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Watch as Joan explains this part of her journey. I\u2019m so inspired by her attitude!<\/p>\n
With a career as remarkable and distinguished as Joan Lunden\u2019s, it\u2019s really no surprise that she took on her latest challenge\u2014a diagnosis of triple-negative breast cancer\u2014with such determination and grace.<\/p>\n
Lunden\u2019s keynote address, which received an unprecedented standing ovation from a packed audience at the Miami Breast Cancer Conference, continued that tradition, as she spoke powerfully and from the heart in a talk perfectly aligned with the meeting\u2019s focus on the patient perspective.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am here today to put a face on the patients you see every day\u2014to paint a picture of their experience,\u201d said Lunden, who just 10 days ago completed an aggressive 9-month treatment regimen involving neoadjuvant chemotherapy, surgery, more chemotherapy, and radiation.<\/p>\n
She has emerged from that experience, she said, stronger and unwavering in her commitment to advocate for women\u2014not only those with breast cancer, but also those who may be reluctant, fearful, or \u201cjust way too busy taking care of everyone else in their lives\u201d to get the medical advice and screening they need to prevent the disease or catch it as its earliest, most treatable stages.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrust me, when I say this: we will lie to you. We will lie to our doctors, because we don\u2019t want to look bad, and we definitely don\u2019t want to hear any bad news that will get in the way of our \u2018to-do list.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The anxiety that so many people have about going to the doctor, she said, can be like \u201cgoing to the principal\u2019s office, afraid to get scolded\u201d\u2014in this case, for not exercising regularly or \u201closing those last 15 pounds.\u201d She added that in the doctor\u2019s office, women often feel vulnerable and exposed. And, although it may seem silly, Lunden conceded, \u201cWomen don\u2019t want to get on that scale.\u201d All this combines to discourage women from getting lifesaving tests, and for some, \u201cThey don\u2019t catch tumors until it\u2019s way too late.\u201d<\/p>\n
Breast cancer screening, and the right kind, is an issue which holds special importance for Lunden, who, like most women, \u201calways thought the buck stopped at the mammo machine.\u201d She also had been screened with 3D mammography, but even this technique did not detect her cancer. Lunden is one of the approximately 10% of women with extremely dense breast tissue, making their cancers harder to spot with a mammogram. Recalling advice she received during an interview with breast cancer surgeon Susan Love, MD, Lunden followed up her mammogram with an ultrasound.<\/p>\n
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It was because of that conversation that Lunden found her cancer when she did. Now she advocates for legislation to require that clinicians inform patients if their breasts are dense\u2014and, importantly, for insurance coverage to pay for it\u2014as is the case in her home state of Connecticut, the first to enact legislation mandating that patients undergoing mammography be made aware of their breast density and the option of further screening.
\nThe \u201cPatient Sitting Before You\u201d<\/p>\n
Lunden, who has chronicled her breast cancer journey in a video blog on her website www.joanlunden.com, said that she has heard from a lot of women who say that they don\u2019t want to go for a mammogram because they\u2019re afraid that the results could mean losing their hair or losing their breasts.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard not to let it affect your psyche, your self-image,\u201d Lunden continued, emotions she understood all too well when she looked in the mirror without her wig, or when she washed off her eyebrows and eyelashes after chemotherapy and, \u201cfor the first time in my journey, I saw a cancer patient looking back at me.\u201d<\/p>\n
She urged clinicians to be mindful that when a woman hears that diagnosis of cancer, \u201cit just stops you in your tracks\u2014you, the caretaker, the mom, the wife, the worker, the one who everyone counts on: what am I going to tell the kids, will it scare them, should I tell my coworkers, will it jeopardize my job, will I be able to go to work?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the patient that you have sitting before you,\u201d all while doctors deliver what seems like a \u201cmountain\u201d of complicated information \u201cshot out of a cannon at supersonic speed,\u201d she said. This problem is especially acute during those very critical first appointments. At these times, she said, she saw the doctors\u2019 lips moving, but \u201cyou\u2019re in a kind of parallel universe,\u201d adding that she, like most women, was completely unfamiliar with terms like triple-negative, HER2-positive, and neoadjuvant.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like a foreign language to us,\u201d said Lunden, who also had to decide whether to undergo standard care or try a promising new treatment strategy that had been reported at the annual ASCO meeting only a few weeks prior to her diagnosis in June 2014. With this approach, her tumor would be treated with chemotherapy before surgery in the hopes of shrinking it and requiring less surgery, a route she is glad she took.
\nA Positive Outlook<\/p>\n
Lunden moved early on to do everything she could to minimize the side effects of her treatment. She worked with a nutritionist (also a cancer survivor) who helped her to follow a diet involving no sugar, wheat, or dairy, a move she said, inspired her to \u201cdiscover a new clean way of eating.\u201d She attributes this plan, along with plenty of water and plenty of rest, to helping her to avoid most of the side effects of going through chemotherapy. She also took supplements, \u201cbut always with the approval of my medical team.\u201d<\/p>\n
She expressed warm praise for that team of doctors and nurses, which spanned specialties in medical, surgical, and radiation oncology and three states. Lunden said that their professionalism, collaboration, and communication, including personalizing treatment options for her cancer and a willingness to deploy the latest research, made all the difference in her care.<\/p>\n
The way her team approached her diagnosis also fueled in her that all-important positive outlook that helped to carry her through the toughest times.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was fortunate to have wonderful relationships with my doctors, and each one of them helped me to understand my disease and all of the options that were available to me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese doctors helped me to believe that I could win this battle, and that is so important, being able to maintain a positive attitude and believe that you are going to win.\u201d<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.onclive.com<\/a><\/p>\nhttp:\/\/blog.thebreastcancersite.com<\/a><\/p>\n
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