really mean or don’t mean.” And have faith. Wolfe’s faith steered her attitude from grim to grateful. She stopped sweating the small stuff and focused on her son and her stepchildren. Today, she’s just having fun watching her son complete his last year of high school. “If this is the walk that God has me on, as much as I might not like it, there’s a reason,” she says. “And at the other end of this walk, I’m going to be a better person. And every day, I have to wake up and thank God for another glorious day. I feel like I’ve been given an opportunity: the opportunity of diagnosis.” As rare as her cancer was, it was no match for her character and the care provided at the UT Medicine. Two years after Wolfe went in to get her headaches checked out, she’s changed the statistics on one of the rarest forms of cancer, and she deeply credits her doctors. “I take this job very seriously,” Otto says. “But I’m just the technician – I give God the credit. And Cathy is an
we treat patients like our own family. give her back a complete skull and her hairline. Wang teamed up with Floyd again. Wolfe made a deal with her doctors that there’d be no more hats by Thanksgiving, and they delivered a month ahead of schedule. She’s finally at the end of a long path of confronting and tackling cancer – a soldier in the process. “Here we are this year, and we’re not attacking cancer anymore,” she says. “We’re not removing it. It’s purely reconstructive now.” She shares her experience with pride, more pleased with what she’s gained from the experience rather than simply surviving it. She’s grateful it was a hometown process. “I cannot imagine not being in my city with my family,” she says. “I am so glad these doctors are in the same city as my family. I would have been a number at any other facility. I would not have had the morning, afternoon and evening visits in any other hospital. Here, I was personally cared for.” The service at the UT Medicine was a blessing in the backyard for Wolfe and
number to Wolfe, as he does with all of his patients. “I want them to feel comfortable at the end of the day,” he says. “I tell them to call me if they need to.” Wolfe made a pact that after her last surgery, no more medical calls – only calls as friends. Wolfe encourages people to be in control of whatever health condition or treatment phase they find themselves in. She advises to fully participate. “The more you participate, the less fearsome it becomes and the better you feel. It empowers you.” She recommends you check your gut feelings and take time to take care of yourself – for you and your family. Ask your doctors to speak in laymen’s terms and research what your statistics really mean. Wolfe’s odds were against her until she discovered that the existing statistics for her cancer involved people who could have already been in poor health or diagnosed after it was too late. “Those people could have been 100 years old or 2 years old. Don’t let the statistics fool you until you find out what they
incredible patient. Much of her success should be attributed to her and her family. I can be a great surgeon, but this is a community event … It takes a good scrub in nurse, a good recovery team – everyone – to make it a success.” “We call each other almost every day to make sure we’re all on the same page,” Floyd adds. “And the little extra things really go a long way. There’s almost nothing we can’t take care of here. If you can get your care near home, you should.” Wolfe has embraced the challenge, knowing she’d walk into it in good hands and walk away from it hat-free. “To this day, I tell everyone I never would have made it through this were it not for my faith, my family, my friends and – work with me on this last F – my physicians.” ✪
For more information on UT Medicine, visit www.utmedicine.org. nfamily magazine 21
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