Breast Cancer Knows No Age, a Survivor’s Story

11/10/2021

At age 25, Silvia Gomez was living a life similar to many other young adults – working and enjoying the time she spent with family and friends. So when she had a little pain that would start and disappear – nothing debilitating, just a pain – she didn’t stop her life. It wasn’t something she worried about.

As time went on, and the pain got worse, she confided in her mom.

She explained she was having pain in one of her breasts and her mom asked if she had done a self breast-exam. Learning more about the self exam, Gomez promised to do it later that day and found a lump. Her mom suggested having the lump examined.

Doing some research online, Gomez found information on a type of solid noncancerous breast lumps called fibroadenomas that are common in women between the ages of 15 and. 35.

“I figured that’s all that it was,” Gomez said, and she went about her business unconcerned.

It took an ultimatum from her mother to get the lump checked out.

“I called and booked my appointment for the next day and went to the women’s clinic in Siloam Springs,” Gomez said.

After the doctor examined her, an ultrasound was ordered for the same day.

“I started wondering why it was so urgent,” Gomez said.

In two hours the ultrasound was done. After waiting for a while, the nurse brought the doctor into the room and said they wanted to do a mammogram. After the mammogram, Gomez was taken back to a room and was asked to wait but not to change back into her regular clothes.

“At that point I knew something was wrong,” she said. “We went back to the ultrasound room and did another one. Then the doctor leaves and calls other doctors to have a look. When he finally came, he said he was 99 percent sure it was cancer.”

Gomez was in shock, “I didn’t even know what to ask anymore, I was frozen. I was the only one who could translate for my mom and I just stopped talking.”

With the help of a translator, Gomez and her mother were able to ask questions. They soon learned there was a mass on both of her breasts.

The next step was a biopsy on both breasts scheduled for the next day at The Northwest Breast Imaging Center at Willow Creek. The biopsy was done on Thursday and by Friday radiologist Michael Flick, M.D., called with the results. The good news was the left breast was negative for cancer. But the right side was positive – invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC).

According to BreastCancer.org, IDC is the most common type of breast cancer. Over time, invasive ductal carcinoma can spread to the lymph nodes and possibly other areas of the body.

“It was devastating,” Gomez recalled. “I was thinking the worst – I was upset and didn’t know what to ask. Dr. Flick gave me his number in case I had questions and said to give him a call.”

A few days later Gomez met with Christopher Menendez, M.D., a surgeon who specializes in breast surgical oncology.

“He gave us all hope,” she said. “For a few days we were thinking the worst and when we got out of there – for having cancer and diagnosed at my age – he really helped us feel better about what was about to happen. He said this is bad, but it doesn’t mean you’re going to die.”

At age 25, Gomez was officially diagnosed with Stage 2 cancer.

While waiting for results of additional tests, Gomez was counseled to see an oncologist before making a decision on surgery. She met with J. Thaddeus Beck, M.D., who ordered additional tests including a gene test which came back negative.

Another test indicated she would benefit from chemotherapy and radiation in addition to a lumpectomy to remove the tumor and hormone therapy. Because her MRI couldn’t confirm the cancer had not spread, Dr. Menendez recommended surgery to remove Gomez’s lymph nodes and to insert a port so she could start four rounds of chemotherapy.

By the third week of her first round of chemo, Gomez lost her hair.

“It was awful, horrible – it was really bad, I was so upset,” she said. “All I did was sleep all day and night from all of the medication. When I’d wake up, I was sick.”

While undergoing chemo, Gomez had to regularly check her blood counts, and at the end of her chemo treatments, her blood counts dropped really low. This meant she had to go to her oncologist’s office every day for a shot to help get the counts up. Additionally, she suffered an allergic reaction to the chemo so severe, she had to have steroid shots every day for five days.

After chemo treatment and recovering from her allergic reaction, Gomez learned the chemo worked and the lump was smaller than before. However, the results from her earlier lymph node removal showed the cancer was starting to spread. Another surgery was scheduled and Gomez had the lumpectomy and the port removed.

Unfortunately, the lumpectomy didn’t get all of the cancer. This meant Gomez would have to undergo another surgery.

“Within days I was back at the operating room for the second surgery,” she said. Dr. Menendez “said he could do four surgeries and if nothing happens then they’d have to remove the breast. Thank God, in the second surgery they got it all.”

After she recovered from her surgery, Gomez had 30 treatments of radiation which took place every day, Monday through Friday for a little over a month.

“Toward the end, I had no energy to even go in for treatment,” she said. “My body was physically worn out and I was depressed because this was not over.”

Throughout her cancer treatment, Gomez was not alone. Her mother was at every appointment with her. Her family, friends and her boyfriend supported her every step of the way. Before COVID her family would join her during treatments to lift her spirits.

“I am so thankful for my family. I will never thank them enough,” she said.

Mammograms every six months, an MRI once a year, hormone therapy once a month and a daily dose of tamoxifen was next for Gomez. At her mammogram in June 2021, a new lump was discovered in the same breast. So, she underwent an MRI sooner than originally scheduled, as well as an ultrasound to see if the lump was a fibroid or a cancerous tumor. The results were inconclusive, so Dr. Menendez performed another biopsy. This time the results were good news – the lump was noncancerous.

Her next mammogram is in December, and she’ll stay on a schedule of every six months. Although her experience has been really hard, it’s definitely taught her a lot, “God has a purpose for me, and I’m doing what I can to help anybody going through it that needs any type of help or needs any guidance. I feel like that is my purpose.

“Everybody needs to be more educated about their self-examinations. Even if you’re young and you think like I did – oh, it’s not me, it’s not bad enough. Yes, it can. And, yes, it can be you.” She said that she’d never wish this experience on anyone, but the earlier cancer is detected, the better, because “if it’s detected early, your chances are so much higher of surviving and treatment is so much better for you.”

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