MyLyfe: Diane and Yacy’s Cancer Journeys
Diane’s cancer journey began in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although she was always vigilant about getting her mammograms, the second wave of the pandemic forced her to delay a screening for five months. After being vaccinated, she resumed care—and discovered a lump. In 2021, at age 68, Diane was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer—a rare case involving two different types of breast cancer in the same breast: triple-negative and HER2-positive. Despite the odds, she is now No Evidence of Disease (NED) and shares her story to help others going through similarly complex diagnoses. Diane’s optimism and discipline were central to her journey. She made the decision early on to stay engaged, keep living her life, and work closely with her doctors to stay on track. Even at the most difficult moments, she refused to let side effects derail her care—and today, her story is one of both resilience and teamwork. “Stay positive, don’t let cancer dominate your life, and keep living.”
Yacy shared her experience of being diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, which delayed her initial biopsy and mammogram. She described the challenges of receiving treatment alone, isolated physically from family members and attending virtual doctor’s appointments. Despite the difficulties, Yacy expressed gratitude that she was the one diagnosed rather than her family members, and she received support from her large family who visited her during treatment. Yacy shared her experience with severe nausea and gastrointestinal side effects during treatment, including stomach pain, constipation/diarrhea that required multiple anti-nausea medications and hospital visits for severe dehydration. After a heartfelt conversation with her husband and some initial hesitation to share the news with her daughter, Yacy made the decision to stop ADC and treatment altogether due to its harsh side effects and impact on her quality of life. When she went to her oncologist to discuss this, despite the challenges, her doctor encouraged her to continue and adjusted her treatment dosage from 100% to 75% potency, which helped improve her quality of life. Yacy continued treatment and had a PET scan that revealed the tumor was gone, giving her the mental strength to persevere with her treatment. While she still faces some ongoing health challenges, she is currently doing well with minor side effects. Yacy emphasized the importance of advocating for oneself with healthcare providers and sharing detailed symptoms to receive appropriate support during treatment, which she initially didn’t do. She was known at her hospital as the patient who did not complain, which she realized was wrong. Her doctor had to tell her, “you don’t get a gold star for who can manage this the best.” From there, Yacy realized the importance of speaking up because the doctors can’t help you if they don’t know what’s wrong. She encourages everyone who is going through treatment now to speak up and stay hopefully. “You will get through this.”
These videos were made possible thanks to the support of Helsinn Healthcare SA.
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