Survivor Story- Not just a unicorn, but a Survivor

by Kathy Baethke

I consider myself to be a unique individual, a unicorn one might say. The reason I, many of my friends and family, call me a unicorn is because in the last fifteen years of my life, I have had three cancers. All of which have been different from the original one. With this being said, my story begins fifteen years ago.

In September 2006, I had an abnormal lump in my wrist that was causing my fingers to turn purple. I called the doctor and made an appointment to figure out what the lump was. They did an MRI and decided it was best to send me to the Iowa City University hospital since this lump was literally integrated around the structures in the wrist. I had a small biopsy done, and what they had taken out was all benign. We then proceeded to have surgery to remove what we could from the wrist. It was a very meticulous process as it was only supposed to take an hour or two, it turned into over four hours. A week later I was then informed via phone call from a student resident that the lump was actually a liposarcoma. With this new little bit of information, and since the surgeons couldn’t get clean margins, I was informed that thirty-six radiation treatments were the best course of action.

Thinking all was good, on April 1, 2011, a day for silly pranks begins the next chapter in my unicorn life. On that day I discovered a pea size lump in my left breast during my self-check. I thought it might be an infection or something so I figured that I could wait a bit and just keep checking. A month later after the lump had significantly grown to about the size of a quarter, I went to see my family doctor. The next day an ultrasound was performed. From the images of the ultrasound, and the gut feeling within me, I felt that I needed to do more than just wait for a phone call of the results. The nurses set up an appointment with a breast surgeon. The next day the doctor checked the ultrasound, and we discussed the options. We decided to do a lumpectomy and it was scheduled for four days later. The biopsy results were invasive ductal carcinoma, and it was triple negative. A nine out of ten for tumor aggression. Thankfully, the lymph nodes were not involved.
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Now I get to see the oncologist to discuss what further treatments were needed. I did six rounds of chemotherapy and thirty-six radiation treatments. On my first day of chemo, I got to the cancer treatment center and was able to choose a breast cancer blanket. This blanket was special to me for it was handmade with love and care and given to those who are going through chemo. I got my own private room which had an awesome recliner. I spent a good amount of time in that room while getting numerous medications via port. Thank God for a port as I am terrible with needles. I did these every three weeks. The treatments made me nauseous, and most of my food tasted weird.

Almost like a metallic taste. I learned that plastic silverware was my friend. Watermelon was the only thing that tasted good to me. Chemo caused my hair to fall out which was fine as its only hair, and I got to wear a lot of cute hats. Chemo fog is a real thing as well as a struggle to this very day.

Nine years later... February 2020. I assumed after that length of time the chances of cancer returning were slim. My body however decided to throw a curveball. I had some blood coming from my left nipple when I showered, so I went to the breast clinic to have it checked. A mammogram was performed, and it was clear. Instead of leaving it there, my doctor decided it was best to do an MRI. That showed I had a couple of spots that were concerning in both breasts. So now it is time to do an MRI assisted biopsy, which let me tell you, is not a fun thing to go through. Then began everyone's least favorite game, the waiting and what if game. Everyone tells you to stay positive, but it is hard to do when you have battled this before. It is even harder knowing in your head and heart that the cancer was back.

When I went to see my breast care navigator for the results, she informed me that it was invasive lobular carcinoma and HER2 positive in the right breast yet benign in the left. Everyone was shocked that I had made the decision immediately to do a double mastectomy. I already made this decision while battling breast cancer the first time in case it ever decided to rear its ugly head again in the future. So, in March, during the chaos of Covid-19, my surgery for the double mastectomy and reconstruction was scheduled. It was frightening to think my surgery could be cancelled at any time because of Covid-19.

Thankfully, it wasn’t canceled, and the surgery went well. However, after surgery I learned very quickly how moving, like laying down and sitting up affected your chest muscles. It got better little by little, day by day. This round of treatments, because it was HER2 positive, I will only take a prescription for the next five years. Radiation was out because I did the double mastectomy and again because it was HER2 positive, chemo wasn’t necessary. This particular cancer was a one out of ten on the tumor aggression scale.

My oncologist told me that although my biopsy was only positive in the right breast, when the pathology report from surgery came back, it stated that it was invasive lobular carcinoma in the right but also lobular carcinoma in situ in the left. He informed me that I had made the correct decision to do the double mastectomy. Because of this, we did tests to see if the cancers were genetic. It was important to be tested because I have children. I wanted to be assured that it wouldn’t be passed down and affect them. Thankfully, the tests came back with no predisposition of cancer, it was simply luck of the draw to have three separate types of cancer. If there has been one thing, I have learned throughout my crazy journey it is this: Always pay attention to your body, if something seems weird or different, get it checked. You are your best advocate.

​At the end of the day when it is all said and done, I am not just a unicorn, I am a Survivor!

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