K NOWS N O A GE

Williams Herald, 123 N. Sesame Way, West Jordan, UT 98765 williamsherald.ut.com williamsherald@aol.com 1-888-555-2222

02/08/2014 Williams Herald

Knows No Age
By Ashlee Stapel Money, work, marriage, health, children, physical appearance, intimacy, aging relatives The list continues on with the typical daily worries of average women. Smaller daily concerns are sometimes as simple as: Did I turn off the oven? I forgot to send Johnny with his lunch. What do I need at the store? Breast cancer at age 27? Not so typical, though for some it is just as poignant. Such is true in the family line of Wendy, who I sat down with to hear the story of her struggle with the impending threat of young breast cancer. It was 1991 and I was a newlywed, living in Salt Lake City, Utah. Wendy begins to explain to me where her story really started. Her mother, Kelly, who lived in Pittsford, New York at the time, called her young daughter to notify her that she had breast cancer. Wendy choked up, Cancer meant death. Cancer meant loss. I was terrified, for my mom and for me. Kelly informed Wendy that she had found a spot under her right arm that just felt different. After many doctors visits, consultations, and tests, Kelly decided to Kelly and the operations performed had so far saved their lives, but they both had told of the brutal chemotherapy. Wendy could not fathom seeing her mother endure the same. So there she was, 22 years of age and petrified for what her future held. Wendy knew that she needed to get someone to see her urgency in beginning mammograms. That was almost unheard of, it seemed, for someone at her young age, but Wendy wanted one. She needed to be reassured that she was clean. She already had an OB/GYN of her own, but he did not recommend it for her. He told Wendy that it was highly unnecessary and that she was far too young to worry. Her doctor would not perform mammograms until the age of 40. Wendy was frustrated and concerned that nobody was listening, but all she could do was make sure she did her self-breast exams. In 1992 Wendy had her first baby, yet still her doctor discouraged her from getting the test. When her son was 6 months old, Wendy and her family moved to Fontana, California. A new place, a new OB/GYN, she thought, someone will listen to me! Every year at her annual appointment she asked and explained in detail why she felt this sense of urgency. However, her new OB/GYN too felt it was have a double mastectomy. Wendy paused before saying, I was shocked, frightened, and unbelieving that this could be happening to the lady who I counted on to be there, always! A few years earlier, Wendys two maternal aunts had had mastectomies. They each were older than unnecessary. This doctor told her that her breast tissue was too dense, because she was too young, and they wouldnt see enough to make any difference. Wendys family of now four moved back to the Salt Lake area in 1995. She was 29. Her sister

Cancer meant death. Cancer meant loss. I was terrified for my mom and for me.

recommended her own OB/GYN and so Wendy began to see Dr. Mitchell Barney. After giving him her family history, Wendy explained her concerns and asked him if he would recommend her for a mammogram. Dr. Barney was truly surprised that no other doctor had ordered one before him with the history in her family. She was relieved that she finally had someone who would listen to her and caught the same concern! I had my first mammogram at age 29. I had one every year since and in 2009, at age 43, I found a lump in my left breast. Wendy recalls. The mammograms previous to that had seen a spot but Dr. Barney had been watching it for several years. Wendy paused, But then there was a change. I could feel it and the mammogram could see it. She was sent for a diagnostic mammogram at a local hospital that specializes in breast care. The extensive mammogram told them that they needed to take further action. After ultrasounds and extensive pictures and being told that there was a lump that could possibly be cancer, Wendy was again frightened. However, she could not help but be grateful that someone had listened to her so many years before. Had it not been for Dr. Barney, the pictures of mammogram history would not have been there to watch that area and see the changes in the spots that they saw. Wendy underwent surgery on her left breast in the summer of 2009, and to her familys relief, the lump was benign. She has undergone a diagnostic mammogram every six months ever since, still watching certain areas.

Will mammograms save my life one day just because I began testing at 29? I dont know. However, I am truly grateful that finally someone listened to me, saw my concern and unrest, and recommended me. I feel strongly that mammograms should be considered on a case by case basis, and not just because you are not forty yet. Wendy continues by telling me that her mother is thankfully 22 years clean and that gives her hope. Both of her aunts died of breast cancer, a few years after having two separate mastectomies.

I had my first mammogram at age 29 in 2009, at age 43, I found a lump in my left breast.

This story touches each one of us in one way or another, either we know someone with cancer or have had it ourselves. It is a worldwide scare but one that does not have to be fatal if detected early. It does not have to end in a mastectomy or reconstruction. Being 40 is not the "rule" to start the mammogram process, it is a guideline. Each case needs to be taken individually. I know this because the woman in the story is my mother who gave birth to me just a few years before beginning her yearly mammogram tests.