Grateful for the care and a word of advice for women

Amy Lake has had a once-a-year mammogram ever since she was 33, when her then 35-year-old sister was diagnosed with breast cancer. 

“A few years after my sister had been through her treatment, she ended up having genetic testing and found out she was a carrier of the BRCA gene,” said Lake, who is now 66 and living in Orleans. “My mom apparently was the carrier although my mother never had breast cancer. My sister has one son and one daughter who are also carriers. Her daughter has subsequently had a full mastectomy with reconstruction, prophylactically. My brother is a carrier, but I was not, so I thought, well okay, I got lucky.” 

That luck ran out just before the COVID-19 epidemic began in 2020. An initial screening — done elsewhere with 2D imaging (Cape Cod Healthcare breast care centers use only 3D imaging machines) — showed what was thought to be a cyst. Three months later, the cyst was still there, and Lake asked her primary care provider to discuss her concerns. 

“I went in and she said, ‘I want you to go to the (Cuda Women’s Health Center),’” Lake said. The mammogram showed the small cyst, and she later received word that it was, indeed, cancerous.

Lake and her husband went into the Cuda Center the same day she received the results and she said the medical staff there gave her a very thorough explanation of what was going on. They also recommended doing genetic testing again because there has been updated testing since the last time she had it done. 

She had a biopsy at the Cuda Center and had an MRI and then left for a previously-scheduled trip to visit her sister and her husband at their home in Texas. While she was there, she got the news that she had a second more diffuse tumor. She was diagnosed with invasive ductal cancer. 

Surgery and Treatment 

“I met with my surgeon, Jill Oxley,” Lake said. “She was amazing, and they scheduled my surgery for March 17, 2020, St. Patrick’s Day. I decided to have a double radical mastectomy with no reconstruction. She was very good about walking me through that decision with no judging one way or the other.” 

Dr. Oxley made sure Lake was aware that once she decided to have a radical mastectomy with no reconstruction, there would be no changing her mind because the tissue that would potentially be used for reconstruction would be removed. 

“It wasn’t that hard of a decision for me to make, honestly,” she said. “And I don’t regret the decision at all. It’s just a little more difficult to get a bathing suit or to wear certain tops.” 

Since the surgery occurred right after the COVID lockdown, Lake’s husband couldn’t come into the hospital with her. Dr. Oxley didn’t want to keep Lake in the hospital any longer than necessary for the same reason. But, when she woke up, they told her she wouldn’t be able to go home that day because Dr. Oxley had to remove the first tier of lymph nodes. By protocol, they couldn’t send her home without overnight observation. 

After six weeks of recovery, Lake was ready to start treatment with chemotherapy and radiation overseen respectively by medical oncologist Edward Wyluda, MD and radiation oncologist Molly Sullivan, MD, who has since retired.

“From there on, it was pretty smooth sailing, as much as you can say that about going through cancer treatment,” Lake said. “I thought everybody was amazing from soup to nuts, considering especially that we were in COVID.” 

The social worker in oncology found Lake a therapist who helped her get through the pre-surgery and post-surgery time period. She believes that maintaining a positive attitude helped her do better throughout her treatment. 

Gratefulness and Words of Advice 

Lake underwent two years of treatment and still takes the prescription drug Anastrozole to lower the amount of estrogen circulating in her body. Now that she is five years out from her diagnosis, she still has some side effects from her treatment. She has to go to the hospital every six months for infusions to treat the damage caused to her bones. She also developed painful neuropathy in her feet which is being treated with gabapentin and the over-the-counter medicine alpha-lipoic acid, which she said is giving her relief. 

“There are several important things that came out of this whole experience,” Lake said. “Number one is I have told all of my friends, don’t go anywhere else but a Cape Cod Healthcare breast care center, or make sure that you are getting 3D imaging. It’s so important to go get your mammograms. Don’t put them off. And if you have any questions, if you have any suspicions, if you feel a lump, get it checked out.” 

Lake said her priorities have changed since her cancer diagnosis and for that she is thankful. It’s much easier to say no to things she doesn’t want to do, she said. Instead, she prioritizes her kids and her family, who were so supportive of her while she was in treatment.  

She was willing to share her story in the hopes she can help someone else who is newly diagnosed and scared about treatment. 

“I think it’s important for people to understand that you don’t have to go to Boston to be treated if you live on Cape Cod,” she said. “I just feel like the cancer family here on Cape Cod are really good people - the doctors, the surgeons, the whole team. We’re really lucky because I think the cancer program we have there is top notch.”