Family history leads Brandon woman to have double mastectomy

Jill Meier

Journal editor 

 

Jennifer Swenson has three very personal reasons that has led her to undergo a double mastectomy later this year: her mother, her aunt, and her sister.

All three of these women battled breast cancer, her mother being the lone survivor.

“What led me to this decision was my family history,” shared Jennifer, who, without the double mastectomy, faces a 40 percent risk of breast cancer. The mastectomy, she added, dropped her risk to 2 percent. 

“That’s good odds,” she said. “If I tested positive genetically it would be higher, but at this point I haven’t done the genetic testing. My mom tested for the BRAC1 and BRAC2 (tumor suppressor genes), which are highly linked to ovarian and breast cancer, and she tested negative.” 

Since her mother was negative, Jennifer and her sister were able to forgo the test. Doctors, however, have recommended that her mother repeat the genetic tests because of her cancer history. “If she tests negative, I won’t have to test, but if she tests positive I would then test,” Swenson said.

Her mother, a two-time breast cancer survivor, was first diagnosed with the estrogen-fed cancer at 46. In March, now at the age of 72, she was diagnosed a second time, undergoing a mastectomy with each diagnosis.

“It was triple-negative, so there was no estrogen involved in it,” said Swenson, noting that her mother is doing well in her recovery.

Her mother’s sister was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 50 and passed away four years later at 54. 

“She thought she beat the cancer, was healthy for two years and then at the age of 52 was told that it had matastasized and spread throughout her body,” Swenson recalled. “And then there was my sister who was diagnosed in 2012 at the age of 45.” Her sister battled breast cancer for a year, passing away at age 46. 

“It’s been in my family history as far back as I can remember. I am 46 now and I was in my early 30s when I started getting mammograms and MRIs, and it was in the spring when my mom was diagnosed that I decided I was going to have this surgery,” Swenson said.

For the most part, she’s had healthy mammogram reports. 

“I’ve had a couple cysts, and they’ve been fine,” she shared. “Earlier this spring they found that my breast tissue looked different on one of their reports and they could not explain why. That was very concerning to me, and this was right around the time that my mom was diagnosed that this happened to me. I’m 46, the same age that my sister died at, so that news did not sit well with me.”

Follow-up tests six months later revealed normal breast tissue.

“They think that it might have been hormonal, which at this age that makes sense. But I still feel very confident in my decision. My oncologist (Dr. Amy Krie of Avera) understands and is supporting me, and I don’t feel like I am doing something that I shouldn’t be doing,” she said.

She’s also willing to share her story with those who ask.

“I’m glad that you asked me to talk about it, because I felt weird about going on Facebook and advertising it to my friends and community; it’s not my style, but this felt right,” she said. “I want women to know who are in my position that you may not have cancer but if you have the genetic disposition or the family risk, there are so many resources out there. What I’m doing may not be right for everybody but there’s so much information online. My oncologist is great, and I think any of the oncologists in the area at Sanford or Avera are so armed with tools to help make these decisions.”

A firm believer in annual mammograms

Jennifer’s family history is what led her to have annual mammograms in her early 30s.  

“The sad thing with my sister’s story is she had not had her mammogram in 14 months. She had been experiencing symptoms with bladder infections and UTIs for about nine months prior to that and didn’t think anything of it. Then she has her mammogram and they diagnosed her with cancer, realizing that she had already mastastasized to stage 4 and those were cancer cells in her bladder. So, when she had been having all these bladder issues, that was the breast cancer, and she didn’t have it diagnosed until over nine months after that. Cancer can grow so fast, and with her, for nine months she didn’t even know she had cancer, and it was such an aggressive cancer,” she said. “So, I’m a very strong believer: Do not put your mammograms off, and if you have a family history – even if you’re not at the recommended age for mammograms – go see your doctor and talk to them about it. I’ve heard the naysayers say, ‘Oh, they’re doing unnecessary tests when they don’t need to,’ but when it’s touched your family you don’t look at it like that; it’s one more tool to help you survive.”

She’s a ‘Young Previvor’

As Jennifer explored breast cancer and subsequent procedures, she discovered a private group on Facebook, “Young Previvors.” The page lists 1,159 members.

“It’s a term for those who don’t have cancer but will probably get it, so you’re a previvor,” she explains. “I was able to get so much information, ask questions and hear stories. Locally, I’ve talked to a lot women that are breast cancer survivors that had different surgeries when they did their mastectomy. I had a wealth of information on that level, but I didn’t have any people who hadn’t had cancer that had not done the procedure. You just don’t find many people that have mastectomies done to prevent it, so that’s why I love this previvor group, because that’s all it is, people that don’t have cancer but are trying to determine what to do to lower the risk.”

The mastectomy

Jennifer’s double mastectomy is planned for mid-December and for her reconstruction surgery, she’s chosen the flap surgery. That procedure entails taking fat from her stomach and transplanting it into her breasts.

“I looked at all the different options, and that just happens to be the one that I was most comfortable with,” Jennifer said. “I didn’t want the traditional implants; I think I’m more comfortable doing the flap surgery but I’m glad there’s so many options for women. You can do the silicone, saline implants or you can do nothing, and if you go on Facebook and type in mastectomy tattoos, beautiful, beautiful. My doctor has given me no reason to think this procedure would not work. Hopefully it will, and if not, then we’ll look at plan B.”

Her recuperation is expected to take four to six weeks.

Prior to her decision to have surgery, for a year Jennifer took an oral chemotherapy pill to reduce her risk. She discontinued the medication because of questionable side effects.

“I was hoping that would be the long-term option to cut my risk, but it just didn’t work out. Now it seems the biggest way to cut my risk is to do this surgery,” she said.

A supportive family

Jennifer said her family has been very supportive of her decision.

“We’re pretty open in our family. I’ve talked quite a bit about to my kids and my husband, and I’ve been very open with my sister’s children. I feel it’s important to be open with them, because this is something they could be high risk for as they age and need to keep an eye on it,” she said.

With the exception of the birth of her sons, Zane and Austin, the double mastectomy will be Jennifer’s first major surgery.

“My surgeon has informed me that I’m young, I’m healthy, I’m in good physical condition, I’m just a very good candidate, and I feel very confident who I’m having do the surgery, so I do feel confident in my decision,” she said. “My sister’s dead. She left two middle school-aged children behind when she died, and I want to get my kids raised. I know something’s going to kill me, but it won’t be breast cancer. We don’t go through life thinking, ‘I want to get my children raised.’ I was concerned, but after my sister died, I realized this could be a big thing down the road; you don’t know, it’s all a gamble.”

It’s a gamble, however, she’s willing to take.

 

MORE ABOUT BREAST CANCER

According to the World Health Organization, one in eight women in the U.S. will be diagnosed with breast cancer, which is the second leading cause of cancer death among women. in her lifetime, and is the second leading cause of cancer death among women. Each year it is estimated that over 252,710 women in the U.S. will be diagnosed with breast cancer and more than 40,500 will die. More than 3.3 million breast cancer survivors are alive in the U.S. today. 

The good news is that most women can survive breast cancer if it’s found and treated early. A mammogram – the screening test for breast cancer – can help find breast cancer early when it’s easier to treat.