Global statistics show that a woman’s lifetime risk of developing breast cancer is 1 in 8. Of all the cancers, breast cancer carries the highest mortality rate for women between ages 20 and 59. This is why it’s so important for women, beginning at age 40, to have annual mammograms. If a family history of breast cancer exists, then mammograms should be performed earlier between ages 30 to 35.
“A lot of times women who are young and healthy ignore the symptoms,” said Dr. Rupesh Parikh, an oncologist at Comprehensive Cancer Centers. “Don’t ignore the symptoms. Nobody knows what breast cancer looks like for all women. We are all different. … If you feel something, get it looked at.”
Alexandria Lightning was 33 years old when she felt a lump near her right armpit while taking a shower. She had been monitoring a cyst near her nipple since she was 18 years old, but this lump was something completely new. As a trained health care provider, she took immediate steps.
“When I felt the lump, I knew it was breast cancer,” Lightning remembered thinking. “I ordered my own mammogram and ultrasound. Two weeks later I went in for a biopsy.”
The biopsy confirmed her suspicions. From the time Lightning felt the lump to when she started getting treatments, the lump had doubled in size. What made her situation even worse was that she hadn’t renewed her health insurance. Her sister immediately started a GoFundMe account to supplement treatment costs, which Lightning was forced to pay out-of-pocket until her new insurance policy took effect this past February.
Under Parikh’s supervision, Lightning started getting chemotherapy and immunotherapy treatments in April. After her chemotherapy treatment in June, an ultrasound was done and showed the tumor was gone.
“I was supposed to get six more rounds of chemotherapy, but at that point, I was in a wheelchair and felt extremely weak,” Lightning recalled. She made the decision to stop the chemo and undergo a double mastectomy.
While still maintaining an active primary care provider practice, Lightning continued immunotherapy treatments to halt the future growth and spread of cancer cells. She’s also on estrogen blocker medication because her breast cancer cells tested positive for estrogen receptors.
At age 34, the estrogen blockers pushed her into early menopause symptoms that include hot flashes, vaginal dryness and low libido. The chemotherapy, which slowed her ovaries’ development, ended her ability to have children.
Lightning was diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer. By reacting to the early warning signs and through aggressive treatments, she was able to stop the spread of her disease. She acknowledges, however, that she will have to undergo immunotherapy for the rest of her life.
“Even though I put Alexandria’s cancer in remission, we will be ‘friends for life,’” Parikh said in quoting a common phrase oncologists and patients tell each other. “We will continue to follow you. The most important thing, I want (cancer) patients who see me to feel reassured that if cancer is found early, you will be OK. The odds are in your favor. Even with stage 4 cancer with these new drugs, the odds are in your favor.”
Parikh stressed that there are on average 60 new drugs a year coming out to treat cancer. Chemotherapy treatments also have changed.
“It’s important to treat the patient and not just the disease,” Parikh said. “There is no 100 percent answer on how to treat patients. Everyone is individualized. We act as a team that includes the medical oncologist, the radiation oncologist, breast surgeon, plastic surgeon and all the nurses.”
As an African American, Lightning pointed out that her ethnicity makes her more susceptible to breast cancer. Statistics show that African-American women have a 31 percent breast cancer mortality rate, the highest of any racial or ethnic group in the United States. And among women younger than 45 years of age, breast cancer is higher among African- American women compared to Caucasian women.
Knowing this, Lightning stressed that women need to be proactive and not reactive in protecting themselves from breast cancer.
“Keep a small reserve fund aside for mammograms,” Lightning said. “Mammograms can be done for under $100. Start advocating for yourself.”
Any Nevada resident interested in receiving financial assistance for breast cancer screening and/or diagnostics can do so through the Kay’s Power Play Fund. Contact the Susan G. Komen’s Helpline at 1-877-465-6636, or emailhelpline@komen.org.
The fund is named after Kay Darlington to honor her memory. It was started by her grandson, Shea Theodore, defenseman for the Vegas Golden Knights hockey team, and her doctors at Comprehensive Cancer Centers.
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