THE DAILY NEWS Saturday, September 30, 2023 C11

October is
Breast
Cancer
Awareness
Month!

Motherhood is stronger than cancer

By KORI SCIANDRA
ksciandra@batavianews.com
Receiving a breast can-
cer diagnosis at 49 years old
was a frightening reality for
Perry resident Luanne Hill.
Hill quickly understood
what was at stake when
faced with making life-
changing decisions.
After receiving a hyster-
ectomy and briefly taking
hormone replacement
therapy medication, in
2003, Hill was performing a
self-breast exam when she
discovered what felt like
a cord in her right breast
that traveled up to her col-
larbone. During a follow up
exam, her doctors couldn’t
find anything wrong with
her breast and there was
no evidence of a lump on a
mammogram.
Luanne, originally from
the town of Niagara, was
married to her husband
Dan and living in St. Catha-
rines, Ontario, where her
husband is from. Her son
Nick was only 9 years old.
“I am a firm believer of
you know your body best.
You just do. I had a wonder-
ful surgeon who believed
that as well, so we ran more
tests,” said Luanne.
She received an initial
diagnosis of ductal carci-
noma in situ. This meant
Luanne had to monitor her
breast for the foreseeable
future.
“My surgeon didn’t
agree with the diagnosis,
so he sent a sample out
for more testing in the
PHOTO COURTESY OF LUANNE HILL
Luanne and Dan Hill of
Perry.
Hamilton, Ontario, area,”
said Luanne. “Sure enough
– it was a different diagno-
sis. It was breast cancer.”
Luanne later learned if
your body is “estrogen pos-
itive,” which hers is, you
must be cautious about
taking hormone replace-
ment therapy because it
contains estrogen.
Once diagnosed, Luanne
was faced with the decision
to either have a lumpec-
tomy with radiation and
chemotherapy or opt for a
mastectomy on her right
breast. Luanne knew she
had to do whatever was
needed to secure her future
to raise her son, who is now
30 years old and settled
with his family in Freedom.
“I pulled out a photo
of Nicholas. He was 9. He
had his cute little dimples
and cute little chin. I rolled
the photo across her desk
and said, ‘You see this little
boy here? You and I, Doc,
are going to make the best
decision so that I am here
to raise my son,’ ” said Lu-
anne.
She continued, “The
decision I made came with
a lot of searching. What’s
really more important. Is
that balance in your breasts
important or is being here
with your family impor-
tant? There is no compari-
son with that.”
Now a grandmother of
two (Gunner, 6 ,and Finley,
4) Luanne is a breast cancer
survivor who celebrated 20
years of being cancer free in
July.
She and Dan moved to
Java Lake when Nick was
in college and later found
a ranch in Perry. She has
since seen her son get mar-
ried to his wife Jess and en-
joyed decades of memories
with her family.
“I was checked for 10
years. The progression
slowly decreased as the
years went on. I had to take
post-cancer medications
to keep it at bay. Thank
God, I’ve been okay ever
since,” said Luanne.
The support from her
husband made her deci-
sion to have a mastectomy
easier as well as his help
during her recovery.
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“He was amazing!” said
Luanne. “Family support is
so important. I was the first
person in my family to get
diagnosed. It’s scary.”
Prior to becoming a
mother, Luanne was a di-
rector of financial aid at a
private college and a gen-
eral manager of a chamber
of commerce.
The positions and her
public speaking skills have
been useful for her when
she shares her experience
and her story with other
women. Luanne is on a cir-
cuit of breast cancer sup-
port systems and has men-
tored 30 women from the
Rochester area as they cope
and better understand
their diagnosis.
“My friend and I went
to the Grape and Wine
parade. It’s a huge tourist
event in St. Catharines. We
sat on top of these Mus-
tangs with these long pink
wigs on. We said we were
breast cancer survivors and
we drove through the town
in this Mustang. People
cheered for us in support,
and it was wonderful!” said
Luanne. “It [breast cancer]
could happen to anybody.
That’s how I started putting
that word out in a positive
way.”
She has spoken at a
women’s council and em-
phasizes the importance
of checkups, self-breast
exams and getting mam-
mograms.
“It’s [mammogram] the
best tool they have right
now. The importance of
talking and learning is vi-
tal,” said Luanne.
The Breast Cancer
Coalition of Rochester
has a group called PALS
(Peer Advocates Lending
Support). PALS is a peer
mentoring program. The
mentors are breast and
gynecologic cancer survi-
vors who reach out to those
who are new to the disease,
providing the reassurance
of one-to-one contact with
someone who has “been
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instill confidence during a
difficult time.
“I wanted to get back
into helping others. You
can’t give medical advice,
but you can give emotional
support,” said Luanne.
“You don’t know how
much you help people.”
Luanne’s kindness and
willingness to help others
has empowered women
to have courage and grace
as they travel an unknown
path to a long and healthy
future.
For more information
about PALS, visit https://
bccr.org/pals-mentor-pro-
gram/Ali@bccr.org.

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C12 Saturday, September 30, 2023
Dense breast tissue increases confusion, cancer risk
By KORI SCIANDRA
ksciandra@batavianews.com
Dense breast tissue is
the hottest topic in breast
cancer research and
awareness right now. It’s
even celebrated with its
own day of awareness –
World Dense Breast Day
(Wednesday, Sept. 27), but
why?
There are a few reasons
this topic is a popular dis-
cussion among healthcare
practitioners and women
right now.
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“Women with dense
breast tissue are at a
higher risk of developing
breast cancer,” said Nancy
Wayne of Elizabeth Wende
Breast Care.
“Dense breast tissue ap-
pears white on mammo-
grams, similar to tumors,
making it harder for doc-
tors to detect cancerous
lesions. Therefore, under-
standing breast density
is crucial for assessing an
individual’s breast can-
cer risk,” she said. “Dense
breast tissue can obscure
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Batavia, NY 14020
THE DAILY NEWS
small tumors on mammo-
grams, potentially leading
to delayed diagnosis. As a
result, there is increased
attention on improving
screening methods and
technologies to enhance
breast cancer detection
in women with dense
breasts.”
This topic hits home for
me, a 37-year-old mother
of two.
“It’s not cancer, it’s
dense breast tissue.”
A surgeon said the
above statement to me
while he read the results
of my breast ultrasound
about five years ago while
I sat alone with him in his
office – terrified of the un-
known.
Though it was incred-
ibly relieving news, I was
still confused.
What is dense breast tis-
sue and why does it always
hurt?
According to EWBC,
dense breasts are common
and normal. There are 40
to 50 percent of women
who are 40 and older who
have dense breasts.
Knowing your breast
density is vital to your
breast health. Most states,
including New York, have
laws requiring facilities
to notify patients of their
breast density at the time
of their mammogram.
After breast feeding two
babies back-to-back, I felt
a lump on my left breast. I
felt the same way I imagine
most women feel when
this occurs. Your mind rac-
es to very dark and scary
scenarios and you’re im-
mediately overcome with a
sense of sadness and con-
fusion.
You just think, “This
can’t be happening to me.”
The anxiety that builds
while waiting to start the
process of determining
what’s going on with your
The
Breast
Cancer
Research
FoundationTM
body is almost crippling
and you really don’t know
where to start.
For me, it was my OB-
GYN who gave me a sense
of direction which helped
calm my nerves. After a
visit with her, she sent
me to get a mammogram
at Windsong. I was eight
years younger than the
recommended age of your
first mammogram. I al-
ways thought a mammo-
gram was something older
women were supposed
to have. The only thing I
knew for certain was that it
would hurt, and it did.
The awkward and un-
comfortable mammo-
gram was inconclusive. I
started to wonder if it was a
clogged milk duct left over
from breast feeding or a
benign fibroadenoma.
According to EWBC,
dense tissue on a mam-
mogram can make it more
challenging to detect can-
cer and is an independent
risk factor for breast can-
cer development, putting
patients with dense tissue
at a higher risk of breast
cancer.
A breast ultrasound
determined my lump was
something called dense
breast tissue. I had never
heard of dense breast tis-
sue at that time.
EWBC exclusively uses
digital breast tomosynthe-
sis (DBT, sometimes called
3-D mammography) for all
patients, which is especial-
ly beneficial for those with
dense breast tissue.
However, depending
on your breast density and
other risk factors for breast
cancer, your doctor may
recommend additional
screening with breast
ultrasound or MRI (Mag-
netic Resonance Imaging).
A breast MRI may be rec-
ommended if the patient
has a strong family history
of breast cancer or person-
al history of breast cancer
along with dense breast
tissue. Dense breasts con-
tain a higher proportion of
glandular and fibrous tis-
sue (breast tissue is white,
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and a cancerous mass may
also appear white); thus,
detecting small masses or
tumors is more challeng-
ing on a mammogram.
My diagnosis was not
cancer and the fear that
comes with a breast cancer
diagnosis is no compari-
son to being told you have
dense breast tissue. In fact,
it’s incredibly relieving.
However, it’s a common
statistic that many women
live with, but it’s not so
commonly discussed.
After two years of fol-
low-up ultrasounds, I was
cleared of any concern.
RECENT LEGISLATION
AND AWARENESS
According to Wayne,
some countries, states,
and regions have imple-
mented laws requiring
healthcare providers to
inform women if they
have dense breast tissue,
as this information can
impact their breast cancer
screening and follow-up
options. This has raised
public awareness and
discussions surrounding
breast density.
“New York has the
‘Breast Density Inform
Law,’ and it requires
healthcare facilities that
perform mammograms to
provide specific informa-
tion to patients with dense
breast tissue, such as a
notification about their
breast density, an expla-
nation that dense breast
tissue can make it more
challenging to detect ab-
normalities on mammo-
grams and may increase
the risk of breast cancer,”
said Wayne.
“The law also requires
a recommendation that
individuals with dense
breast tissue should dis-
cuss their breast cancer
risk and additional screen-
ing options with their
healthcare providers,”
Wayne said. “This discus-
sion could include options
like supplemental breast
screening with ultrasound
or MRI.”
In March, the Food and
October is
Breast
Cancer
Awareness
Month!
Drug Administration an-
nounced new regulations
requiring mammogram
providers to inform pa-
tients about the density of
their breasts.
You can’t change your
breast density. It’s often
determined by genetics,
age, menopause status
and family history. Stud-
ies have shown four in 10
cases of breast cancer in
younger women could be
attributed to high breast
density.
SO, WHAT CAN YOU DO?
According to Wayne, the
following factors may lead
to fluctuations:
 Age: Breast density
typically decreases with
age, particularly after
menopause, when hor-
monal changes lead to less
glandular and more fatty
tissue in the breasts.
 Weight gain: Weight
gain can increase breast
density, as fatty tissue is
less dense than glandular
tissue. However, the over-
all impact on breast cancer
risk may vary.
 Hormonal changes:
Hormonal changes during
the menstrual cycle, preg-
nancy, and menopause
can influence breast den-
sity.
BREAST PAIN & DISCOMFORT:
Breast pain is common
for most women to expe-
rience at varying different
times in their lives.
Breast pain can be lo-
calized to one breast or a
specific area of the breast.
It’s important to note that
breast pain is usually not
associated with serious
concerns, according to
EWBC.
Sometimes the pain
seems to radiate from
the breast when it is re-
ally from a nearby ana-
tomic location, such as the
shoulder, neck, or chest
wall (usually caused by
arthritis). Conditions such
as costochondritis, inflam-
mation of the cartilage that
connects the ribs to the
breastbone, can mimic
breast-related pain. For
this reason, the mammo-
gram is often normal when
breast pain is present.
During the menstrual
cycle, hormonal changes
can lead to breast discom-
fort. Hormones stimulate
the glandular breast tissue,
causing fluid accumula-
tion and resulting in lump-
iness, discomfort, or pain.
Irregular menstrual cycles
are commonly associated
with breast pain and swell-
ing as well.
Dense breast tissue is
common.
According to nation-
aldaycalender.com who
is prepared to celebrate
World Dense Breast Day
prior to heading into
Breast Cancer Awareness
Month, each woman has
a unique mix of fatty and
dense (glands and fibrous)
tissue in her breasts. Fur-
thermore, the more glands
and fibrous tissue that a
woman has, the “denser”
her breast tissue.
If you’re told you have
dense breast tissue by a
medical practitioner, be
sure to follow through with
follow-up visits to ensure
you’re receiving proper
care for your health and
your future.
For more information
about dense breast tissue,
visit EWBC.com.