The Netflix documentary “David Foster: Off the Record” is becoming the latest pandemic-diversion. In it, we see the Grammy-winning Foster, 70 hitmaker for music legends like Rod Stewart and Olivia Newton-John coax Celine Dion’s voice to new heights and tap a wedding singer named Michael Buble, for stardom.
Viewers also meet his daughter, Amy Foster, 46, a recent breast cancer survivor, author, and the songwriter behind four of Buble’s number-one hits including ‘Haven’t Met You Yet’ and ‘Beautiful Day’.
Daughter Amy, 46: “Caught It Early”
Read More“I felt a lump and got it checked and yep….Breast cancer. The great news is that I caught it early and although I am getting a mastectomy … I feel so lucky and grateful for this diagnosis which could have easily been so much worse if I had waited.”
Of her breast-cancer surgery, Foster says, “The mastectomy was not great, but it never was a question for me,” she told PEOPLE. “I was just like, ‘Take them.'”
When should you choose a mastectomy? Dr. Ann Partridge of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Dr. Elizabeth Comen of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center offer insight into the decision process.
Oral Chemotherapy
Foster now says she’s on oral chemotherapy and taking “extra precautions” during the pandemic to protect her health. Oral chemotherapy drugs can be taken at home, allowing patients to avoid infusion centers or hospital visits, reducing their risk of coronavirus exposure.
Physicians can prescribe oral chemo medications electronically, with refills delivered to patients at home, further reducing their need to venture out and risk exposure.
“I am on a pill form of chemo which makes my immune system not as strong,” she said. “It’s only been a year since I was diagnosed and had my mastectomy, and I have to have another revision surgery. So I can’t really be out.”
Reconstruction After Mastectomy
Before breast implant surgery to reconstruct the breast, a breast tissue expander is inserted between the skin and chest muscle. The expander has a small valve that will be filled gradually over time with saline every one to two weeks, stretching the skin until the area is ready for the permanent implant.
Dr. Andrea Pusic, Chief of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital on breast-reconstruction.
A minority of women are candidates for direct-to-implant reconstruction, says Dr. Andrea Pusic, Chief of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. This means the breast implant is inserted at the time of the mastectomy.
RELATED: Breast Reconstruction: Regaining Your Sense of Self
This option is best for women with small breasts and/or women who are having no skin removed and are preserving the nipple and areola. Women who qualify for direct-to-implant reconstruction are able to emerge from their mastectomy with their breast(s) reconstructed.
Strong For Her Children
Foster pointed out how her father and his new wife Katharine McPhee, 36, flew out to Portland to be with her after her mastectomy. "[Our relationship] has grown a lot, and I think my dad and I are a lot alike," she told PEOPLE.
Like many in the SurvivorNet community, she says her family and three children have helped her to not be “afraid” during her diagnosis and treatment for breast cancer.
“I have young kids, and I think you end up being strong for them,” Foster told PEOPLE. “In the course of being strong for them, you automatically become strong.”
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.
