By Tashi McQueen
AFRO Staff Writer
tmcqueen@afro.com
Battling breast cancer is a challenging journey, but for some women, it extends further into the difficult decision of whether or not to undergo a bilateral mastectomy, which is the surgical removal of both breasts. This procedure is not only intended to eliminate existing cancer but also to lower the risk of the disease returning.
For three survivors, that decision was personal and ultimately what they felt was right for them. Each faced the mental and physical challenges of surgery, the shifts in body image and perception and the often taxing recovery process. Their stories reveal the complexity of making life-altering medical choices under pressure as they sought to balance peace of mind with personal priorities.
According to a 2016 study published in JAMA Surgery, about 43.9 percent of 3,631 women diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer reported considering a double mastectomy. Around 17 percent, one in six women, had the surgery, including women who had a low risk of getting cancer in the other breast.
Shay Sharpe
Shay Sharpe, 47, was first diagnosed with stage three breast cancer at age 26 in 2004, a diagnosis that came as a shock due to her age and the fact that she had no family history of the disease. She ultimately decided to have a double mastectomy because she wanted her body to look symmetrical.
Despite the mastectomy, which women often get out of fear of getting breast cancer again, the disease returned in the same spot 10 years later, in 2014. Though she initially got breast implants after the mastectomies, she experienced complications.
“The radiated side didn’t like the implants,” said Sharpe. “I had to have that implant exchanged twice before 2010.”
She also tried breast reconstruction surgery, called deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP), but she was unhappy with the outcome and how it made her look. Sharpe was frustrated that despite the surgery her thighs were still thick and her breast remained small and uneven. She felt the outcomes of the surgeries could have been more complimentary for a woman’s figure.
“They also didn’t tighten up my thigh skin either,” said Sharpe. “This made no sense.”
Sharpe now proudly has an aesthetic flat closure, no breasts. Though she beat cancer, her struggle with the body she saw in the mirror was tough. Along the way she endured harsh comments like “no one’s going to want you with no breast” from others.
But today, Sharpe says her physical appearance doesn’t bother her at all.
Sharpe said women have approached her when visiting their doctors, showing her picture and explaining that they wanted to be flat like she was. Through her journey, she founded Shaye Sharpe Pink Wishes to educate, mentor and support young women under the age of 40 and their children who have been impacted by terminal breast cancer.
What some may have viewed as a mistake turned out to be a blessing for Sharpe, as she had to navigate the harrowing and unexpected journey of breast cancer at a young age.
“That kid that I felt so bad and guilty about having at age 16…if I had not had her, it’s a possibility I wouldn’t have kids,” said Sharpe.
Dr. Katrina L. Shaw
Dr. Katrina L. Shaw, 63, was diagnosed with breast cancer on Oct. 1, 2013–the beginning of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Shaw had no family history of breast cancer, but due to her dense breast tissue, she regularly had a diagnostic mammogram, which is used in situations where there are already symptoms or serious concerns. In 2010, during one of her regular visits, her doctor noticed a fibroadenoma, which is a solid breast lump. This discovery led to a biopsy, a medical procedure where the doctor takes a small tissue sample for examination, which came back benign.
“If you have dense breasts, make sure you’re getting a diagnostic mammogram because a regular mammogram is not enough,” said Shaw, who started her nonprofit, Mammograms Are Not Enough, based on this reality.
During that initial procedure, Shaw did not want a titanium clip placed to mark the exact site in her breast, which she ultimately credits with saving her life. Two years later, when she went in for a mammogram, she got a call from the doctor saying they saw a mass in the same area where the initial lump had been.
After the second biopsy, where the clip had to be put in, they confirmed that she had breast cancer. At a later date, her surgeon told her that the mass could not have been seen on a regular mammogram.
“The reason why they had originally called me back was not because of the hard nodule that I got biopsied, but because I didn’t have the titanium clip in to mark the exact location,” said Shaw. “If I would have had that clip in…I could have been walking around today, not knowing.”
Shaw said the news hit especially hard, as she was told she had breast cancer a year after her husband got prostate cancer. With Shaw catching the cancer so early, stage zero, she had multiple options, including a lumpectomy, which removes a small tumor from the breast alongside some healthy tissue, with radiation.
Shaw decided to get a bilateral mastectomy instead, because she felt like she could not handle going through the process and worrying about it coming back.
Donita M. Stowe
Donita M. Stowe, 60, was officially diagnosed with breast cancer on Oct. 25, 2012. Stowe had a clean mammogram in February 2012, then she did a self-breast exam, which she normally does not do. After a stressful day at work, she found a lump. She immediately scheduled an appointment with her doctor, who also felt the lump and scheduled a second mammogram and a sonogram.
The radiologist said it was nothing to be concerned about and that it was not conclusive, but her mother suggested she keep her appointment with the breast surgeon anyway. The breast surgeon initially thought it was just a “fatty mass” but, nonetheless, recommended a biopsy. A few weeks later, she found out she had breast cancer.
The cancer was in her left breast. A marker was placed in her right breast to monitor something they discovered there, but Stowe chose not to wait a year for a follow-up and opted to get a double mastectomy.
“I didn’t think twice about it,” said Stowe. “At the time, I had already known about my sister’s breast cancer diagnosis, and then my mother was in the hospital in May of 2012 and she was dealing with the recurrence of cancer.”
Though her sister had breast cancer and her mother was diagnosed with uterine cancer, which ultimately caused her death, Stowe does not have hereditary breast cancer. With the support of her husband, Stowe got her double mastectomy on Feb. 25, 2013.
“All that I went through, it helped me to really appreciate life, thank God for life, and to stand on my faith,” said Stowe.
Post-mastectomy, Stowe said she has never gone into a locker room and undressed in front of people again.
“I don’t do that to this day,” said Stowe. “I’m just not comfortable.”
Stowe debunked a misconception of bilateral mastectomies.
“Some people, women and men, think that after your double mastectomy, your intimate life is over, and that’s not the case with all people,” she said. “I have a loving husband. Is everything perfect in our marriage of 25 years? No. But he was there, and he’s been there for me through all of it. He’s the one who really made me feel confident in going through the surgery.”
Stowe shared a word of encouragement for other women embarking on a similar journey.
“Don’t let anyone tell you, ‘that’s nothing that you should be worried about,’” said Stowe. “You get your mammograms and get your second opinion. You’re your best advocate.”