Nurse shares her breast cancer journey after routine screening

"I was with a patient when I got the call that I had breast cancer," said Kristin McCrosson, BSN, R.N., clinical nurse manager at HCA Florida Englewood Hospital Wound Care.

In 2019, her life changed when she went to her annual screening mammogram. Many women have dense breast tissue, making screening more difficult. In Kris' case, she could not feel anything abnormal with a self-breast examination. Her provider ordered additional ultrasound and MRI screenings, revealing three breast lumps. She was diagnosed with left breast cancer, stage 2. At this stage, breast cancer has grown, but is still contained in the breast tissue or the growth has only extended to axillary lymph nodes.

According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime, and there are currently over four million breast cancer survivors in the United States.

Studies show that there are some risk factors that you cannot change, including:

• Getting older. Most breast cancers are diagnosed after age 50.
• Genetic mutations. Inherited changes (mutations) to certain genes, such as BRCA1 and BRCA2, increase the risk of breast and ovarian cancer.
• Reproductive history. Starting menstrual periods before age 12 and starting menopause after age 55 expose women to hormones longer.
• Having dense breasts. Dense breasts can sometimes make it hard to see tumors on a mammogram. Women with dense breasts are also more likely to get breast cancer.
• Personal history of breast cancer or certain noncancerous breast diseases. Women who have had breast cancer are more likely to get breast cancer a second time.
• Family history of breast or ovarian cancer. 
• Previous treatment using radiation therapy. Women who had radiation therapy to the chest or breasts before age 30 have a higher risk of getting breast cancer later in life.
• Exposure to the drug diethylstilbestrol (DES). DES was given to some pregnant women in the United States between 1940 and 1971 to prevent miscarriage.

When breast cancer is detected early and is in the localized stage, the 5-year survival rate is 99%. Early detection includes doing monthly self-exams, regular clinical breast exams and mammograms. The Centers for Disease Control recommends women who are 40 to 74 years old and are at average risk for breast cancer get a mammogram every two years.

Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Paul Chupka, D.O. encourages women to consider 3D mammography. "It represents the most advanced tool we have for screening mammography and we offer it at Englewood Hospital. Having a regular, yearly screening mammogram is the best way to be sure breast cancer is detected early. This allows you and the radiologist to have a clear picture of what your healthy breast tissue looks like, and changes in the tissue from year to year can be identified."

Kristin was grateful for early detection, "According to my doctor, if I had waited two more months for my mammogram, I might not be sitting here today. I was more concerned about how to tell my husband that I had breast cancer than me actually having it."

After 8 weeks of chemo and 16 radiation treatments, Kristin was cancer-free and is now fully recovered.

She said, "My husband said, 'Why you?' and I said,' Why not me? ' Cancer does not discriminate. I kept a positive attitude and was always smiling. It helped that family and friends were positive. I just can't say enough about the support I had."

Kristin recommends that women get screened on their birthdays each year. She said, "Give that as a birthday gift to yourself. You can't forget. I can't stress enough how important it is to get a mammogram. It will save your life."

For more information about women’s care, please visit HCAFloridaHealthcare.com or follow our Facebook page, HCA Florida Englewood Hospital.