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Cindi Hart is competitive by nature. She’s been an athlete most of her life, won national championship titles in two sports, and is an award-winning Olympic coach. So when cancer challenged her in 2004, Hart put up a defense like never before. And won.
A competitive cyclist in the summer and speed skater in the winter, Hart is physically fit, follows a nutritious diet, doesn’t smoke or drink, and has no family history of breast cancer. On the day three years ago, when she scratched an itch and found two small lumps, her thoughts didn’t immediately jump to cancer.
Besides, she had more important things to think about. The cycling and speed skating nationals were coming up, and Hart had just been named the Team USA coach for the Special Olympics speed skating team. The World Games were only 10 months away.
Hart, a registered nurse and medical informatics specialist with IU’s Regenstrief Institute, knew not to ignore the lumps, however. She sought a second opinion from a nurse more experienced in breast screenings – her mother. When mom examined daughter, the red flag went up and she encouraged Hart to get a mammogram. Like any good mother, she bugged her daughter routinely until the appointment was scheduled.
The following month Hart underwent a mammogram, ultrasound, and fine needle aspiration before a definitive diagnosis was made. As improbable as it seemed, the 42-year-old had breast cancer – invasive ductal carcinoma.
“You find yourself in a serious moment of introspection, trying to define who you are and what you want your life to be,” says Hart, describing how she felt upon receiving the diagnosis. “Competitive racing is part of who I am, and I realized it is not something I am willing to give up.”
She made that clear to her IU Simon Cancer Center physicians: Dr. Kathy Miller, medical oncologist, associate professor, and Sheila D. Ward Scholar; and Dr. Robert Goulet, surgeon, associate professor, and director of the Breast Care and Research Center. Miller, in her always reassuring tone, responded, “You’ve heard of Lance Armstrong? We cured him, we’ll cure you.”
With that, Hart was on her way to beating cancer and winning her next big competition. But it wasn’t the last time Armstrong would figure into Hart’s cancer journey.
In 2005 the Discovery Channel chose Hart and three other cancer survivors to witness Armstrong’s seventh Tour de France as part of the documentary, Chasing Lance: The Fans. Hart, along with husband, Ken, and daughter, Madison, traveled to Paris to see Armstrong’s win. In 2006 Hart won tickets to attend the IU Simon Cancer Center’s Torchbearer Awards, at which Armstrong was present. Finally, last October she did the Ride for the Roses in Austin, Texas, riding alongside Armstrong, literally, as the only female rider in the lead pack of the 40-mile trek.
Hart is no stranger to challenges. In 1984 while training for the Olympic trials, she was hit head-on by a car and suffered multiple injuries. She lay in a coma for two weeks and spent a month in intensive care. An athlete to the core, her will to live and to compete carried her through. Five months later she was back on her bike.
Part of Hart’s training to regain strength and speed on the bike involved speed skating. She grew to love skating as much as cycling and began competing in both long- and short-track events.
She says jokingly about her two sports, “It’s like having two children. You can’t love one more than the other.”
Hart attacked her battle against cancer with the same focus and determination she applies to sports. Her defense team at the IU Simon Cancer Center recommended chemotherapy first, followed by surgery. She also participated in IU’s Friends for Life study that collects tissue samples from breast cancer patients and healthy women alike in order to look for differences in genes that control blood vessel growth.
Hart began chemotherapy on Memorial Day weekend 2004 and took her final infusion that August. Her excellent physical condition allowed her to tolerate chemotherapy better than most patients, explains Miller, so Hart was able to continue training and competing. Just 18 days after her final chemo treatment, she won the American Bicycle Racing National Track Cycling Championships in Kenosha, Wis.
“My bike was my therapist,” admits Hart. “I could go out for a ride and scream and cry and get out my emotions rather than overwhelm my family.”
In September 2004 Hart had a double mastectomy. Four months later she was in Salt Lake City for the U.S. Speed Skating Long Track Pack Style National Championships, where she won two silver medals and a bronze.
She is currently in the final phase of her treatment: a five-year regimen of the drug Tamoxifen.
Hart’s love of sports extends beyond competing. Coaching has become an important part of her life as well. She and Ken formed the non-profit IndySpeed Sports Club as a way to share speed skating and cycling with others. There are 50 to 75 people in the club at any given time, ranging from children to seniors. Experience levels vary and include people who want to get in shape, learn, or race.
One of her IndySpeed skaters introduced Hart to Special Olympics and she began working with local skaters to prepare them for the state games. She loved it so much that she applied for the Special Olympics Team USA coaching position.
In March 2005 Hart coached the Team USA speed skating team at the Special Olympics Winter World Games in Nagano, Japan. The team was so successful – 26 of the 27 athletes medaled – Hart was encouraged to apply for the Team USA cycling coach as well. She got it, and this October Hart will travel with her cycling team to Shanghai, China, for the Special Olympics Summer World Games.
Recently Hart has received as much recognition for coaching as she has for her athletic prowess. In 2006 the U.S. Olympic Committee named her Volunteer Coach of the Year, selecting her from the entire pool of coaches representing the Summer and Winter Olympic, Special Olympic, and Paralympic games. That same year the National Council of Youth Sports also named her Coach of the Year. In June 2007 the Indianapolis Sports Corp. and Youth Links awarded her the Rev. Charles Williams Award for contributions to youth sports.
Her newest group of trainees holds a special place in her heart. In June she and Ken hosted a weekend training camp for 12 aspiring cyclists from around the country who are part of the Cyclists Combating Cancer e-mail list, of which Hart has been a participant and contributor.
“You get to know people online as you share your triumphs and woes,” says Hart of the e-mail list. “We have cancer and bikes in common, and having been a cycling coach for more than 20 years, I felt like I could bring something to this group.”
Hart has become an outspoken breast cancer advocate. She spoke at the Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation’s fourth annual women’s event, attended the Lance Armstrong Foundation’s LiveStrong Summit, and participates in cycling events around the country to raise money for breast cancer research.
She was the Honorary Survivor for the 2006 Komen Race for the Cure in Indianapolis and was grand marshal for the Indianapolis Wellness Community Cancer Survivors Walk/Run in June. In August she served as Hope Ambassador for the American Cancer Society’s Pan Ohio Hope Ride, a four-day cycling event that raises funds for Hope Lodges, a home-away-from-home for cancer patients undergoing treatment.
Dr. Miller says Hart is unique because “she has used her situation to inform other women about breast cancer so they can minimize their risk through early detection and to show patients they can continue to have a very healthy lifestyle.”
Hart has become one of the 10 million cancer survivors in the U.S. but prefers to think of herself as a warrior.
“Cancer makes you feel like you’ve lost control. I’m not willing to let cancer take over my life or anyone else’s. Since beating my cancer I have a new purpose: to help eradicate cancer in my lifetime.”
