Taking Charge

Amanda Joyce had undergone a routine breast check 6 months earlier with no sign of a problem. Suddenly, she was facing fast-growing tumor and an aggressive form of breast cancer. But she and her medical team at Inova Alexandria Hospital met the cancer head on – and beat it.

Amanda Joyce had just turned 29 when she discovered she had an aggressive form of breast cancer. It was a few days before Thanksgiving when Joyce, a program manager for a defense agency, discovered a lump in her right breast. She had just seen her gynecologist six months earlier and nothing had turned up during a routine breast check, but a return visit followed by an ultrasound confirmed the presence of a fast-growing tumor.

Joyce’s physician referred her to the Inova Breast Care Center at Inova Alexandria Hospital for further imaging. A digital mammogram followed by a biopsy revealed that she had stage II triple negative breast cancer.

“Amanda was suddenly hit with a difficult diagnosis,” says breast surgeon Sara Bruce, MD, who treated Joyce. “She was faced with many challenging decisions that most 29-year-olds don’t have to worry about. Part of my job as her surgeon was to give her as much information as possible so she could make an informed decision. This often includes consultations with other members of a team of breast specialists.”

After carefully weighing her options with Dr. Bruce, Joyce chose to have a double mastectomy. The surgery was followed by 16 weeks of chemotherapy, reconstruction surgery and four weeks of radiation treatment.

“Dr. Bruce gave me the right tools to make the right decisions,” says Joyce.

“I wouldn’t have done it any differently and I wouldn’t have done it with a different set of doctors.”

In Control

Joyce’s meeting with an Inova Breast Care Center nurse navigator provided her with the resources she needed to help her with every aspect of her wellness journey. She met with a genetic counselor, joined an exercise class, sought nutritional guidance and found a nurturing support group. The latter provided her additional information on how to handle the side effects from  chemotherapy and radiation.

Joyce has been cancer-free for two years, and she and her fiancé are planning their dream wedding. Now an avid runner, Joyce has shed 30 pounds and she swears by a diet consisting mainly of lean meats and vegetables. Joyce and her fiancé are excited about making their new house a home and starting a family.

“I feel pretty awesome,” says Joyce. “Life is good.”

Planning Ahead

Sometimes cancer treatment can interfere with fertility. When 29-year-old Amanda Joyce was first diagnosed with breast cancer, her breast surgeon, Sara Bruce, MD, recommended that she visit with a fertility specialist to make plans for the future.

“Because she was so young and she wasn’t married, we talked about fertility preservation,” says Dr. Bruce. “There were no guarantees that her fertility would remain after chemotherapy.”

After a consultation at Shady Grove Fertility in Annandale, Joyce made the decision to  preserve her eggs for future safekeeping.

“It definitely makes you feel like you can do this, because there’s always a backup plan for the future,” says Joyce.

A Guiding Hand

Contact one of our expert breast care navigators  at the Inova Breast Care Center by calling 703.207.4320.