Breast cancer survivor, oral cancer caregiver: ‘I’m so grateful now’ 

My husband, Alex, has survived five different oral cancer diagnoses since 2002. He’s had 90% of his tongue removed and his jawbone reconstructed twice. But thanks to MD Anderson, he can still speak and swallow. And, most importantly, he’s still here, 23 years later.  

That’s why I turned to MD Anderson myself for a breast cancer recurrence in 2020. I’m so grateful now that we both made that choice. With unwavering faith in God and trust in our medical professionals, we overcame an extremely challenging period and are looking forward to a future together again.  

My breast cancer recurrence

My local provider in Florida said the lump I’d felt in my chest was probably just a swollen lymph node. But it was on the same side as the breast cancer had been at my original diagnosis in 2007. My gut was telling me not to trust this assessment. So, I contacted MD Anderson for a second opinion. 

There, my care team confirmed my suspicions: the lump in my breast was, in fact, cancer. I’m really glad now that I trusted my instincts. 

Fortunately, the cancer was still localized (not metastatic) and we caught it early, so I only needed a lumpectomy and six weeks of radiation therapy to treat it. I also started taking a hormone therapy called an aromatase inhibitor and had my ovaries removed to reduce my chances of another recurrence. I didn’t need any additional treatment. 

Pandemic, husband’s recovery complicated my breast cancer treatment

The side effects of my treatment were brutal. The oophorectomy put me in immediate surgical menopause. Taking aromatase inhibitors on top of that resulted in a dramatic drop in hormone levels, which caused debilitating aches and pains in my body. Those made completing even the simplest tasks very hard sometimes.  

What made my treatment even more challenging was that it started during the fall of 2020 — right in the thick of the coronavirus pandemic. Alex’s jawbone had also just been rebuilt because the bone had decayed as a side effect of radiation therapy. He was an inpatient at MD Anderson. So, I needed special permission to stay with him due to COVID-19 restrictions. 

What makes MD Anderson special 

Fortunately, both of our surgeries went well. We recovered completely, and we’re both cancer-free now. 

Seeking expert advice was an important step for us to take. That’s why Alex went to MD Anderson in 2017, and why I followed suit in 2020. To me, though, MD Anderson is so much more than that. Being here gave us confidence that we were in the right place, with the right medical team.  

If I had waited for my local doctors to notice my breast cancer recurrence, I might’ve needed chemotherapy again. Or, it might’ve been so advanced that it could only be treated, not cured. As it was, my surgeon just scooped it out, and I had a round of radiation and hormone therapy afterwards. 

The type of jaw reconstruction Alex needed was not even available where we live. It simply wasn’t an option. At MD Anderson, plastic surgeon Dr. Patrick Garvey was able to take tissue and bone from Alex’s leg and shape it perfectly to recreate Alex’s jaw. Dental oncologist Dr. Ruth Aponte-Wesson then made an oral appliance for Alex that lowered his palate after surgery so what’s left of his tiny tongue could reach it. 

And, Dr. Jack Phan, a radiation oncologist who specializes in radiating previously irradiated areas, successfully delivered a second round of radiation to Alex’s jaw just 12 months after the first one. We were told that this was risky enough that it could be fatal. Yet Dr. Phan did it safely. That’s remarkable!  

Senior speech language pathologist Holly McMillan also helped Alex completely recover his swallowing ability after his surgeries. It took him nine months to adapt to a liquid diet. But now, he is completely functional. For him to have that quality of life after treatment, even with a significant dietary disability, is a miracle.  

Looking back — and forward — with gratitude

Looking back now, it’s a little overwhelming to think about everything we’ve been through. In the last eight years alone, we’ve weathered five separate cancer diagnoses, two hurricanes and a severe winter storm.  

We’ve also shared some really wonderful experiences. Alex and I took a cruise to Ireland, Scotland and Norway this summer, and we’ll celebrate our 30^th wedding anniversary in December. Our children are thriving, too. Our daughter is getting married next spring, and our son is doing well in college.  

These are milestones we might not have enjoyed otherwise. MD Anderson has helped us live our best lives through it all. So, I really can’t express adequately how special it is to us. We are very blessed. 

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