Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Mary Kay in front of the Hason Therapy Center at Western Home Communities.
When Mary Kay was first diagnosed with breast cancer in June 2017, all she wanted was to survive it. Looking back now, she says the disease has changed far more than her health. It changed the way she makes decisions and the way she moves through each day.
Mary Kay first felt something was wrong while she was on a trip to Hawaii. The diagnosis that followed was a hard one to hear: metaplastic squamous carcinoma that was also triple negative, a particularly aggressive combination. In some ways, it wasn’t a complete surprise. She had tested positive for the BRCA2 gene mutation back in 2003, and her mother had fought ovarian cancer years before.
Still, having the diagnosis didn’t mean she had all the answers. Her niece, who was studying pathology with a focus on breast cancer, had only encountered one case like hers and encouraged her aunt to seek a second opinion. That search led Mary Kay to Mayo Clinic, one of the top hospitals in the country for breast cancer care.
“They have a way of looking at disease differently,” Mary Kay said. “They treat the disease you have, not every disease you might get in the future.”
That approach meant a lot to her. Rather than choosing a preemptive mastectomy, she opted for a lumpectomy and was in surgery within two weeks. She recovered in Georgia before coming back for four rounds of chemotherapy followed by a radiation protocol. Her care became a true team effort, with Mayo Clinic, the University of Iowa, and her local doctor all working together on her behalf.
Then, this past December, came a new diagnosis of breast cancer, invasive ductal carcinoma. She’s since completed five rounds of radiation, returns for monitoring every six months, and takes tamoxifen daily.
Through it all, Mary Kay found support that went beyond medicine through Thrivera. Her Thrivera Lifestyle coach arranged meal delivery three times a week, and Thrivera atHome sent a nurse to check on her after surgery. Once she was back on her feet, she returned to personal training through Thrivera Fit and turned to Thrivera Renew’s Salon Iris for shampoo services while she was recovering and unable to keep up her usual routine at home. But one thing made a bigger difference than she expected: scar massage therapy through Thrivera Therapy with physical therapist Jill Thielbold, who is PORi certified. “The biggest difference,” Mary Kay said, “was the scar massage.” She’d been dealing with shoulder pain, which turned out to be caused by scar tissue pulling in different directions, and the targeted massage work brought real relief.
Her advice for anyone newly diagnosed is simple, but it comes from experience: get a second opinion, don’t lose yourself in internet research, and trust what your doctor tells you but trust yourself even more. “Think about what is best for you,” she said. “Explain to your oncologist why you’re making the decision you’re making.”
Mary Kay knows she will never be fully cancer free, and she has made peace with that. These days, she simply pays close attention to what her body is telling her. To stay grounded, she meditates every day using guided meditations, a practice that helps her quiet her thoughts instead of letting them wander.
“Each day is a new day,” she said, “and I can choose what I’m going to do and how I’m going to feel.”
