Olivia Munn Breast Cancer and Double Mastectomy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When Olivia first announced her journey, I was glad to see her raising awareness that it's not always easy to just feel a lump or get a questionable mammogram reading and go down the rabbit hole until you figure out what's going on with scans, tests, MRIs etc. I was going through treatment at the time she announced it - double mastectomy etc. - and was grateful for her to start the conversation.

Today, though, I am so disappointed in her - I think she did a podcast - and talked about her mastectomy surgery. I'm not judging her emotional reaction - it's a very, very personal thing and I cried too. But, to say that it looked like her surgeon "gave her Tupperware and duct tape" as stage one in her reconstruction - she mentioned tissue expanders - is SUCH a disservice to women undergoing this.

I find it extremely hard to believe (as someone who also lost a considerable amount of chest tissue as well ) that tupperware and duct tape are the best descriptors. Plastic surgeons and breast reconstruction experts are amazing. If that was the case - that it was so horrific - find another dr. File a complaint. Prior to my surgery I was terrified about what I would look like, did a lot of research and found A TON of amazing specialists and experts. I also learned that breast cancer reconstruction surgery must be covered by insurance - it's a Federal law.

So, get a new doctor but don't share that kind of horror story with other women. Share your journey if you want, but what a disservice to women with breast cancer and plastic surgeons to share this.

I'm in no way an Olivia Munn fan, but sounds like she was describing her own experience after being asked to do so. I'm sorry she, and you, and every other person on a similar journey has to hurt.

DP. The tissue expanders don’t look natural, but they are not the final step - they are exchanged for an implant, ultimately.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have dense breasts and have been asking for ultrasound for a decade because I hate mammograms so much but no one will ever approve them. I just skip the mammograms mostly because they cause so much pain.

I noticed in the article that it said this type of breast cancer is typically very slow growing….is that the medical justification for not making this standard of care? Basically that it will show in a mammogram before it gets dangerous?

An MRI with contrast dye is best. I get one, along with a mammogram and ultrasound, every year. My breasts are very dense as well and, even though mammograms don't cause me any discomfort, I've been told that mammograms aren't great for seeing anything in dense breasts. My MRIs have twice detected something that the mammogram missed completely. (The ultrasound missed one of them). I'm high risk so I've been screened very carefully since I turned 30.

That sounds like excessive testing. The MRI should be enough. I have dense breast tissue and have never had an MRI for screening. Three tests a year is nuts.

I imagine PP has higher risk than dense breast tissue - like a strong family history, etc.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Did she do IVF to get pregnant? Isn't there an increased risk of hormonal cancers like breast because of IVF treatments?

I also have breast cancer. This is a hot topic in some of the breast cancer groups. A lot of women, when they’re diagnosed, want to know what they did to cause it. And I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a link to IVF. But I will tell you, as a young, healthy woman who breastfed, exercised, conceived naturally, doesn’t drink, doesn’t smoke, etc…. Sometimes it’s a crapshoot. My tumor was hormone negative (meaning hormones weren’t the problem in my case).

NP here - hi PP, I am in Bethesda and was just diagnosed with BC a few weeks ago. If you have any good local resources, FB groups, support groups, could you please share with me. I am hormone positive by the way, and tumors are in my left breast. Never smoked, took drugs, hardly ever drink etc, but did IVF and did get covid waxed multiple times.

NP. Why do you mention the covid vax? Is there a correlation?

I talked to a friend's friend, who also has BC and she swears that she got it after her two covid vax......who knows....I got five Pfizers vaxs...

Fake news

While they haven’t documented a correlation, I will say this:

when I got my mammogram last week, they asked me when I got my last covid vax an on which side.

They asked the same question the year before. Last year I asked why and if there’s any issue/correlation. The response? “We aren’t supposed to say so, but many women coming in for scans experiencing pain have inflammation on the breast or armpit on the vax side.”

My obgyn told me the same thing.

The radiologists are tracking and I assume someone is studying this.

I posted on here a couple of years ago that my c reactive protein (a measure of inflammation) spiked drastically when I had blood work done a few days after being vaccinated. My GP was ready to send me to a specialist when he couldn't figure it out, it was my gastro who said, "I think it's the vaccine...." He was right, it dropped at next read. So yes it's known.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My surgeon removed a 6 cm ER+ tumor from my breast in November '23. I've had clean mammograms annually. A diagnostic mammogram, sonogram and an MRI in August all showed NOTHING. My cancer was diagnosed from a needle biopsy - during which the radiologist told me she was "grabbing blind" because the mass we could all feel, was invisible on her screen. I have dense breast tissue. None of the diagnostic tools were of any use to me in diagnosing my breast cancer, which spread to my lymph nodes. I'm glad Olivia Munn is raising awareness for the challenges facing women with dense breasts. We deserve better tools.

Very worrisome.

How did you even feel something with dense breasts? All I feel are lumps in my dense breasts.

My GYN once told me it’s like looking for raisins in lumpy oatmeal…both are bumps but it’s texturally different. Knock on wood I haven’t found a lump so I don’t know. She did tell me that my left breast has a lot of cysts.