The Scoop with Tanya Flanagan

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Good morning, and thank you for joining me for the scoop with Titan you've learned again, I'm so happy you decided to wake up and start your day with me. Here on the scoop, where we talk about life, joy, funny moments, trending topics, and so much more. We promise to keep you in the know and find out what you know. So let's get started.

Unknown Speaker 0:53
Good Sunday morning to each of you. And thank you for joining me for waking up on this beautiful day and tuning in to K u and v 91.5. The scoop. It is breast cancer awareness month. We are in October. And we are in a series where we're talking about just that. We've had a couple of shows already this month. So we are on to our next show. And we're excited to have guests with us. You know, I have Avis brown Riley spending the month with me. She is a professional golfer and a stage four breast cancer survivor and I just I bow down to that because meeting a stage four breast cancer survivor is rare. And so I am excited to see her beautiful face in the studio with me this morning. And we are welcoming to join us today. Tina Lewis, my dear friend, and girlfriend, Tina Lewis, I want to say we want to say thank you for coming on with us and good morning. Good morning to both of you.

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Good morning. Good

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morning. Thank you for having me.

Unknown Speaker 1:52
Yes. Thank you so much for having me on the show. I'm super excited. Hey,

Unknown Speaker 1:57
it's been fun having the time with you this month to talk about this very important issue. I hope you guys have a nice cup coffee. Ava's and I have our stuff here in the studio tonight. Tina, you're on the phone with us. So I just hope you have your cozy drink and you're ready to dive in. They you guys have been listening to Avis and I for a while this month. So you know a little bit about us. But we will share our stories, a little bit of it to those who are new as we're talking today. I'm a three time breast cancer survivor. A versus a stage four. Breast cancer survivor. Tina, your story is even is all of our stories are dynamic. But yours has an interesting twist that I'm going to let you unveil

Unknown Speaker 2:43
why? Well, first of all, I'm a triple a 23 year, triple negative survivor and breast triple negative breast cancer survivor. But prior to being diagnosed with breast cancer, I was diagnosed with colorectal cancer the prior year, June of 1999. Then the year following by diagnosis for breast cancer I was diagnosed with skin cancer. So what's really interesting about me is that for three consecutive years, I was told in the month of June that you have cancer. So needless to say when June rolls around, even though it's been 24 No, I'm sorry. Yeah, 2423 and 22 years surviving three primary cancers and they were all three primary cancers. And for those that may not understand what that means, it means that my original cancer did not metastasize. My breast cancer did not metastasize. I had three primary standalone cancers. And here I am to to share with you that I have survived all of that.

Unknown Speaker 4:12
Wow. Yes, God is good. Your story. Your story is amazing. It is and you are so just beautiful inside and out just beautiful. And to look at you, you would never think people say to me all the time, oh my gosh, if I didn't know you would have you know, cancer I would never know. You know, and I've had like 20, almost 30 surgeries, you know in my life. And people look at me all the time. And it's like, oh, but never know. And I think that's one of the testaments to survive and the journey for someone to look at you and you don't look like what you know how they say you don't look like what you've been through.

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Yes, exactly. Yes. Yeah, that is

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amazing. Yes,

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but to be a triple negative we talked about. We had Dr. Stephanie Christian, somewhat comprehensive cancer center. Nevada on our first show this month, talking on October 1 talking about breast cancer. And she shared the significance of triple negative and triple positive breast cancer. And we are women of color. And how breast cancer affects us differently in quite frequently black women are diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer. And that means

Unknown Speaker 5:25
primary that's the primary cancer black women are diagnosed with right, triple negative,

Unknown Speaker 5:30
and I was the rare triple positive. I was a triple positive diagnosis. Yeah, I was. We joked about a plastic surgeon, fellow saying to me, well, smart. You know, the good thing is, with breast cancer, I'm like, there's a good thing. And he said, You know, it's not good to have it. But it's good that you're triple positive. And that means there's a course of treatment that directly is known by study, to affect my breast cancer to work to eradicate the type of breast cancer that I have to help me to get better. Whereas with triple negative, there's a different course. And it involves when it gets to that point and involves the chemo, and there's just the different course to see if it works and to hope that it's working but

Unknown Speaker 6:23
know, to pray

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that it works. Yeah. You know, to pray that it works. That's exactly why now they don't know that it's right, you know that it's working well with chemo,

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there's no guarantee because certain bodies reject it. And certain bodies work towards progression. So can you imagine if chemo doesn't work for the body?

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tended to to have to do chemo?

Unknown Speaker 6:49
Yes, let's talk a little bit about triple negative. I know you've had someone on that specifically talked about it. But again, that was 23 years ago, and 23 years ago, treatment is so much different and so much more advanced today than than it was 23 years ago, I had surgery I had I had a lumpectomy, it had spread to my lymph nodes. So I had to have chemotherapy. And I will tell you exactly what my doctor said, I had cancer and only the Sentinel note, only the very first note. And he said to me, he said, you know, Tina, there's no such thing as a little cancer in your lymph nodes. You either have it in there or you don't. And because you have it in there, you have to have chemo. So I did I had a miss, I had a lumpectomy, I had chemo and I had radiation. And radiation today is targeted. It was not targeted 23 years ago. They did my entire chest wall was treat it like a vest, I mean entire chest wall. And when I say treated, it really cooks you like chicken breast. So I went through all of that. My chemotherapy was very different from I think what they're offering today. It might be based on triple negative but I was given Adriamycin and and Taxol. That was my chemotherapy drugs. And back then I don't know if they still refer to Adriamycin as a red devil but that's what they called it you know when you see it going in your vein.

Unknown Speaker 8:49
Tina, you and I have a lot in common as far as similarity with being treated with that red devil because you were diagnosed in 2000 and I was diagnosed in 2010. So you were in the VAs as opposed to me saving my life with aggressive chemo and aggressive radiation 10 years later, the radiation is just zoomed in to that Pacific spot but yet it still did yeah, it's it's targeted to that specific spot, but yet it it gave me a third degree burn underneath my right arm pit of her marks to get to the SEC

Unknown Speaker 9:32
because I declined radiation I whatever it was about it. It just did not settle in my spirit to have radiation. I prayed about it. I did research and study I pulled the numbers, looked at the data. And there was nothing that was overwhelmingly conclusive that indicated that I needed to do radiation that it was going to afford me that much of a benefit. So my first time out. And that was the first time radiation came up to I sent my three time breast cancer journey the first time and the third time. The first time I declined it. I was young. And I declined tamoxifen as well, because they wanted me to take tamoxifen at 32 for five years. And I wasn't married at the time, I didn't have any children. And I thought these things, I felt these things were still in my future on my journey. And they could not talk to me and communicate what it would do to my reproductive organs. So I said, at my age 32, still having some childbearing years to consider, and thinking that I'm going to use them and I want to use them. What would the effects be? They couldn't tell me. That was one reason. My Spirit just didn't settle to statistical data didn't support it. So I declined radiation. Now, fast forward to the third time. My oncologist just kept bringing it up. Every time I would come to an appointment. It was almost like a Freudian slip. And I finally said, Do I need radiation or not? It was as if the doctors had sat down with the pathology team after they took the tumor out. I had a 2.5 centimeter adenocarcinoma tumor, and my right breast. And they so in my case, some people have chemo prior to surgery. I had surgery and then chemo because in some cases, they will work to shrink a tumor and then extract it. And my case it was taken out they did a sentinel node mapping, which is a sentinel node biopsy. So they go into under your underarms, as Tina talked about, and they take live notes from your own pocket your lymphatic system, your lymphatic system is the traveling system to get for breast cancer cells to get into your bloodstream. So they did a central node mapping where they take some lump some lymph nodes out I took about five of mine, the first two or three had traces of cancer cells. So like Tina, I was advised I needed to do chemo to put medication in to try and kill the sales throughout my body, which Dr. Christiansen Dr. Stephanie Christiansen talked about on our first episode, how chemo works and what it does to kill the bad cells throughout the body. And then they'll do a PET scan, which is a scan of your every organ in your entire body to make sure they don't see any cancer cells and any other organs or to hope that they don't see any cancer cells, any other organs. And let me tell you, you hope that that comes back clear, grateful when mine did. But radiation came up twice for me the first and the third. And because of the Freudian slip, every time I would go see my oncologist I finally said do our due on that need this because I say that because Takko every question in your mind with regard to your health care, right? If there's a question in the back of your mind about how you're feeling in the space, treating breast cancer, ask your doctor that question. No question is stupid or too small or too trivial. Ask questions about your health. Take Charge, check in, be present, engaged. Nobody knows you better than you. No one can advocate better than you can on how you feel about

Unknown Speaker 13:04
Absolutely. No, that's okay. I just wanted to reiterate. Well, I wanted to make sure that I covered this. I received chemo and radiation from my first cancer. This was one year before I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I had a mammogram in December, came back normal. Six months later, I found a lump in my breast myself. What I have learned and really have taught myself about breast cancer is one of the drugs I was given. For my colorectal cancer was five Fu and years ago, they used to use that in the treatment of breast cancer. And I think when I was given five Fu, it's shrunk my breast tumor to the point if nothing showed up on the mammogram. So I'm alive today because I was doing self exam six months after my mammogram and found this tumor. That didn't show up.

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I think another point to that is you mentioned that one of the drugs you were receiving for colorectal cancer had impact was a was a treatment for breast cancer. And that's a really important point because in my third space as I studied the text of Tara carboplatin Herceptin treatment course for me, I read everything that third time I just checked all the way in and what you'll find if you read the information the doctors give you. It explains to you what the medication treats but it also tells you every other condition that is used to treat them and they explain to you every side effect that can happen. So in the course of man I began to have I remember having these back pains lower back pains I could not stand at the kitchen sink to wash dishes. without being in pain while I was going through breast cancer treatment, and I was at a point where I was in the chemo phase, and one of the biggest side effects to my, one of the biggest side effects to my meds were was the development the potential to develop uterine cancer, and the conditions of lower back pain, abdominal pain, all that stuff started to kick in. And so because because I had read the information given to me at the start of this journey, I was able to identify, hey, I have the symptoms associated with treating breast cancer, when you start to develop uterine cancer, got some ultrasounds, they found some fibroids, I was off, I had to stop my tamoxifen for a year, while they got everything under control. In the course of treating me for the breast cancer, I wanted to bring that up, because we need to be mindful to check all the way in, there's a lot of fog, but you're so dependent and trusting in the doctor, and they're doing everything that they can. But there's a lot that we're we can do and should be responsible for doing,

Unknown Speaker 16:13
you have to be a self advocate for your own health. I recommend, for example, if you get a breast cancer diagnosis, and after you receive that, and you refer it to an oncologist and they give you a treatment program for you, I would recommend and suggest getting a second opinion. And what you want to do is have two doctors confirm, agree to that treatment. If you do not get an agreement. There's no problem and not an issue with getting a third opinion. And then you sit down and make the choice yourself and what direction you're going to take. Now you spoke about the fact that you declined radiation. One of the things I want to be very clear about very clear about is with triple negative, it is the most difficult breast cancer to treat. Because if chemo does not work, there are not enough guns in the arsenal that are available to you. They're doing some immune therapy, but I'm not sure that that's even working today with triple negative,

Unknown Speaker 17:27
you're right and let me qualify. Let me let me qualify, and then continue on. Because I You made me think I don't want anyone to feel like I declined something. And I'm still here 20 years. Yeah, I don't at all want to give somebody the impression you always have choices. But that is not at all what I'm advocating Yes, do the course of treatment that is best for you, that your doctor and you work up and prescribe as the most the greatest percentage of survival and beating whatever you are facing. I happen to be 32 with a stage zero contained breast cancer that had not spread anywhere else in my breast or my body when I made that decision for myself. stage zero ductal carcinoma inside to not lymph nodes involved not staring down the barrel that came out just there's a milk duck that's bad. And we need to take it out and everything else is gravy and groovy. And that's where I was or at least, you know, I was 32. So was the first diagnosis. I felt that way. It wasn't gravy or groovy. It was a continued life of worrying about everything else that comes with ever being diagnosed with breast cancer. But in that space, it was limited in terms of its impact, because I caught it early. Early detection is

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so crucial. Yes, it is the key. Yeah.

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So well, you know,

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I have this thing. And it's I usually try and get it in every conversation that cancer starts with can see. But you can survive it. And I think Amos and I as well as Tanya are proof of that.

Unknown Speaker 19:09
Yes, absolutely. So with my case, I was also triple negative with aggressive chemo aggressive radiation in order to save my life with invasive ductal carcinoma. So I went in one day, on a doctor's appointment for follow up, and I end up having surgery the same day. I'm like, wow, I woke up and I like what happened? Well, immediately, they saw that my lymph nodes were swollen. So there was no room to postpone it. So my husband signed the dotted line saying hey, let's go ahead and remove six of her lymph nodes. And so that was my experience. Just to save my life, you know, we don't want that cancer to enter the cavity of the body, right? Mm hmm. Now I just recently went down to San Diego. For my CT scan for my colonoscopy, my second colonoscopy, Messiah had to rule out colon cancer. Now, I've been cancer free for 13 years, but they're a little behind with making sure I was scheduled with my colonoscopy. So we're gonna pray and hopefully everything works out fine. And the report comes back negative with colon cancer. Yes,

Unknown Speaker 20:31
no, you know, as you said, you were stage four, where does it spread? To swore to be straightforward?

Unknown Speaker 20:39
Well, stage four, it started spreading in the limonoids, it had made its way outside the ductile area into the lip noids.

Unknown Speaker 20:51
Okay, but it hadn't gone beyond that.

Unknown Speaker 20:53
No, it had not gone beyond that. But they treated me as if it did, because the little cancer cells can be hidden.

Unknown Speaker 21:01
So what's the stage four because of the aggressive treatment plan that they took, because I was stage two way. And I knew So to that point, I was stage two a what's due had lymph nodes involved slight, you know, traces and went through chemo. But they didn't classify me in stage four. And I wonder if it's tied to the size of the tumor? The lymph nodes

Unknown Speaker 21:28
that it's spread to at a different Oregon stage four means it spread to a just an Oregon?

Unknown Speaker 21:33
Yes. Well, I was just told that I had stage four, cancer, breast cancer. And so again, in order to save my life, they said, Hey, we've got to treat you with aggressive chemo and aggressive radiation, it could

Unknown Speaker 21:48
have just been the classifications and you know, various factors that the doctors are looking at. But I know we talk a lot about the medical perspective. And I also want to make sure we are talking about how attitude and our spiritual yes base like, like, this is the medical but what's that grit inside of you, that helps you or helps you face it? Get through it? And still stand? You know, what courage today? Because I think from people when you've had it, and it's an it's in the back of your mind, like, Will I ever be in that space? Could I be in the space again, we live confidently, but I'm sure there are people who it may be it's a thought I like to think it isn't it's distant in the back of your mind. But

Unknown Speaker 22:45
I still think about it. But because I'm a professional golfer and amazing, amazing career in that industry. I had developed the mental toughness. So I knew that I was going to get through that mentally. And I knew that I had the best doctors in the world out of La Jolla. So that put me in my comfort zone. So all I had to do was just lay still for six months, let God and the doctors do work. They're magical, and stay in a excellent frame of mind. But you know, it's hard to do that when you see your body what withering away from 135 to 115. You see bones underneath the cover with no hair. And I just want to you know, I was so thankful that my sister and my brothers and my parents and my husband, especially, was very instrumental in making sure that I was in good care. My girlfriend, Donna Richardson joiner, many of you may know of her as being the, the exercise guru, and my other girlfriends supermodel Beverly Johnson, who I actually adore as well. They were very, very instrumental in sending me information. Beverly, Beverly, his sister was going through breast cancer the same time I was going through. And Donna Joyner was just just a sweetheart, you know, she's Davis, I'm gonna support you 100% And so it was when TD Jakes, her pastor and Emmitt Smith's wife Patricia was sending me videos and I kept my room lit with candles. I was in that space of extreme amount of faith that I knew that I was going to get through that so I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank my family and my friends for being there. You need that support. You really really do

Unknown Speaker 24:39
You're right. Yeah, Tina for you. Family what family is everything but what was your What was your mainstay? What was the thing that kept you grounded centered? I don't know. Just what did you turn to

Unknown Speaker 25:00
You will recall when I went when I was diagnosed with the first cancer, my twins, I have twins that are 34 years old now. They were 11. And my father had just died from a real rare form of cancer. And I did not want them to know I had cancer. So I did not tell them. Because my chemo, I wasn't going to lose my hair. So I got through that chemo and radiation. But then the following year, I'm diagnosed with breast cancer, and I was going to be bald, and they will go, I was gonna look like I had cancer. So it was important for me that it was a, it was important for me to demonstrate to them, that this is life, you know, life is going to show up. It's gonna throw you a curveball, it's gonna be up and down. It's a roller coaster. And I'm older than both of you. I'm 75. Of course, I flipped it this year to 57. But

Unknown Speaker 26:06
I'm 35 teen, you know,

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I got lifted to seven. But anyway, it's important that I demonstrated that this is how you handle what life will will bring to you at some point in time. And, you know, I don't I still don't know if the other shoe will fall. You know, I don't know no one knows if I'm going to get another breast cancer diagnosis or another cancer diagnosis. All I can do is stay prayed up. And I take care of my health. I walk every day I eat right. And I live right. And that's all you can do. I go to the doctor, I get my checkups. I do myself exams. I have my annual mammograms. I do my annual colonoscopy. And avis. It sounds like we were both in San Diego. I was in Scripps. Oh,

Unknown Speaker 26:53
yes. Yes, that's where I was at Scripps.

Unknown Speaker 26:58
That's where I was treated. You didn't have Dr. Bernstein. Did you

Unknown Speaker 27:01
know I had Julie Barone and her her father. And then I had Okay Dr. Jennifer Fisher as my oncologist.

Unknown Speaker 27:10
I am. Yeah, I love that we had time on the show to make.

Unknown Speaker 27:17
It's an unfortunate bond. But it is a space. It's a club that so far this month. We're in various clubs. We're in his breast cancer club. But we're in the 30 years. You know, we're in the 20 plus year survivor club too. We're in a Ma'am, you know, just these different spaces of triumph in the midst of tragedy and disappointment. And I'm glad that we're building these friendships and having this conversation. We are again, another fabulous Sunday morning out of time. But we encourage you to be prayed up, get your mammograms. Make yourself a priority. Be in touch and in tune with your bodies. Tune in again next week. We have a little bit more for you on breast cancer. It'll be our final segment. But we're just happy to have you here with us and thank you for tuning in. I want to thank you for tuning into the scoop with me telling you Flanagan and I want to invite you to get social with me. I'm on Facebook and Twitter. My name is my handle ta n YAFLA na GA N You can also find me on Instagram at Tanya almond eyes Flanagan and if you have a thought and opinion or a suggestion, don't hesitate to shoot me an email to tanya.flanagan@unlv.edu Thanks again for joining in. Stay safe and have a great week.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai