It was a day or two before New Years Eve in 2021 and Jackie DeAngelis was at the radiologist. She turned 40 that year but due to the pandemic, her first annual breast mammogram was delayed six months and the doctor was trying to fit in a backlog of appointments.
DeAngelis, now 43, was not worried. It was just a routine check-up. The Fox Business “The Big Money Show” co-hostsays she has always been on top of those types of things.
“There was no breast cancer in my family. I did not have the BRCA gene. I’m an extremely healthy person. I go for my physicals, blood pressure, angiograms, echo grams, all of this stuff is perfect,” DeAngelis explained. “I didn’t think that a delay of six months would make a difference.” That is why she was shocked when the radiologist said something looked suspicious. In the following months, DeAngelis reviewed her results with multiple oncologists, concluding the cancer was in very early stages but definitely present. “One person described it to me as sort of when you shake a snow globe and you see the little snow particles floating in the water. That is what my cancer looked like. Eventually that would turn into something more tangible that you would be able to feel and touch. But right now it was at the very earliest stages.”
Mammograms Are Still the Best Tool for Detecting Breast Cancer
Assessing Her Options
DeAngelis was diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer. Her prognosis was very good, according to her doctors and she had two options. The first would be a lumpectomy, a surgery that would remove only the cancerous area, followed by radiation, some chemotherapy and monitoring every six months. The second option would be a mastectomy, meaning they would remove the entire breast.
“I was with my mother at that appointment. She’s my confidant, she was my champion through this, and we just looked at each other. It was a no-brainer that we would remove the breast.”
DeAngelis, who speaks Mandarin and Farsi fluently, who went to law school while working full-time in her early 20s, and who was stationed in the Middle East while working at CNBC, knows how to power through a life obstacle. She took on this new challenge in a similar fashion, going back to work at Foxjust 13 days after her double mastectomy. Though, the experience had a bigger impact emotionally than she expected.
“I felt like I had had a body part amputated. And then when I started to really delve into those feelings, the emotion of not only is it a body part, it’s part of your womanhood and how you feel about yourself and the reproductive cycle. Just so many different issues.”
Navigating New Physical Challenges
She also faced a lot of physical limitations from her reconstruction, which caused chronic pain and tightness and stopped her from being active. This was another challenge she did not expect but thought it was just something she was going to have to accept – her new normal.
“There was a part of me that thought, ‘They saved you. They got the cancer out of your body. Maybe this is just how it’s going to be and maybe you just have to live with that.’”
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She tried physical therapy, which did not work for her. So she talked to her surgeon and plastic surgeon about additional options. Her doctors told her the only way to correct it would be an additional surgery, an idea that DeAngelis was not up for mentally.
“I would just roll my eyes and say, ‘I can’t.’ The thought of going to the hospital, going under anesthesia, having to do another surgery. It was unfathomable, basically.”
It took her a year and a half to feel like she was in the right place to move forward with the third surgery. And despite the rollercoaster of emotions, she now knows it was the right decision.
“I walked out of that surgery, even having been out under anesthesia and I immediately knew there was an improvement. I immediately knew that things were going to be better and they have been.”
Her Advice For Others
After all she went through, DeAngelis is still surprised to hear that many of her friends and family do not do their annual mammograms.
“I say, ‘Have you gotten your mammogram yet?’ And the answer is ‘No.’ And I ask them ‘Why?’ They’re busy. They don’t really think that they need it. They feel like they’re too young. My message to people is screening is such a huge part of fighting cancer and you never know if it’s going to be you.”
While she still contemplates whether that six-month delay in her initial annual mammogram could have changed something, she is overwhelmingly grateful that her cancer was caught when it was, especially given she had no symptoms.
“My treatment certainly wasn’t a picnic, but it could have been much worse if this wasn’t caught and we found it two or three years down the line,” DeAngelis reflects. “So that’s just the most important thing for me. When your doctor tells you it’s time to go get a mammogram, go.”
The Importance of Breast Cancer Screening
Screening for breast cancer is normally done through a mammogram, which looks for lumps in the breast tissue and signs of cancer.
While there is some disagreement about the exact age a woman should start getting mammograms, new national guidelines, and many doctors, now recommend that women get annual screening start at the age of 40. Women with a family history of cancer, or at high risk, should consult their doctor and likely get screened earlier.
The American Cancer Society (ACS) suggests that women should begin annual mammogram screenings for breast cancer at age 45 if they are at average risk for breast cancer.
The ACS also advises:
- Women aged 40-44 have the option to start screening with a mammogram every year.
- Women aged 55 and older can switch to a mammogram every other year.
- Women aged 55 and older could also choose to continue yearly mammograms.
- For screening purposes, a woman is considered to be at average risk if she doesn’t have a personal history of breast cancer, a strong family history of breast cancer, a genetic mutation known to increase risk of breast cancer, such as a BRCA gene mutation or a medical history including chest radiation therapy before the age of 30.
Experiencing menstruation at an early age (before 12) or having dense breasts can also put you into a high-risk category. If you are at a higher risk for developing breast cancer, you should begin screening earlier.
Below are common symptoms to look out for:
- New lump in the breast or underarm (armpit)
- Any change in the size or the shape of the breast
- Swelling on all or part of the breast
- Skin dimpling or peeling
- Breast or nipple pain
- Nipple turning inward
- Redness or scaliness of breast or nipple skin
- Nipple discharge (not associated with breastfeeding)
Questions To Ask Your Doctor
- When should I start getting mammograms annually?
- How should women with dense breasts approach early stage breast cancer/mammograms?
- What are my options if diagnosed with early stage breast cancer?
- What added testing is available for women with a history of cancer or who are at higher risk of getting breast cancer to supplement regular screenings?
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Madeleine Stix is a video producer with SurvivorNet. Read More
