The year after high school should be one of the happiest times in life. College classes. Friends. Independence. The promise of a bright future with the world at your fingertips.
But what happens when, at the very young age of 19, you learn you have breast cancer?
“I was lying in bed, and I felt something. I was really scared. It was very noticeable.” That’s how teenager Jania Conelly’s journey with breast cancer began. It was a year after she graduated from Spring Hill High School in Chapin. She was taking classes at North Carolina A&T University and working at Publix. She knew she wanted to pursue a career in the health field, but not exactly what.
The Diagnosis
“I found the lump on a Saturday, but I waited until Monday to tell my parents,” she said. “I held it from my family at first. I didn’t want to scare them.”
That’s because there’s a strong history of breast cancer in Jania’s family. Her paternal grandmother and two aunts had the disease – two diagnosed at ages 24 and 26.
Jania made an appointment with her nurse practitioner Misty Sawyer, MSN, CFNP, at Lexington Women’s Care in Irmo, a Lexington Medical Center physician practice.
Sawyer confirmed the knot in Jania’s left breast and made a referral for her to Women’s Imaging for a mammogram and ultrasound. All the memories of her grandmother and aunts’ illnesses suddenly came flooding back. It was overwhelming.
“That’s when it all became real. I broke down in Misty’s office. I told her, ‘It’s just really hitting me that something could be wrong with me.’”
And then Jania – like many teenage girls would – called her mom. “I said, ‘Mom? Are you busy?’” Jania’s mom learned her very young daughter would need imaging on her breast.
“She said, ‘Don’t move! I’m coming!’” Jania’s mom raced home. So did her dad – driving what is typically a 30-minute drive in ten minutes.
“He said, ‘Are you OK? We got you. No matter what. We’re going to help you.’”
Testing
Inside Women’s Imaging at Lexington Medical Center in Irmo, Jania had a mammogram, ultrasound and biopsy. In addition to the lump in Jania’s breast, the testing also found an enlarged lymph node.
Surprisingly, the biopsy results were negative for cancer. But she was referred to oncology surgeon Katherine T. Ostapoff, MD, of Lexington Surgery at Lexington Medical Center. Given Jania’s age and family history, Dr. Ostapoff believed the lump was going to get bigger and performed a lumpectomy.
Results
Jania returned to Lexington Surgery days later to talk about the results of her lumpectomy.
“Dr. Ostapoff said, ‘Is your mom with you? Can you call her?’ I was wondering why I needed to call my mom,” Jania said. “I thought it was just a routine follow-up for my lumpectomy.”
Jania’s dad was with her. Nurses brought him into the exam room at Lexington Surgery.
“I thought she just wanted to involve my parents, but then the doctor said, ‘We did find cancer…’”
After Jania heard the dreadful word “cancer,” she broke down, started crying, and didn’t hear anything else.
At age 19, Jania was diagnosed with Stage 2 triple negative breast cancer.
“My dad picked me up like I was a baby and I was crying. All the bad things I saw my aunts go through hit me and I got really scared,” she said.
And who wouldn’t be. At any age.
Treatment
Jania’s oncologist is James Wells III, MD, of Lexington Medical Cancer Center.
Jania underwent six months of chemotherapy, lost her hair, and had a double mastectomy in March – at age 20. During this time, she also learned she carries the BRCA1 gene mutation, which makes women more likely to develop breast cancer.
She wants to have children one day but doesn’t know how the chemotherapy may have impacted her fertility. Doctors had spoken to her about freezing her eggs, but there wasn’t time to do that before chemotherapy.
Today, scans show Jania is cancer free.
Moving Forward
Today, Jania continues college classes.
“It’s important even for very young women to be more conscious of breast health,” she said. “We need to do self-breast exams. It’s especially important because we don’t have yearly mammograms – so it can very easily go unnoticed.”
And remember when she was undecided about a career choice? That’s changed. She now wants to be an oncology nurse.
“My doctors and nurses at Lexington Medical Center made such an impression on me – I decided I wanted to give back.”
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