Kristi's Story
Kristi is a 46-year-old part-time certified public accountant (CPA), and mother of two young children. She was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer.
When meeting with her doctor, he informed her that with her diagnosis, the standard recommendation for treatment was surgery, hormone treatment and potentially radiation.
Kristi has a genetic predisposition towards forming blood clots, so she was concerned about the blood clotting risk of hormone treatments. She was also concerned about the potential side effects of radiation, including heart damage.
Kristi met with a MyCancerJourney advocate and discussed her treatment goals and personal preferences.
Her advocate helped her understand her pathology reports, her prognosis, and the side effects associated with each treatment, then took her through the outcomes data for other cancer patients her same age, sex, race/ethnicity, and health status -- with the same type of cancer.
With this information, Kristi met with her surgeon and medical oncologist and decided to forego radiation. Instead, she elected to receive surgery, and a reduced dose of hormone therapy.
Even after her decision, her advocate was there for her, helping to connect her to the services and resources she needed, including financial, emotional, and social support. Her advocate also helped her understand the insurance benefits available to her, so she could make the most of her coverage.
Kristi is now in remission, and works with a local non-profit to support other breast cancer patients in similar situations.