'I was stunned. I was only 48 and healthy. How could this have happened?' Former WebMD Senior Vice President Kristy Hammam shares how triple-negative breast cancer -- one of the most aggressive types and one of the hardest to treat -- changed her life.
src="https://webmd-a.akamaihd.net/story-telling/st-73792218-c722-ec11-8d5b-aa6cb854a633/storage/app/media/kristy-centerpiece-title-with-space-100621-1.mp4" type="video/mp4">October 8, 2021
The desert heat is oppressive and our adventures are strenuous. But I feel great. My sons, Milo and Evan, are caught up in the moment. They don't yet know the secret I am carrying. I have no intention of upsetting them here, halfway around the world from the security of our home. I want us to savor this unique experience. I don't want to ruin their memory of this time together.A few days before Jordan, we had been in Beirut visiting my husband Nabil's family.
Before my diagnosis, I led WebMD's 90-person editorial team in Atlanta and managed a household with two active teens. When it came to my family's health, I was the one in charge. If anyone got sick, I did the research, asked the questions, and chased down the answers. I grew far too sick to advocate for myself.
"No, go on your vacation," the doctor said."We're not going to be able to get you into treatment that quickly if it does turn out to be cancerous."We flew home from Jordan on a Sunday. The next morning, I went to my oncologist's office for a mammogram, a PET scan, and other tests. We needed to know if the tumor had spread beyond my breast.
I was elated when I learned that I did have the right protein receptor. In August 2019, within a month after my diagnosis, my doctors started me on a regimen of Tecentriq immunotherapy, along with the chemotherapy drug Abraxane. I confided to only a small circle of close friends and family. At work, only my boss and a few direct reports knew. I didn't want my cancer diagnosis to overshadow everything else in my life. Everyone I told was incredibly supportive.For 5 months, I underwent treatment and continued to work. Then, in January 2020, I started getting headaches. My oncologist ordered an MRI scan of my brain. The results were normal; no signs of cancerous activity. In March, my vision became blurry.
My hospital would schedule me for a brain MRI at 8 in the morning and a spinal MRI at noon. That kept me trapped in the diagnostic center for more than 3 hours. I once spent an entire day in chemotherapy because my pharmacy had a question about my blood work and didn't hear back from the doctor's office. Apparently the pharmacy had no workflow system for handling such glitches.
A patient receives radiotherapy with a linear accelerator X-ray machine. Kristy Hammam credits her radiation treatment with saving her life, but at great cost. Radiation therapy ultimately saved my life. But it also damaged my body and changed me forever. It splintered my vertebrae so that I couldn't stand or walk on my own for a while. I needed a wheelchair. And it harmed my optic nerves, permanently dimming the vision in my one good eye.Imagine that you're sitting outside at twilight with no lights on. That's what the world looks like to me now. I can see silhouettes, but I can't decipher faces or facial expressions.
During this time, a couple of frightening incidents landed me in the hospital. First, my chemotherapy port got infected. Then I developed a blood clot in my lung, a pulmonary embolism, from my treatment. My illness has changed my relationship with my sons for the better. We have deeper conversations now. I've gotten to know them on a different level than before, when our discussions revolved around the logistics related to school and band practice.
After I finished radiation therapy, scans showed the cancer had cleared from my brain and spinal cord. It had, however, returned in my breast, as I had to stop chemotherapy during my radiation treatments. I started a new chemotherapy treatment regimen a few months ago, and I'm still on it.I've been able to regain a lot of my muscle strength and rebuild my body with physical therapy and exercise. I couldn't walk up the stairs a few months ago.
My new goal is to start a nonprofit organization offering services to people who don't have the resources, health care knowledge, and support system that I was fortunate to have. Paying it forward is a way for me to find purpose.IrisVision uses light and magnification to allow Kristy Hammam to read her phone.
Baldness is the universal sign of cancer in women. I didn't want other people to look at me with sympathy or for my sons to see me that way. Keeping my hair meant holding on to normalcy. So I tried a technique called cold capping.
México Últimas Noticias, México Titulares
Similar News:También puedes leer noticias similares a ésta que hemos recopilado de otras fuentes de noticias.
She tested negative for BRCA, but had another dangerous breast cancer gene mutationSome experts call PALB2 the third most important breast cancer gene.
Leer más »
Shannen Doherty Posts 'Truthful' Photos of Her Cancer BattleShannen Doherty is showing the very real side of battling cancer.
Leer más »
The secret truth that breast cancer taught me about being a momI always wanted to make things magical for my two sons. My breast cancer diagnosis didn't quite fit into that plan.
Leer más »
Shannen Doherty shares ‘truthful’ photos to document breast cancer journeyShannen Doherty is sharing unflinchingly real photos from her breast cancer journey to urge fans to get mammograms.
Leer más »
13 People on the Best Lessons They've Learned in TherapyWhen a bit of advice changes your life, you just have to share it.
Leer más »
Rachel Maddow says she had surgery for skin cancer after partner saw change in moleMaddow was hesitant to believe anything was wrong, but at her partner's urging, she finally saw a dermatologist.
Leer más »