Breast cancer survivor encourages other young patients to seek support

BOSTON – Without any family history of cancer at all, Siobhan Donovan couldn’t have been more stunned by the blow of a breast cancer diagnosis in her third trimester of pregnancy.
“That really rocked our world. What do you mean it’s not curable? What does this mean for the rest of my life? I was 33. I had a two-week-old, a 3-year-old, a 2-year-old. That was how I ended up with my stage 4 diagnosis,” the Worcester woman recalled. 
New research published this week by the American Cancer Society shows a continuous decline in the number of breast cancer deaths across the US. But more young women are being diagnosed each year. 
“This is a disease that we really worry about because younger patients are more likely to develop more aggressive breast cancer that warrant more aggressive therapies,” Dr. Ann Partridge explained. She is the Interim Chief of Medical Oncology for Dana-Farber, and the founder and director of the Young and Strong Program for Young Adults with Breast Cancer. 
Survivor Kelly Cassier is meeting more and more young patients along the South Shore. She was 42 when she was diagnosed, answering the devastating phone call on a family trip to Disney.
“When they did go in for the double mastectomy, they were incorrect. There was more cancer than they had anticipated. I ended up being stage 3 grade 3,” she said. Cassier encouraged other cancer patients to seek support in their communities through local organizations like Marisa’s Mission. 
Dana-Farber offers a free AssessYourRisk tool online. Doctors urge patients to know family history, begin screening around age 40, and pay attention to breast health. Still, Siobhan wasn’t high risk. And noticed her own symptom seven years before she would have gotten a mammogram. 
“It’s very hard. There are a lot of hidden battles and hidden struggles. But at the end of the day, I have three perfect reasons for getting up and doing this every single day. What more could I ask for? We put one foot in front of the other, one day in front of the next, and we just keep going,” Donovan said.