Stage IV BRCA2 Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Julie's Patient Story

What happened, in summary

Julie is an emergency medicine physician in Maryland, a wife, and a mother of 3. In October 2019, soon after a family trip to Italy, she noticed a small indentation on the outer part of her right breast while getting out of the shower. A mammogram did not show much, but ultrasound and biopsy confirmed lobular breast cancer. Her youngest child was only 18 months old, and the diagnosis immediately raised fears about whether she would see her children grow up. Julie was first staged IIA, then learned the cancer had spread to her axillary lymph nodes. Genetic testing also showed BRCA2, which carried implications for other cancers and for her children. She went through chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation and thought active treatment was finished. After radiation, a screening MRI to check her pancreas because of BRCA2 showed that the pancreas was fine, but the breast cancer was in her bones. The diagnosis became Stage IV lobular breast cancer. She was told she might have 3 to 5 years left, but she refused to focus only on that number. As of October 2021, 2 years after diagnosis and 1 year after learning about the bone metastases, Julie described herself as thriving with Stage IV ILC.