“Dance Moms” star Kelly Hyland, 53, just completed her first round of treatment for early-stage breast cancer. However, she has surgery and radiation treatment on the horizon.
A mastectomy is the removal of the entire breast during surgery. There are several factors to weigh when considering a mastectomy, such as if breast-conserving surgery (or lumpectomy) is possible. Your doctor will evaluate the size and features of your tumor and your family history to make a recommendation.
Radiation is often used to get cancer cells left behind after surgery.
Radiation oncologist Dr. Subhakar Mutyala explains radiation treatment has little to no feeling and says, “Radiation can cause DNA damage to all types of cells. However, normal tissue can repair that damage, while cancer cells can’t.”
“Dance Moms” reality TV star Kelly Hyland, 53, reached a milestone in her breast cancer journey, having completed her first round of treatment. She shared the precious moment on her Instagram, which shows her ringing the cancer bell surrounded by loved ones.
“This was the end of my first treatment…next steps surgery, 20 radiation, and 11 more treatments, I GOT THIS,” Hyland captioned the post.
Hyland’s celebrations continued with a celebratory dinner. In a new Instagram post, she’s seen blowing out a candle stuck in a slice of strawberry-drizzled cheesecake.
Hyland’s initial treatment included chemotherapy. She was open with friends, family, and fans about her hair loss concerns. Although hair loss can be one of the most emotional parts of a cancer journey for patients, in most cases, it does grow back once treatment is finished. Despite that nugget of hope, hair is an integral part of a person’s identity, so losing it to cancer often takes an emotional toll.
Hyland used cryotherapy, which includes using a scalp-cooling device approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The device is designed to help preserve hair when used before, during, and after chemotherapy. It constricts blood flow, limiting the circulating chemotherapy from reaching hair follicles.
WATCH: What is a scalp-cooling device?
Essentially, the caps “cause vasoconstriction, or a narrowing of the blood vessels bringing blood to the scalp,” Dr. Renata Urban, gynecologic oncologist at the University of Washington, explains.
Kelly Hyland and her children Brooke Hyland, 26, and Paige Hyland, 23, grew fame during season four of “Dance Moms,” which focuses on children’s dance competitions.
Kelly’s life shifted from focusing on dance competitions to her health after she began noticing she was losing weight.
“I lost enough that others noticed and would ask for my dieting hacks, but there was nothing I had changed in my day-to-day to cause the loss,” Hyland told E News.
HOLLYWOOD, CA – SEPTEMBER 24: TV Personality Kelly Hyland arrives at the Los Angeles premiere of ‘Pitch Perfect’ at ArcLight Hollywood on September 24, 2012 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)
Then, shortly after dropping a few pounds, Kelly discovered a lump in her breast this past Spring, prompting an urgent doctor’s appointment.
“I booked myself a mammogram…I had just had one done eight months prior, and the results came back clean. However, this new mammogram and sonogram did not; it came back showing a mass,” Kelly explained.
Kelly was diagnosed with invasive carcinoma stage 1, grade 3. This type of breast cancer means it is in stage 1, and there is a small tumor in the breast, and no lymph nodes are impacted.
The grade of cancer is not the same as the stage of cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute, “Stage refers to how large a cancer tumor is and how far the cancer has spread.”
The grade of cancer is determined based on how normal or abnormal the cells look under a microscope. The more normal cells are low-grade, such as grade 1 or grade 2, meaning the cancer is “less aggressive” and likely to grow and spread slowly. However, if tissue samples under a microscope reveal more abnormal cells, the cancer is higher grade and tends to grow and spread more quickly, making it more aggressive.
Kelly was admittedly in shock after learning she had breast cancer.
“I went from clean results to a malignant mass in eight months!” Kelly said.
Preparing for the Journey Ahead
Hyland noted that she has more treatment to look forward to, which includes breast cancer surgery and radiation.
Many factors are considered when deciding your treatment path, such as the size of the tumor and whether lymph nodes or other parts of the body are involved. The biology of your tumor is also important.
WATCH: An Overview of Breast Cancer Treatment
Breast cancer surgery often includes a mastectomy (removal of one or both breasts) or a lumpectomy (removal of the tumor and surrounding tissues).
“For a patient that needs a lumpectomy, it’s an outpatient procedure, meaning that they’re going to come in and go home the same day. The procedure may or may not involve radiology,” breast surgical oncologist at Stamford Health, Dr. Sarah Cate, explained to SurvivorNet.
Dr. Cate adds that women rarely experience lots of pain after undergoing a lumpectomy. The most common complications may include bleeding and infection.
WATCH: The process of mastectomy breast cancer surgery.
When a woman decides to have a mastectomy, several factors go into that decision. Among things to consider is whether to have breast-conserving surgery such as a lumpectomy. These decisions should be made alongside your doctor by openly and candidly discussing risks vs. benefits.
“A double mastectomy typically takes about two hours for the cancer part of the operation, the removing of the tissue,” Dr. Elisa Port, Chief of Breast Surgery at Mount Sinai Health System, tells SurvivorNet. “The real length, the total length of the surgery, can often depend on what type of reconstruction [a patient] has.”
Other factors that weigh into the decision to get a mastectomy are the size and features of the tumor and your family history. However, the gravity of your decision comes into full view, especially if you choose to get a mastectomy and remove both of your breasts.
Some women decide to have their breasts reconstructed and have implants put in right after the mastectomy, while others don’t have reconstruction at all.
Dr. Port added that most women opt to have some reconstruction. The length of these surgeries can vary greatly. When implants are used, the procedure can take two to three hours (so the total surgery time would be around five hours). There is also the option to take one’s own tissue (usually from the belly area) and transfer it into the breast area during reconstruction.
WATCH: What Radiation Treatment Feels Like?
If Hyland needs radiation treatment, what she’d experience is high-energy rays aimed at cancer cells to kill them. Radiation is often used to get cancer cells left behind after surgery.
“Radiation can cause DNA damage to all types of cells. However, normal tissue can repair that damage, while cancer cells can’t,” radiation oncologist Dr. Subhakar Mutyala explained to SurvivorNet.
