Sabrina Warnars was just 33 when she found a lump in her breast
five years ago. The doctor misdiagnosed it, and missed that the
lump was cancerous. The disease has spread and doctors give her a
little more than a year to live.
By CHEETO BARRERA
South Valley Newspapers
Sabrina Warnars was just 33 when she found a lump in her breast five years ago. The doctor misdiagnosed it, and missed that the lump was cancerous. The disease has spread and doctors give her a little more than a year to live.
It has been hard for the Prunedale woman not only knowing that she will die, but that her children will be left without a mother.
“It is hard,” Warnars said. “The kids are my life and have been my life.”
The family has been taking the news hard. Warnars said that she will lock herself in her room and cry.
“I will hear Greg (her husband) praying in the middle of the night praying that God will not take is wife away,” she said. Her husband works for Abbott Labs in Morgan Hill.
When the news came that she was going to die, Warnars was unsure how to tell her children. Two counselors came from Living With the Dying to help her break the news.
One of the counselors works with children. The son is too young to fully appreciate what is going on, but not the girls. They are at the age where not only do they have to deal with their mother dying, but also all the other events that go on in a teenager’s life.
“The girls are right at that road to make decisions. Sabrina is concerned that they make the right decisions. She talks about the girls and breaks down. She feels cheated that she can’t be there for them,” said Stephanie Vicari, Warnars’ sister-in-law.
Warnars has known her husband since she was 17. They have three children, 14-year-old twin girls and a 3-year-old boy.
Her daughters, Brittany and Breanna who will be eighth-graders at Moss Landing Middle School, are hard-working students who are actively involved with sports.
“They are straight-A students,” Warnars said. “They are superb athletes. They led their basketball team to the championship and brought home a 5-foot trophy for the school.”
Even though the girls are described as being strong, they occasionally break down because of their mother’s situation.
“Brittany doesn’t cry much, but even she has broken down.” Vicari said.
In 1999 Warnars discovered a lump in her breast and immediately went to the doctor to have it checked. The doctor said it was a cyst and told her to take vitamin E.
Later, she went to the same doctor when she found out she was pregnant. The doctor could not find a heartbeat for the fetus and ordered surgery to have it removed. On the day of the surgery, Warnars insisted on having another ultrasound test and a heartbeat was found. The surgery was canceled and she gave birth to her son in August 1999.
After that, she questioned the lump in her breast that was not going away. Tests were done, and it was in fact cancer.
She had the tumor removed, but over the past four years it kept returning. Finally, a month ago, Warnars discovered a lump on her collar bone. She went to the doctor and was told that the cancer had spread. She was given only three to four months to live, if she did nothing to treat it. With the chemotherapy, she was told her life has been extended to 18 months at the most.
Originally Warnars owned her own hair-care business, but closed it after she found out she had cancer.
“I was afraid that the chemicals caused the cancer,” she said.
Warnars believes she didn’t have to go through all of the worries about other mistakes that could cost people their lives.
“All of this could have been prevented,” she said. “I just wonder if there are others out there who wouldn’t have to die.”
The family, who live in Prunedale, had considered taking action against the doctor, but attorneys at the time could not find any long-lasting damage. Now, the family’s main concerns are finances and spending what time is left together.
“If someone came to them and said they have a case, they would pursue it,” said Vicari. “But it seems moot at this point.”
Money is near the top of Warnars’ mind. Despite all the chemotherapy that she has to go through, she goes to work at Carl’s Chevrolet in San Jose as a sales representative.
Despite the illness, Warnars still works hard and inspires those who are around her. She has worked up to 11 hours in a day, all to leave her family money for the house payment and college for the kids.
“There is a line between hope and reality,” Vicari said. “The fact that she is getting on is inspiring.”
A trust has been set up for Warnars’ twin daughters and son. The account has been set up through Washington Mutual. The account number is 0673586578 and donations can be made through any Washington Mutual branch. To find out how to further help, call 408-978-2099.
Cheeto Barrera is a staff writer with the Morgan Hill Times.
