A Rare Gem
An extremely rare form of cancer doesn’t stop
the fighter in Shirley Fautheree
Extramammary Paget’s Disease (EMPD) is a form of skin cancer that is so rare most
physicians never see it in their practices or know what it looks like. One patient who
lives at Sun City in Georgetown, TX, learned about it the hard way after she sought
advice from many doctors—some as far away as San Antonio—about a troublesome
skin irritation. They offered her a variety of diagnoses and treatment options, but in
Ms. Fautheree’s words, “My skin just wasn’t healing right.” She found the right answer
from experts at Scott & White Healthcare - Round Rock.
t’s a little-known fact about a very
private issue. Extramammary
Paget’s Disease affects very few
people in the world, mostly women. Those
with the disease notice lesions on the
breast or genitals that resemble eczema. In
2008, 70-year-old Shirley Fautheree
couldn’t figure out why her irritated skin
tissue wasn’t healing; she had been treated
for dermatitis and other conditions.
I
“Eventually I saw Dr. Alicia Miller, the
director of dermatology at Scott & White
in Round Rock, who took a biopsy that
revealed it was cancer,” says Ms. Fautheree.
“I was absolutely devastated—really at my
wits’ end.”
It was also a moment of strength and
resolve. “You know, I may not be 15 years
old anymore, but I’m not ready to just give
up. I wrote down my diagnosis, went home
and started looking for information on the
Internet. A lot of what I found was not
encouraging,” says Ms. Fautheree. “So it
was a frightening time for me, but there
were stories of people who had had surgery
and recovered.” Dr. Miller referred Ms.
Fautheree to Dudley Baker, MD, a
gynecologic oncologist and chief medical
officer at Scott & White Healthcare Round Rock.
Shirley and Huey Fautheree exactly one year—to the day—after Shirley’s surgery.
4
THE CATALYST Fall 09 | sw.org
sw.org | Fall 09 THE CATALYST
5