Key points from today’s guests:
Heather Handlin, breast cancer patient
- When she needed a doctor’s appointment to fix a broken implant, he doctor made her get a mammogram first.
- At 37, she was frustrated she had to do that, since the recommendations are to start mammograms at 40. But the mammogram led to a biopsy that found breast cancer.
- She had five rounds of chemotherapy. And then after chemo was done, she had a bilateral mastectomy. After the mastectomy, the cancer was spread far enough that she went through 20 rounds of radiation.
- Her husband commissioned a mural to support her and other breast cancer patients. She says when you drive by the mural and see that, it hits your heart hard because it shows the community cares for you and you are not alone.
Chris Handlin, Heather’s husband
- Chris watched Heather endure chemotherapy, radiation and surgery, and then came up with an idea to inspire other women facing breast cancer.
- A building Chris bought for business storage happened to be perfectly placed at the corner of Seneca and Rainbow in Kansas City, Kansas -- a road leading away from the Cancer Center.
- Chris commissioned a local artist to create a mural on the side of the building featuring Rosie the Riveter so other women facing cancer can now see they're not alone.
- He said although breast cancer may not mean as much sometimes to men because it affects women a lot more, it's definitely a personal issue and hits you hard when it’s your family. He said it’s an exclusive club he wishes no one to be a part of.
- He recommends support by being present and listening.
Dr. Jamie Wagner, breast surgical oncologist; division chief, breast surgical oncology, The University of Kansas Cancer Center
- We had a multidisciplinary plan for Heather.
- Heather really embodies the success that can happen when we bring all the right people together.
- Breast cancer is more like a family of breast cancers now with a lot of personality types. And the most important thing was first identifying what was her personality type and based on that, we knew that she needed chemotherapy.
- We have targeted therapies that are specifically for her, which has truly revolutionized the survival rates for her type of breast cancer, which is great.
- We want to highlight what we do know about cancer under the age of 40 is the tendency to be more aggressive cancer. So we need to have some heightened awareness if something is different about your body.
- If it doesn't feel normal, advocate for yourself and have it looked at.
- When we look at all of breast cancer, only 5 percent of breast cancers that are diagnosed every year are in women under 40. But those cancers have the tendency to be more aggressive.
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director, infection prevention & control, The University of Kansas Health System
- COVID hospitalizations this week are at 14 active patients. Last week, that number was 22.
- A recent study in the UK looked at about 10,000 unvaccinated people who had gotten COVID.
- What the study found was that people who had common colds were experiencing “long cold” symptoms.
- What they found was that the taste and smell changes were continued to be prevalent as well as lightheadedness and dizziness in those patients who had COVID. But for the people that had the non-COVID respiratory infection, they still had symptoms for weeks later those were more like coughing and some GI type symptoms.
Morning Medical Update is on TV in October! The four-part series Cancer: Choices, Hope and Science will air on Tuesdays in October. In the Kansas City area, it’s on KCTV5 at 9:30 a.m. and in Topeka, it’s on WIBW at 9 a.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 11 at 8 a.m. CT is the next Open Mics with Dr. Stites. People are having dramatic weight loss with medicine or surgery, but there's a downside. All that excess skin can lead to infections. We'll look at the skin removal surgery that's becoming more common.
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