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A Mother’s Day Breast Cancer Story

May 11, 2022 | By Adrianne Bowen, M.D., FACS

On this Mother’s Day weekend, I’d like to share a story about my mother and how her breast cancer has made me a better surgeon.

My mom was diagnosed with an early-stage breast cancer just over three years ago. At that time, I was not doing a lot of breast cancer surgery at Specialists in General Surgery, but rather spending most of my time on broad-based general surgery. Shortly after her surgery, extenuating circumstances at the practice found us without a full-time breast surgeon. As I had been doing some breast surgery throughout my career, I offered to take this on – but only until we could hire someone who really wanted the job. Once I dedicated myself to breast surgery, however, I learned that this is my true passion.

Watching my mom go through the process of diagnosis and treatment, and having my SGS colleague take care of her, enabled me to see what a difference having the right surgeon made in her life. This knowledge helped me strive to emulate that surgeon’s best practices, as I started to take on the breast cancer journey for my patients. It helped me become the person and the doctor I never knew I really wanted to be.

I knew which things really helped my mom, what questions she had, and what her fears were. This helped me address those issues better with my patients. Being able to reassure patients that despite a cancer diagnosis, they were likely to go on to live a full and happy life seemed to change the dynamics at the appointment from one of fear to one of relief. My dad was especially convinced that my mom would die from her breast cancer. I like being able to reassure patients and families and tell the story of how well my mom has done. My patients will say that I like to “tell it like it is.” I truly believe knowledge is power, and I saw that with my mom, as well.

The first visit with me after a breast cancer diagnosis is spent going over a lot of information. While it can be overwhelming, having the conversation of what to expect for the next 6-12 months (and my notes from that conversation) help calm the fears of the unknown for my patients.

Today, I believe I can relate better with the patients and their families for having gone through the experience with my mom. I’m happy to say that after surgery and radiation, she was placed on endocrine therapy, and today she’s doing great. I want to help all of my breast cancer patients achieve the same happy ending to their breast cancer journey.