As (unfortunately) common as breast cancer is, each person’s diagnosis, treatment, and recovery are unique. You will probably hear a different story from each person who has walked this path; from diagnosis, to treatment, to survivorship, we each have our own unique journey. So, I thought I’d share what my path has been like to give you a little understanding of my experience and perspective, as well as the inspiration for Pink Badger.
My breast cancer “journey” started in May of 2023 with the oh so common symptom: a lump. My baby was nursing at the time, so I assumed the lump I felt was a clogged duct; I’d had mastitis twice before, and suffered with clogged ducts almost daily. But the fever, aches, and other mastitis symptoms never came on. Whew, just a clogged duct, not mastitis this time… but then the “clogged duct” never went away.
I decided it was time to see my OBGYN, just in case. I will forever be grateful to the nurse practitioner who sent me for an ultrasound, just in case. The ultrasound led to a biopsy, just in case. And the biopsy led to a grade 3, HR+ HER2- breast cancer diagnosis. To say I was in shock would be an understatement. I had no family history, no risk factors, and was a fit, young, healthy, mother to a 13 month old baby boy. Even my doctors were surprised. How could this be happening? To add to the shock, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer during a routine mammogram, just a few short weeks after me (she underwent surgery and radiation and is currently in remission!)
I didn’t have much time to stay in shock, as things started moving FAST. Within a few days I’d seen a breast surgeon, medical oncologist, and had a breast MRI as well as a full body PET scan. We discovered that there were in fact multiple tumors in my right breast, as well as 2 axillary lymph nodes involved. Thankfully, my PET scan was negative for metastatic disease. We now had a specific diagnosis (Stage 2, Grade 3 HR+ HER2- invasive ductal carcinoma) and a treatment plan: Neoadjuvant chemo, surgery, radiation, hormone therapy, and Verzenio.
My oncologist recommended that we start with chemo before surgery, since my cancer was so aggressive. Before I knew it, I was in surgery to have a port placed so I could begin chemo ASAP. Getting a port was the best thing I did- needles and I do NOT get along, and a port made it much easier for me. I had a total of 20 weeks of chemo, starting with 4 rounds of AC (aka the Red Devil). I won’t sugar coat it, those first 4 rounds were tough for me. Those were some of the toughest months of my life. But one round of chemo at a time, one week at a time, one day at a time, sometimes one hour or one minute at a time, I got through it. I could feel my tumor shrinking after just one treatment, which was motivation to keep going. And the next 12 weeks of Taxol were much more doable for me. At the end of those 20 weeks, I was so excited to ring the bell and have the first hurdle behind me.
After my last chemo, I got about 6 weeks off to recover and let my body heal. My husband, baby boy, and I took full advantage of every day that I felt good- we camped, we hiked, and we took a little vacation to the beach. It was lovely. I felt I had my feet (somewhat) under me and was ready for the next hurdle: surgery.
A lumpectomy was not an option for me since I had multiple tumors in my breast. I chose to have a single mastectomy after learning that (in my case) a double mastectomy would not do anything to decrease my risk of recurrence. It was a little victory for me- to at least be able to keep one of my natural breasts; the breasts that I had nursed my little baby with. It’s a very personal decision and there is no right or wrong. I was, and still am, very happy with my decision, and that’s all I can ask for. Surgery went well and while there were still some remnants of my tumors left, chemo had done its job. Those 5 long months of chemo were worth it. They were able to remove all remnants of the cancer with clear margins. I was officially cancer free at that point!
I definitely had some pain after my mastectomy and the drains were just as annoying as everyone had warned me. And it broke my heart to not be able to lift my little baby much. But within a week or two I was feeling pretty good.
With surgery behind me and everything healing well, it was time to begin my reconstruction process. I’d had a tissue expander placed during my mastectomy, which would eventually be replaced with an implant. My tissue expander had to be fully filled before I could start radiation. I was fortunate that the expansion process was pretty easy for me; it only took one filling, which was uncomfortable, but manageable. Before I knew it, I was all set to begin radiation.
I had 28 radiation treatments total. For me, radiation was the “easiest” part of my treatment. I was very diligent in taking care of my skin, and it held up pretty well, all things considered. I had some minimal burning as well as some fatigue. But compared to chemo, it felt like a breeze. Radiation was the final hurdle of active treatment for me, and mentally, that made a huge difference. I was beyond thrilled to walk out of those doors on the last day of radiation and feel like I was closing the book on that chapter of my life. And so excited that my hair was coming back!
While active treatment was complete, and I was officially cancer free, there was still more treatment in my plan to attempt to keep me in remission. Once I had my feet under me from radiation, I started taking Tamoxifen. My hot flashes worsened, along with some other side effects, but overall, it was manageable. Then we added Verzenio to the mix; and Verzenio and I did NOT get along. First of all, it causes an unbearably itchy rash for me, and the fatigue it caused me was no joke. It was impossible for me to keep up with my 2 year old, I was too itchy to sleep, and was struggling to eat; in short, it was difficult to function. With a dose reduction and lots of antihistamines, I’ve been able to stay on Verzenio. I am determined to make it through the 2 years of treatment with this drug. While these medications are difficult, I’m so thankful that I have options to help prevent progression to metastatic disease, and I’m acutely aware that not everyone has these types of options.
During this time, I also unfortunately developed significant radiation fibrosis, as well as a grade IV capsular contracture around my breast implant, both due to radiation damage. These symptoms made my expander quite uncomfortable. Six months after the end of radiation, I was finally able to have my exchange surgery and replace the expander with an implant. My plastic surgeon was able to perform a capsulectomy during the surgery, which helped quite a bit with the capsular contracture and the associated pain.
I’ve struggled with many of the common long term side effects from cancer treatments: continued radiation fibrosis, fatigue, and subclinical lymphedema, to name a few. I am so fortunate that I have the skills needed to manage these issues, and for the most part, they are in the background of my daily life. Many warned me that the time after active treatment can be the hardest, and I’ve certainly felt that way at times. I think we all believe that after treatment is over, things will just “go back to normal”, and it’s a harsh reality that things will forever be different than before. I am adapting to my “new normal” and I can say for certain that I have a different (better) outlook on life than before. Cancer has a way of giving you a perspective change on just about everything in life. I am truly grateful for every day that I get to live in remission (cured?!) from this disease.
Enjoying the little things
I was (and am) so thankful that as a PT, I had some baseline knowledge and skills to know how to rehab myself after surgeries, how to exercise throughout each stage of treatment, and when/how to seek out additional help (I found an incredible CLT Occupational Therapist who helped me SO much). These things made such a difference in my recovery. I thought to myself so many times throughout my breast cancer treatment- “why have none of my doctors recommended these things to me?” And “why is this information so hard to find?” and “oh my gosh, every patient should know how to do this exercise after surgery” etc.
This is how Pink Badger Cancer Rehab was born. Throughout treatment, I actually created exercise programs for myself so that I could rehab myself and maintain my strength along the way (You can access my FREE Breast Surgery Recovery Guide and my Return to Function Programs HERE). I frequently thought to myself “you shouldn’t need to be a physical therapist to know how to help yourself recover from breast cancer treatments”. I knew I wanted to help others going through this and provide the information and resources that should be available for every single person who goes through breast cancer treatment, but can be very difficult to find. As a Physical Therapist AND a breast cancer survivor, I felt I was in a unique situation to be able to provide this.
I decided to work on my PORI breast cancer rehabilitation certification after I was done with active treatment. This certification provided me with so much information to help me expand on my Pink Badger Exercise Programs, and share all of this information with each of you. My programs are a compilation of what I knew as I went through treatment that helped me, things I wish I’d known, and information I’ve learned from my certification, digging through the research, and from my fabulous OT.
So, pink sisters, I am truly sorry that you need this information and these programs, but I am so very glad that you found it. I hope that this will help you as you navigate your breast cancer diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship.
