At the age of 32, Kathy Cadeau began the fight of her life after finding a lump in her breast while breastfeeding her son.
“At first I was told it was mastitis, a breast infection common in nursing mothers, but the problem persisted even after I finished breastfeeding” says Kathy.
Although Kathy’s Family Doctor told her the lump felt harmless, he sent her for a mammogram. “The results came back and I was told it was an inflammation of my ducts, no worries, not breast cancer, so I was really relieved.”
At her annual physical exam Kathy again mentioned the lump which had not gone away. She was sent for an ultrasound, but when the results came back negative Kathy asked to see a surgeon. “He examined me, and again, I was told it was fine, that I was too young to have breast cancer.”
“After hearing over and over that I was too young and not to worry I began to believe them and I let it be for a full year.
At her next physical Kathy again brought up the lump with her doctor, who noted it but was not overly concerned. By the following year, however, when Kathy returned to her doctor the lymph nodes all up her neck were swollen and her breast was becoming malformed. “I knew something was wrong. I told my doctor I didn’t care what it was, I just wanted them to figure it out.”
This time Kathy underwent a mammogram, an ultrasound and a biopsy. It turned out she had breast cancer after all, which for two years had grown while she was sent from doctor to doctor to x-ray centre and repeatedly reassured she was too young.
“I wasn’t even thinking it could be breast cancer because I had been told so many times that it wasn’t.” By the time her cancer was caught it was an advanced stage 3 tumour that had spread to her lymphatic system.
“When I received the diagnosis I was devastated. I was referred to the Juravinski Cancer Centre and my oncologist, Dr. Levine, and I decided in favour of a very aggressive treatment.” Kathy underwent a double mastectomy followed by six months of chemo, six weeks of radiation, two surgeries and 13 months of Herceptin. “During treatment I was at the clinic so often I used to call it home.”
“Today I am doing great, I had a total response to the chemo and after my treatment they could no longer find any evidence of cancer.”
“I can’t say enough about the care I received. The doctors and nurses at the Juravinski Cancer Centre perform nothing short of miracles. They saved my life.”
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