When someone finishes their radiation treatment at Ocean University Medical Center, they get to ring a special bell. It’s a meaningful moment for everyone, but Jody Orth’s bell ringing ceremony was extra special: It was the same day as her 15th wedding anniversary.
Not in a million years did Jody think she would be celebrating her wedding anniversary on the same day she finished radiation treatment for breast cancer. The 55-year-old registered nurse, who works at Ocean’s Same Day Surgery suite, felt fine when the hospital sent her a reminder to schedule her annual mammogram last spring. She did regular self-breast exams, and she has no family history of breast cancer.
She thought she’d put her mammogram off a year. “I’m not opposed to these tests,” she says, “I’m just not a very good patient.”
Mammogram Reveals Small Tumor
Jody’s gynecologist Jocelyn Carlo, M.D., insisted she get her mammogram, so Jody made her appointment at the hospital’s Women's Imaging Pavilion. During the screening, “Immediately, they knew there was something there,” she says.
A week later, she had another mammogram. The radiologist in the room confirmed a small tumor. Jody approached Yolanda Tammaro, M.D., medical director of breast surgery at Ocean, and someone Jody has worked with professionally at the hospital.
“Nurses see and hear it all, from both the patient side and the medical team, so it is very meaningful to me that she saw me as competent and compassionate and trusted me to be her surgeon,” Dr. Tammaro said.
Testing Uncovers Good and Bad News
Dr. Tammaro ordered a number of tests for Jody, including genetic testing to determine if she had a gene that increased her risk of breast cancer. She also ordered standard blood work, including a complete blood count (CBC).
Jody received both good and bad news from the testing. The good news was the breast cancer was at an early stage, and the genetic testing showed she did not have a gene that increased her risk for breast cancer.
The bad news was that her CBC results showed something unexpected: She has chronic lymphocytic leukemia, or CLL, a kind of cancer in which the bone marrow makes too many white blood cells. Since Jody’s CLL is asymptomatic, she is being monitored with regular testing.
The CLL diagnosis didn’t affect Jody’s breast cancer treatment, says Dr. Tammaro, who performed a minimally invasive lumpectomy to remove the small cancerous tumor. Oncotype testing of the tumor indicated that she had a low risk of recurrence, so Jody didn’t need chemotherapy.
“If she didn’t have that screening mammogram, she would’ve never known she had breast cancer. But because she did, the cancer was found in its earliest stages, so her prognosis is excellent,” Dr. Tammaro says.
Radiation to Prevent Recurrence
After several weeks of healing time, Jody began prone breast radiation to further reduce the chance of the cancer returning. Prone breast radiography positions patients face down rather than face up on a padded table, explains Prashant Desai, M.D., the radiation oncologist who treated Jody.
The patient’s breast hangs through a hole in the table, allowing the radiation to be targeted at the breast tissue with minimal radiation reaching the heart and lungs, he says. “The position is a little more challenging than face up,” Dr. Desai says, “but the radiation dosage is much less to the heart and lung, so the side effects are lower.”
A Day of Celebrations
After four weeks of radiation treatment, Jody rang the bell signifying the end of treatment. Then she, her husband, family, friends and coworkers gathered in the Same Day Surgery suite where she works for another celebration: Jody and her husband renewed their vows, with one of Jody’s coworkers, an ordained minister, officiating.
“I wanted to do something nice for my husband, who has been tirelessly amazing through this, and I wanted something happy to celebrate with the people I work with who have been so great, kind and accommodating,” Jody says. “This was a cool way to do it.”
Next Steps & Resources
- Meet our sources: Yolanda Tammaro, M.D. and Prashant Desai, M.D.
- Learn more about breast cancer care at Hackensack Meridian Health.
- Schedule a breast cancer screening near you.
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