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Survival Mode to Survivor: How my wife’s diagnosis united my family in the fight against breast cancer
Survival mode. That’s what Heather, my wife, went into upon learning she had breast cancer. Not surprising. After all, she had to stay alive for our two children, Landon and Grace.
Dr. Bailey, Heather’s surgeon, confirmed “the big C” diagnosis after a self-exam in October of 2015. Significantly, a routine mammogram in August was negative. With that, we had just lived one of the foremost truisms in cancer: regular screening along with self-exams increases the chance of detection at an early stage—when treatment is proven most effective. The truism was never truer: zero to Stage 2 in 2 ½ months. If not for the self-exam, we could have been looking at Stage 4. Having caught it early, Heather chose chemotherapy to reduce the cancer and then a lumpectomy as recent studies had proven her kind grew really fast but also responded well to pre-surgery chemo. Heather was 44, “an infant in my world,” as Dr. Persing, Heather’s oncologist, put it.
As “end of the world” as it was for us at the time, it’s estimated there will be 2,370 new breast cancer cases in Mississippi this year. Per the 2016 Mississippi Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Report, over 30% of women ages 40 and older have not had a mammogram screening within the past two years. Over 400 women in Mississippi die from breast cancer every year; however, 60% of all cancer incidents are treatable. Early detection is critical to fighting breast cancer and improving survival rates.
As Chairman of the Senate Medicaid Committee and Vice-Chairman of the Senate Public Health Committee, supporting strong policies, such as the Mississippi Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (MSDH/BCCP) that promotes early screening and detection and access to care and treatment medication, is vitally important. Its funding provides access for early detection of cancer in high risk women—the uninsured, the medically underserved, minority, and elderly women. As two working professionals, Heather and I are not the average Mississippian. By removing barriers to screenings, more women can be proactive in living longer lives.
Throughout this piece, I intentionally use “us, “we” or “our.” Why? I now understand that the caregiver has a key role in the patient’s care. Caregiver support is crucial to the physical and emotional well-being of cancer patients. By being able to tell Heather, “We got it. You just worry about you,” she was able to work with the doctors to heal herself. We took care of the rest.
I relate our family’s story as October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Approximately 6% of newly diagnosed breast cancer cases are diagnosed as metastatic breast cancer. Metastatic Breast Cancer-focused research makes up only 7% of the $15 billion invested in breast cancer research from 2000 to 2013, yet this Stage 4 disease kills 90 percent of all cancer patients. Awareness is key.
Thanks to State Rep. Jason White and colleagues for passing H.C.R. 85 declaring October Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Empowering women to do regular exams and talk openly to their physician about their treatment choices is critical.
Mississippi State Senator Brice Wiggins
District 52
