NOW: Carol — ‘The big thing is getting rid of the fear’

For former nurse Carol Padgett, the thought of losing her breasts to cancer was terrifying. She opted for a different option, neoadjuvant therapy (NAT).

It’s chemotherapy before — and hopefully without — invasive surgery to remove the breast. The treatment wasn’t available 25 years ago.

“I decided if I was going to go for this option, then it was going to work,” Padgett told the Herald.

Three months later Padgett is seeing encouraging signs.

“I saw my surgeon on Wednesday. He said the reduction in my tumour was amazing, it’s working. I could feel that it was working after the first dose.”

The 57-year-old found a lump “out of the blue” but, unlike 25 years ago, her diagnosis was a lot simpler. A mammogram and ultrasound located the tumour and a fine needle biopsy confirmed it was cancer.

She was then able to have an MRI and bone scan to see how aggressive her cancer was and if it had spread.

The tests showed it hadn’t spread but the type of cancer was ER+/ HER+ which is high risk. The positive side of confirming the type of cancer meant her doctors were able to treat her with specialised anti-HER2 medicine.

Surgery was the first option given but Padgett decided to do her own research and spoke to people who had been through breast cancer and come out the other side.

“The big thing is getting rid of the fear and getting your mind right to reduce the stress. Once you get a clear head about it and focus on the future it becomes a lot easier,” Padgett said.

She found NAT was becoming a more common line of treatment in New Zealand and was showing promising results.

Traditionally, NAT has been reserved for those patients whose breast cancer is either an inflammatory subtype or inoperable.

But it’s become increasingly common for patients with operable breast cancer to undergo chemotherapy first, particularly when it’s likely the same chemotherapy would have been recommended for them after surgery anyway.

The approach can help shrink tumours to facilitate surgery and allows a real-time assessment of the sensitivity of the cancer to treatment.

After completing chemotherapy just last week, Padgett was now starting detox before doctors assess whether she with need surgery and radiation.

Padgett’s hopeful that if it comes to that she will be able to get breast conserving surgery (lumpectomy) rather than a mastectomy.

However, if she does get a mastectomy she’ll have a wide range of funded reconstruction options through the public hospital. The Breast Cancer Foundation is funding a pilot at Wellington Hospital testing the role of stem cells in fat grafting during breast reconstruction.

Although Padgett has been impressed by her treatment so far, she said there was still areas which needed improving. “Being on the other side has been a real eye-opener. I think there is still a lot of groundwork to be done in terms of treating patients with respect and dignity.”

Once you get a clear head about it and focus on the future it becomes a lot easier. Carol Padgett