Celebrity chef Sandra Lee celebrated her 56th birthday this week in style, riding alongside boyfriend, 43-year-old Ben Youcef, into the sunset on a boat in northern Italy.
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In treatment, Lee recently underwent a preventative hysterectomy, and previously, a double mastectomy in 2015. “After this past year of health struggles, I know that life is too short not celebrate every single chance I can get,” she states in her social media caption. Lee and Youcef have been described as “inseparable.” After a few months of dating, we’re happy to see him continue to make her happy and join her on these romantic, worldly experiences.View this post on Instagram
Sandra’s Cancer Journey
Lee’s Italy trip comes four months after completing treatment after a hysterectomy. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in early 2015. For treatment, she underwent a lumpectomy surgery to remove cancer or other abnormal tissue from the breast followed by a double mastectomy surgery to remove the entirety of both breasts.
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Then, after having her double mastectomy, she was rushed to the hospital in August 2015 for an "extremely painful fluid buildup in the area where she underwent the surgery" a few months prior, a close friend told Page Six.
"She's going to be in for a couple of days," the friend said at the time. "She started having pain. She knew something was wrong. It's some sort of fluid buildup and pain. She was just feeling general fatigue and run down."
A few days later, she had another surgery for the post-op infection. She wasn't able to fully finish her breast reconstruction until 2020 because of various complications.
Today, she is still cancer-free, but she’s still been in and out of the hospital. Earlier this month, she underwent a hysterectomy a surgical procedure that removes the uterus. She shared in an Instagram that she was meant to have this "intense surgery" after her mastectomy a few years ago, but she " had repeatedly put it off and then Covid hit."
Understanding Breast Cancer
Breast cancer is a common cancer that has been the subject of much research. Many women develop breast cancer every year, but men can develop this cancer too though it is more rare, in part, due to the simple fact that they have less breast tissue.
Screening for breast cancer is typically done via mammogram, which looks for lumps in the breast tissue and signs of cancer. And while mammograms aren't perfect, they are still a great way to begin annual screening. The American Cancer Society (ACS) recommends women begin mammogram screening for breast cancer at age 45. Even still, we know that a breast cancer diagnosis can come at any age.
When Should I Get a Mammogram?
It's also important to be on top of self breast exams. If you ever feel a lump in your breast, it's important to be vigilant and speak with your doctor. Voicing your concerns as soon as you have them can lead to earlier cancer detection which, in turn, can lead to better outcomes.
There are many treatment options for people with breast cancer, but treatment depends greatly on the specifics of each case. Identifying these specifics means looking into whether the cancerous cells have certain receptors. These receptors the estrogen receptor, the progesterone receptor and the HER2 receptor can help identify the unique features of the cancer and help personalize treatment.
"These receptors, I like to imagine them like little hands on the outside of the cell, they can grab hold of what we call ligands, and these ligands are essentially the hormones that may be circulating in the bloodstream that can then be pulled into this cancer cell and used as a fertilizer, as growth support for the cells," Dr. Elizabeth Comen, a medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, told SurvivorNet in a previous interview.
One example of a type of ligand that can stimulate a cancer cell is the hormone estrogen, hence why an estrogen receptor positive breast cancer will grow when stimulated by estrogen. For these cases, your doctor may offer treatment that specifically targets the estrogen receptor. But for HER2 positive breast cancers, therapies that uniquely target the HER2 receptor may be the most beneficial.
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