With a pixie-length, freshly-growing mane, yet smiling as bright as ever, Cafe Bohemia’s Evie Rossi welcomes guests back into her cafe for private, creative activities while she rebuilds her strength and stamina to support the community more fully in the near future. Cafe Bohemia has served the community for over 15 years, not only by making a home for local writers, song circles, actors, artists and singer/songwriters, but also by providing students with a safe, cozy and affordable space for lunch breaks. Rossi plans to reopen more fully this winter.

“I love every creative aspect of the cafe,” alumni and regular Evelyn Atwell said. “I love that it showcases local artists of all kinds and gives everyone opportunities. It can be your first time coming in and it immediately feels like home.”

The magic behind this cafe can be credited to one woman, Rossi, who operates every component of the shop. She single-handedly made welcoming connections with hundreds of residents over the years, making each customer feel at home. She also handcrafted each cup of coffee as well as each homemade pair of earrings and dreamcatchers available in her shop. This all came to a rapid halt, however, whenever she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020. Right now, there are nearly four million women in the United States who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. Breast Cancer Awareness Month is an annual event in October that raises mindfulness and obtains funds in efforts to find a cure. Knowing roughly one in eight women in America will develop breast cancer in the course of their lifetime, it is increasingly important to be aware of the effects that this can bring upon an area. 

“I was so devastated when I first heard about the diagnosis, but I do know that Evie is one of the strongest and most resilient women ever, so I have a lot of faith in her fighting,” Atwell said. 

The first concern which Rossi noticed wasn’t like what most people think of when they think of breast cancer; it was a discoloration in her left breast and visual abnormality compared to her right breast. Upon a physical self-examination, she discovered a significant lump in the lower section of her left breast. “These conversations are taboo to discuss for a lot of people, but I believe that knowledge is power and these are the sort of things that people need to know,” Rossi said. “Women need to start paying attention to their breast health early, so they recognize signs when they occur.”

Having no health insurance or knowledge on how to proceed, Rossi was at a loss as to where to begin. She consulted a close friend, who encouraged her to receive a breast examination through Planned Parenthood. Following a brief examination, Rossi was referred to Texas Breast Specialists-Methodist Cancer Center where she immediately underwent a manual exam, a mammogram and a sonogram. Then, roughly a week later, they performed biopsies on several growths and diagnosed her with Invasive Ductile Carcinoma, the most common form of breast cancer. In the following weeks, Rossi underwent an MRI, an echocardiogram, CT scans, bone scans and multiple biopsies. Upon these results, her diagnosis was escalated to stage 4 metastatic breast cancer.

“Initially they thought it was stage 2 cancer, but then they sent me in for some more scans,” Rossi said. “The MRI was the worst of all of the tests that I went through, but when they did that, they discovered that I had another growth on my spine and my femur, which I didn’t discover until May.”

Over the course of six months, she underwent 18 treatments of chemotherapy, the first of which patients refer to as the “Red Devil” because it is generally rough on the body, and sweat, tears and urine are red for a couple of days after each treatment. Chemotherapy is a lengthy process where, essentially, a “poison” is sent throughout the body to kill any potentially cancerous cells. Following a mammogram and sonogram, they observed some shrinkage in the growths, but decided it was best if they postponed radiation and performed a double mastectomy immediately. The surgery went well, and out of 18 lymph glands that were removed, all 18 had malignancy (cancer). This entire process was physically and mentally exhausting, and “not at all pretty,” Rossi said.

After discussing the probability with her medical team that there were still cancerous glands remaining (since all biopsies had been positive for cancer), they began aggressive radiation treatments; 36 in all. Being slightly claustrophobic, Rossi found this difficult but learned that the simple task of counting very slowly during the process helped her maintain control. Radiation on her breast area was finished by early September 2021, and the burns on her chest, which were quite intense and almost leathery, are almost entirely healed already. 

“For me, it’s been a big learning journey,” Rossi said “Not only from the physical and the health side of things, but I’ve come to a much deeper, more profound sense of what it means to be patient and understanding of others – more so than I did before, I think. It’s given me a much greater sense of empathy and understanding, and it’s put me in a place where I am much less judgmental and reactive.” 

Breast cancer takes a major toll on the lives of all individuals affected, not only affecting patients’ health but their entire families and paths of life. Rossi is currently three months behind on her cafe rent payments and she is doing all that is possible to catch up with her expenses without the ability to fully restore Cafe Bohemia to the extent that it was pre-COVID. She is additionally occupied finalizing her radiation treatments on her spine over the coming weeks she plans to become healthily restored as soon as possible. In the meantime, there are measures that members of the community can take to assist Rossi in her recovery. For one, donations are accepted at www.cafebohemia.net, and there is an accessible option to purchase a “virtual latte” which is essentially a $5 donation. Additionally, Rossi is able to provide sack lunches for school organizations and teams on a pre-order basis. So, encouraging clubs and organizations to take part in this is another incredible way to help out. Lastly, she hopes to host a community garage sale in mid-November, where students can help out by volunteering, donating art pieces to the auction, and simply attending. All forms of aid are appreciated, as breast cancer is a difficult hardship that can affect entire communities. 

“Maybe we’re given experiences so that we can learn something from them,” Rossi said. “I have definitely learned that people can be loving and supportive in ways that you’d never dreamed they’d be. Over this past year, people have reached out to me and done things for me that I would have never conceived of.”