Alexa Shiver, an ICU nurse at Ascension Sacred Heart Bay in Panama City, is using her personal experience with breast cancer to help others facing the disease.
The former Gulf Coast State College softball player was first diagnosed with breast cancer at age 20 after her twin sister in Alabama received the same diagnosis at 19. Both sisters would later be diagnosed a second time about six years later.
“It’s just an understanding that you don’t have to talk about,” Shiver explained about having a sister going through the same tribulations. “(But) being able to be there as a sister was a privilege, honestly. She’s going through treatment again now. She has breast cancer again, too.”
Genetic testing revealed that the sisters carry Li-Fraumeni syndrome, an inherited mutation that increases the risk of several cancers. Shiver thankfully said her toddler daughter, Harper, is not a carrier for the genetic mutation.
The American Cancer Society reports two screening schedules for people with Li-Fraumeni syndrome: One for children and another for adults.
Today, the young nurse and mother helps Ascension Sacred Heart Bay’s new Deep Inferior Epigastric Perforator (DIEP) flap procedure, or breast reconstruction operation, both as a patient and as a nurse caring for others who undergo the surgery.
“We’ve had three patients so far at this hospital who have had the procedure, and I’ve gotten to take care of every single one of them,” Shiver said with wonder. “It has been just an honor to take care of them, to see their reaction when they see the work the doctors have done. It’s a miracle.”
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports breast cancer rates have been increasing among women younger than 45 years in all racial and ethnic groups. And screenings should begin by age 40.
“Study your family history,” Shiver said. “Deep dive into that … whether it’s your parents, your grandparents. If you feel that somethings wrong, say something.”
For more information about Ascension Sacred Heart Bay’s breast cancer screenings and DIEP reconstruction, visit healthcare.ascension.org/find-care/provider/1225491863/alison-moody
This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Twice a survivor, Panama City nurse brings hope to breast cancer patients
Reporting by Tyler Orsburn, Panama City News Herald / The News Herald
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Tyler Orsburn, Panama City News Herald | USA TODAY Network
