Living With Breast Cancer
- Elissa Kalver started noticing unusual pains and aches in her body after giving birth to her daughter after visiting doctors and undergoing blood tests for months.
- It wasn’t until her husband ‘copped a feel’ of her breasts and found a lump that she underwent an ultrasound, mammogram, and biopsyleading to Kalver’s diagnosis of HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer, a fast-growing, metastatic disease.
- It’s important to be on top of self breast exams. If you ever feel a lump in your breast, you should be vigilant and speak with your doctor right away. Voicing your concerns as soon as you have them can lead to earlier cancer detection which, in turn, can lead to better outcomes.
Now 35, the mom of one has opened up about being diagnosed with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer, a fast-growing, metastatic disease.
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In addition to the increased pain in her body, Kalver also noticed she had numbness in her feet while playing tennis, something she described as “weird.”
“I couldn't keep shoes on for too long. It was like my feet felt like they were swelling up, and they would get tingly and numb,” she explained.
Once again, when she visited a doctor to check her numbness, her test results came back as normal.
"I was going to everyone, my primary care doctor, my gynecologist, just to make sure everything was good with my body because I felt like something was off,” Kalver added. “Again, everything came back fine."
Kalver said she didn’t reach out to a doctor again until her husband “copped a feel” and noticed a lump in her breast, something she suspected to be a cyst or a clogged milk duct even though she stopped breastfeeding approximately 10 months prior.
She said, "I just messaged my doctor like, 'Hey, I feel a lump in my breast and want to see if I could come back in for another breast exam.’ "When they felt the lump in my breast, they also felt one in my armpit, which are my lymph nodes. From there, things moved faster."
Following an ultrasound, mammogram and biopsy, Kalver learned the lump was cancerous.
"We were in the doctor's office, my husband and I, and she pulled up the (PET) scan. I've never seen one before, and it just lights up where there's cancer, and you see it in the breast,” Kalver said. “You saw my armpit, and it was just complete lights in my liver. My initial thought was, 'Well we'll remove my breasts. Whatever we have to do, let's do it.' And that was when I found out that wasn't a solution."
After undergoing eight rounds of chemotherapy, a large portion of the tumors decreased in size. She also underwent two antibody treatments aimed at her HER2 protein.
Following chemotherapy treatment, Kalver had infusions every three weeks, but after four months cancer returned to her breast. Now she is undergoing targeted chemo and is part of a clinical trial for a possible new treatment.
And despite doctors finding several tumors on her brain amid this targeted chemo round, Kalver chooses to stay positive and created the idea for a nonprofit called “We Got This.”
"Being able to give people the tools and the information for what they might need and what they might want adds a whole positive element to this experience," Kalver told TODAY. "I don't necessarily believe everything happens for a reason because this is tough and I wish I didn't have cancer. But if I'm going to have it, what's come out of it is the most special thing I've ever done. It's given me such purpose."
Cancer Screenings Are Critical
When it comes to getting a cancer diagnosis early, screenings are critical. By attending recommended screenings regularly, doctors can check for signs of cancer in the earliest stages. This, in turn, can lead to more treatment options and a higher likelihood of entering remission.
Breast Cancer: Introduction to Prevention & Screening
Screening recommendations can vary depending on the type of cancer and your risk factors, so it's important to pay attention to guidelines. If you want to know what screening recommendations are appropriate for you, have a conversation with your doctor about screening recommendations and your cancer risk.
With breast cancer, for example, screening is typically done via mammogram which looks for lumps in the breast tissue and signs of cancer. The American Cancer Society (ACS) says women should begin yearly mammogram screening for breast cancer at age 45 if they are at average risk for breast cancer. The ACS also says those aged 40-44 have the option to start screening with a mammogram every year, and women age 55 and older can switch to a mammogram every other year, or they can choose to continue yearly mammograms.
For screening purposes, a woman is considered to be at average risk if she doesn't have a personal history of breast cancer, a strong family history of breast cancer, a genetic mutation known to increase risk of breast cancer such as a BRCA gene mutation or a medical history including chest radiation therapy before the age of 30. Beyond genetics, family history and experience with radiation therapy, experiencing menstruation at an early age (before 12) or having dense breasts can also put you into a high-risk category. If you are at a higher risk for developing breast cancer, you should begin screening earlier.
In a previous interview with SurvivorNet, Dr. Connie Lehman, chief of the Breast Imaging Division at Massachusetts General Hospital, said people who hadn't reached menopause yet should prioritize getting a mammogram every year.
When Should I Get a Mammogram?
"We know that cancers grow more rapidly in our younger patients, and having that annual mammogram can be lifesaving," Dr. Lehman said. "After menopause, it may be perfectly acceptable to reduce that frequency to every two years. But what I'm most concerned about is the women who haven't been in for a mammogram for two, three or four years, those women that have never had a mammogram. We all agree regular screening mammography saves lives."
It's also important to be on top of self breast exams. If you ever feel a lump in your breast, you should be vigilant and speak with your doctor right away. Voicing your concerns as soon as you have them can lead to earlier cancer detection which, in turn, can lead to better outcomes.
Symptoms of Breast Cancer
Being aware of how your breasts normally look and feel is an important factor when it comes to breast cancer detection. Doing regular self-exams is one way to familiarize yourself with how your breasts normally feel so that you will be able to identify anything out of the ordinary like a lump or hard mass.
Below are some other symptoms to look out for:
- New lump in the breast or underarm (armpit)
- Any change in the size or shape of the breast
- Swelling on all or part of the breast
- Skin dimpling or peeling
- Breast or nipple pain
- Nipple turning inward
- Redness or scaliness of breast or nipple skin
- Nipple discharge (not associated with breastfeeding)
Of course, these symptoms can be due to things other than cancer. For example, a lot of women experience breast tenderness during certain times in their menstrual cycles. If you're worried talk to your doctor about it. They may want to perform an exam, or even schedule a mammogram just to be safe.
Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff
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