Her Advanced Stage Cancer Could Have Been Avoided
- At 29 years old, Kristine Stone was denied a mammogramtwiceafter finding a lump in her breast.
- Now at 38, nearly a decade later, the Seattle-based former senior analyst is still on treatment for what wound up being stage 4 breast cancer.
- More and more women are getting diagnosed with breast cancerand other cancersat a younger age. There are about 11,000 women aged 40 and under diagnosed with breast cancer every year in the U.S. Although the percentage is still low, it can happen. If you feel something is off, advocating for your health is crucial.
Kristine, now 38, opened up to Insider about her catastrophic health story, and recalled the doctor telling her, “There’s nothing to worry about.” Then for a second time, she was denied her request for a mammogram. Even more troublesome was the fact that her grandmother had just finished chemotherapy for breast cancer, placing Kristine in the high risk category.
Read MoreNo luck. “No one would refer me to a mammogram,” she said.
A Stage 4 Breast Cancer Diagnosis
Six months after the “clear” ultrasound, Kristine was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. Tragically, it had spread to her bones and lymph nodes. The dismissed lump was more pronounced, and her right hand and arm “had gone numb.”
When Kristine finally had the validation, as terrible as it was, of her diagnosis. She recalled thinking, “No shit. I told you that six months ago. Now how do we get it out of here?”
Cut to nine months of intense chemotherapy, and sadly, a lifelong battle ahead. To make matters much more severe, the cancer had spread to her brain. Doctors were able to operate, but Kristine was left suffering with short-term memory loss as a major side effect.
Now living in an apartment under her dad and stepmom’s place in Renton, Washington, Kristine goes to her immunotherapy treatments every three weeks. She suffers from arthritis, and no longer able to drive. She can barely read; she can’t work. She hasn’t had a vacation “in years and years.”
Stone can no longer work or drive, struggles to read, and hasn’t had a vacation “in years and years.” She lives in an apartment beneath her dad and stepmom in Renton, Washington.
Finding comfort in other activities, she is able to make pillows for cancer patients, paint, and continues to advocate for young women able to access proper testing for breast cancer, should they feel necessary.
After nearly a decade of health pitfalls during Kristine’s fight, there may be a light at the end of this very long tunnel, as he doctor just explained that Kristine may be able to stop treatment this fall if she shows no evidence of disease.
If she gets the news she is hoping for, the former hair stylist thought of something she would like to do: cut hair for cancer patients.
“I would love to be able to help other cancer patients,” she said. “But at the same time, I’m also sick and tired of cancer.”
Mammograms Are Still the Best Tool for Detecting Breast Cancer
Breast Cancer Under 40
There are about 11,000 women aged 40 and under diagnosed with breast cancer every year in the U.S. says Dr Ann Partridge, an oncologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. That's a small percentage of the 260,000 women diagnosed annually in this country.
Aggressive Breast Cancer in Young Women
But in some ways a diagnosis for a younger woman can often be even more devastating because, as Dr. Partridge says, the cancer is likely to be a more aggressive form of the disease and also at an advanced stage, because screening for younger women is unfortunately not standard, as we learned with Kristine’s case.
“I hope younger people will be more alert and aware, but more than anything, I hope the policies and the doctors will change,” Kristine said. “No one should have to go through this, and had they done a mammogram at 29, then I believe they would have seen the cancer.”
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