MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII -- After witnessing her mother’s bout with breast cancer and a double mastectomy at age 40, Kyla White, a youthful 25 year old from Joplin, Mo., has had her own encounter with a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery, disproving that the disease only targets older women.
“I found my first lump on my right side when I was only 16 years old,” explained White married to a soldier working at Headquarters, Army Garrison Hawaii. “My mom, a registered nurse, taught me breast self-examination at age 15.”
This was especially important since she had already experienced breast cancer herself.
“At the time, the doctors told me what I found was a fibrocystic lump — just a mass that would eventually go away or correct itself. But three years later, I found I had a total of three masses on my right side, then a year after that, seven. I also ended up with three masses on my left side.”
Initial needle biopsies showed that the seven masses on White’s right side were negative for cancer, but she believes that if she had had a mastectomy earlier as the doctors had originally planned to do, that would’ve prevented the three masses in her left side from developing, which were later found to be precancerous.
“Leaving the masses in place, I think, encouraged bacteria to grow and to make the surrounding area more prone to cancer cells.”
Eventually, when surgery was performed, the small, two-inch-by-two-inch masses on White’s left side had totally consumed the nearby tissue. She ended up having a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery.
As for White’s mother, Gretchen Crown, 57, she first found a lump in her left breast during her regular self-exams, and because the cancer was caught early, she only needed what’s called a “quadrantectomy” done, where one quarter of the breast is removed as a partial mastectomy.
However, one year after surgery, Crown found another lump of the same size in her left breast, and had another quadrantectomy performed. About five years after being diagnosed with breast cancer, Crown decided to play it safe and undergo a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery.
But, to add to an already stressful experience, “My mom really had to fight with her insurance company to have this procedure covered and I also had to fight with mine,” recalled White.
Since White and her mother have both been threatened by cancer, you would think it’s in the genes, but both mother and daughter have undergone a cancer gene test and both have tested negative.
Could it be diet? White says she eats a mostly balanced meal (while occasionally giving into junk food because she has two young children), and that her mother’s a “health nut” (though White admits her mom smoked for a short time before her cancer appeared).
“No one really knows what causes cancer and there’s no cure,” said White, “but early detection really helps to reduce the effects of the disease and the length of any procedure.”
As for White’s prognosis, unfortunately she’s been having some problems with her gel implants and more importantly, has discovered a new lump under her right armpit.
“Tissue can reform and re-grow, so sadly we’re never completely free from the threat of cancer,” said White with equanimity. “I’ve already seen the doctors here at Tripler and I may have to undergo a second surgery. I probably won’t be able to lift anything heavy for three to four months, and I’ll have to wear a bandage the entire period, so my muscles won’t tear.”
Her husband’s former warrant officer, a man, also had breast cancer, and her husband is very supportive of what she’s going through.
White has become an advocate of breast cancer awareness events. She recently helped organize a Breast Cancer Awareness Run at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, and plans to do so again next year.
“This experience has taught me to be stronger, more forceful, when it comes to getting answers about my health. So I’ve benefited in that respect. “Although it can take an emotional toll on you, it’s like my doctor once said: ‘Don’t worry until I give you a reason to worry.’”