Key points from today’s guests:
Robin Love, breast cancer survivor
- Robin learned that even after a mastectomy, an aggressive form of breast cancer could come back. And at that time, there was no FDA approved treatment for her.
- But she is alive today thanks in large part to a clinical trial and her push for a second opinion.
- When she was 39, she found a lump. After a mastectomy, they a more invasive tumor. Her first oncologist at another hospital said she wasn’t a candidate for a clinical trial because she had three different types of cancer.
- She got a second opinion from Dr. Carol Fabian at The University of Kansas Cancer Center, who helped get her into a life-saving clinical trial.
- Robin was worried that she wouldn’t live to see her children, then 7 and 9, graduate from high school. Now they are 25 and 28 and very successful.
- In fact, her son invented a medical device that helps treat other patients and actually met Dr. Fabian at a symposium they were both presenting at.
- She said that diagnosis really taught her about what's important in life. Robin lives every day to the fullest and knows she is strong and can fight through anything.
- She has now been cancer free for 18 years.
Dr. Carol Fabian, breast oncologist; director, Breast Cancer Prevention and Survivorship Research Center, The University of Kansas Cancer Center
- Positive breast cancer is actually many different diseases, it all just happens to start working on the breast.
- About 70 to 80 percent of breast cancers are estrogen fed. That also means that they usually respond very nicely to anti-hormonal treatments.
- About 20 to 30 percent of tumors have growth factors on their surface and are some of the most aggressive types of cancer.
- Aggressive cancers tend to occur most often at the extremes of life.
- Doctors can't know everything about every clinical trial or what all clinical trials are available. There's a variety of ways not only to find out what trials are going on at a particular institution, but across the U.S.
- People can also search KUCC Clinical Trial Finder in any app store.
- And we also must remember that not every patient is a good candidate for clinical trials. For example, patients who have a lot of underlying organ diseases or that have other problems may not be good candidates for a clinical trial.
- To help prevent breast cancer, exercise at least three to five hours a week. It can be something as simple as fast walking. Watch your diet and make sure you're getting an adequate amount of vitamin D.
- For average risk women, try to get that first mammogram as close to 40 as possible. If you do have a family history of cancer, think about getting genetic testing and augmented screening.
Lori Ranallo, APRN, breast oncology nurse practitioner, The University of Kansas Cancer Center
- The nursing staff is so important because oftentimes the physician has the hardest part of going in and telling the patient they have a cancer. Then the nurse or the nurse practitioner spends the time with the patient to really go through what side effects to kind of calm those fears that we're going to do everything we can and be there every step of the way.
- It is important for them to know that you have somebody on the team in your corner
- Our patients become our family and it’s such a privilege to be there for them.
- Prevention is key -- knowing what your family history looks like and knowing what your body feels like and getting the appropriate screenings at the appropriate time is important.
- Be your own advocate. If you feel something and someone tells you it's probably nothing, don't stop. See something, feel something, say something.
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of Infection Prevention and Control, The University of Kansas Health System
- The hospital COVID count for this week is up to 12 inpatients, which is an increase from eight last week.
- The CDC recently reported that COVID vaccines are not linked to fatal heart problems in young people.
- Despite seeing some heart inflammation in some young adult males, what we're seeing here is that the disease is much worse than effects of the vaccine. What they found was that of those young people that died, only two of them had actually been vaccinated.
- We believe if there were more of those people that were vaccinated, it could have saved their lives. This is just one more study showing that the vaccines are safe.
Wednesday, July 31 at 8 a.m. is the next Open Mics With Doctor Stites. A family goes on vacation with their baby, only to discover their child has developed a severe breathing problem. We’ll share their harrowing story and what the future holds for their little girl.
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