Doctors detected stage IV breast cancer in a 29-year-old patient while doing her breast reduction.
- A 29-year-old woman underwent breast reduction surgery during which doctors discovered a cancerous mass.
- After examining it, it was stage IV breast cancer, also called metastatic cancer.
- Currently, the patient, who is in remission, is receiving injections of hormone blockers which “put her into menopause”.
Because of her H cup, Savannah Wiley, 29 at the time, decided to undergo breast surgery to reduce the size of her breasts. She had recurring pain in her back and shoulders from her breasts, but also suffered from irritation in her right breast as she had a lump.
A cancerous mass discovered during breast reduction
Until the surgery, doctors said the lump was a harmless cyst, according to the newspaper Mirror. But when they performed the breast reduction surgery, they discovered that it was actually a cancerous lump. “I never thought this could happen to me, especially at the age of 29.“
Tests confirmed it was stage four breast cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute, the stage of breast cancers at the time of diagnosis ranges from 0 to IV. Stage IV breast cancer, also called metastatic cancer, is the most serious. This means that it has spread and is no longer located only in the part of the body initially affected by the disease, according to the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation.
No cure for stage IV breast cancer
“I felt like I lost my breath, explains Savannah Wiley. Stage four means death, or so I imagined, I thought I was going to die very quickly.” There Canadian Cancer Society explains that the treatments do not cure metastatic breast cancer, but they control it very well, sometimes for many years.
For the moment, the patient is in remission but she knows that the cancer can come back. “The life expectancy of a person with stage four breast cancer is five to ten years, she indicates. Many people think that remission means recovery, but it doesn’t really mean that, and it certainly doesn’t when you’re in stage four. Once a month I get injections of hormone blockers. They put me in menopause, so I’m in menopause at 30. I can never have children.” PFor her support, she must pay 5,000 dollars. A large sum for which she launched a internet collection.
