Living Life Without Fear of Breast Cancer
October 3, 2023By: Kim Shopper
Categories: Cancer, We are NKCH and MH, Women's Breast Health
Get Screened
Screening mammograms can catch cancer early, before you even have symptoms and when it is most treatable. Walk-in or make an appointment with our Women's Imaging Center today.
North Kansas City Hospital Surgical X-Ray Technologist Ami Patrick, BSRT(R), underwent a double mastectomy without a breast cancer diagnosis. While that could be an agonizing decision for some women, it brought Ami peace of mind. She not only lost her mother and grandmother to the disease, but one of her aunts recovered from it. “These were all the women on my mom’s side of my family,” Amy said. “For me, it wasn’t a question of would I get breast cancer, but when. I refused to live that way.”
Ami’s mom, Kathi, was the first family member to be diagnosed. She was only 58 years old. Kathi surpassed the five-year survivor mark but died from the disease a year later. Kathi’s mom, Helen, died six years later at age 95. Today, Ami’s aunt, Sara, is a breast cancer survivor.
Left: Ami with her mother, Kathi. Right: Ami with her family.
For Ami, the potential for breast cancer got even closer when she underwent a biopsy for a suspicious area. Already at high risk for breast cancer because she has dense breasts, doctors now wanted Ami to be more vigilant with annual MRIs and other testing. “Waiting for the results is so difficult,” Ami explained. “I didn’t want to spend my life being afraid I would get breast cancer.”
While Ami and her twin daughters, Amanda and Ashlynd, age 29, received genetic testing and were negative for the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes associated with hereditary breast cancer, Ami wasn’t reassured. “Obviously there is something in our family that makes us more likely to get breast cancer,” she said. Ami began exploring the option of a prophylactic mastectomy. For women at very high risk of breast cancer and those diagnosed with the disease, this preventive surgery to remove both breasts lowers the risk of getting breast cancer.
Ami’s visits with a surgeon, plastic surgeon and counselor confirmed this was the right decision for her. With the support of her husband, Charles, Ami had the surgery in January 2021 followed by reconstruction of her remaining breast tissue. “I was excited leading up to the surgery. My daughters thought I was crazy,” Ami laughed. “A weight has been lifted for me.”
Ami has reduced her breast cancer risk to less than a 5% chance.
