Christy Greenleaf:
It's really interesting. Because when I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I really just thought of it as sort of a blanket statement, like breast cancer is just breast cancer. And I didn't realize that there are no two cancers that are alike. My cancer, being triple-positive, is hormone-driven. And I actually had a friend who was diagnosed at the same time as I was within just a few days apart. We both had surgeries at the same time, we both got diagnosed at the same time, and her diagnosis actually turned to stage IV. And so she was triple-negative. I've actually learned a lot from her, again, because no two cancers are alike. My treatment, because it is hormone-driven, the goal is to make sure that they're targeting that hormone to prevent a recurrence.
There wasn't a whole lot of time to really process (laughs) the information. I think, for me personally, once I was diagnosed, everything just took off. And it really wasn't a choice for me to not have a double mastectomy. I had had that history of the precancerous tumor 10 years prior, and I do have a large family history of different kinds of cancers. I actually was the first one to be diagnosed with breast cancer, but that was not an option. I did have my treatment plan presented to me in terms of a couple of different options that I had. And I did choose to go the more aggressive route in terms of the chemotherapy that I did. I did AC chemo, which is also known as "The Red Devil" (Adriamycin). And then I did Taxol (paclitaxel) with Herceptin (trastuzumab) and Perjeta (pertuzumab) after that and continued with Herceptin and Perjeta for the remainder of the year. And in between that, I had 25 rounds of radiation.
And so it was a full – from when I had my double mastectomy until my last day of active treatment, it was about 18 months of treatment that I had. And then I continue on hormone therapy now, and I'll take that for the next 10 years. And again, that's all because my cancer is hormone-driven. Once I was diagnosed, the treatment plan changed several times, and that was really difficult for me. Because, as it is, I think for most folks that are diagnosed with cancer; because, as you get more information, the plan changes. And so, just as you have enough time to wrap your head around, okay, mentally preparing yourself for what you're going to endure, that is kind of all down the tubes, and you've got to start back again at square one.
When I was diagnosed, we actually thought that my cancer was pretty small. And so doing the double mastectomy was going to probably be enough, and then maybe hormone therapy for the next 10 years based on my age. But really, the tumor was much larger, but I had such dense breasts that they couldn't see the tumor. And so that was really difficult for me. When my OB had called me to tell me about my diagnosis, she and I have a really great relationship, and she didn't want a stranger calling to tell me about my diagnosis. She wanted to be the one to call in and give me the news. And I didn't cry when she told me that I had breast cancer. I cried when she told me that if my treatment may have to include chemo, that I would lose my hair.
So that, I would say, was the most difficult piece for me. And I think, when you're diagnosed, what I learned, anyway, in my experience is, you don't know what treatment is going to be like. So that being said, my treatment plan was supposed to be, let's say, for a year, and it ended up being longer than that. There are delays along the way, things that you just can't prepare yourself for, and you don't know how your body is going to handle those things, right? And so you really have to learn to roll with the punches, so to speak, knowing that there are a lot of really difficult times along the way. But then, also knowing that if you take things in really small chunks, and as you're going through it, that's much easier than trying to visualize what it's going to look like a year down the road because that can just be really overwhelming.
I have coworkers, that when – I was out of work for almost a year. And when I came back to work, they had known what I had gone through. And when I had mentioned that that was stage I, they had thought that I had a greater stage than that. And so that's what I tell folks. I'm like, "Everything that I have gone through, I went through for a stage I cancer," right? And I think that people have a lot of misconceptions about what cancer treatment and cancer is. And so, again, it's just really important to know your body, to get those mammograms, and to get those screenings.
