Her second fight: how one woman beat breast cancer twice

Breast cancer affects one in eight women in the United States

At 61 years old, Laura Burroughs is a two-time breast cancer survivor.

Her first diagnosis 20 years ago was a small tumor located in her right breast. To treat the cancer, she chose to preserve her breast and underwent what was then called a lumpectomy - now referred to as a partial mastectomy - where only the portion of the breast containing the cancer was removed.

Unfortunately, two decades later, the cancer returned, and Burroughs was diagnosed with invasive ductal breast cancer in the same breast.

This time, Burroughs elected to undergo a bilateral mastectomy (double mastectomy) and breast reconstruction at Loma Linda University Health by Sharon Lum, MD, breast surgeon and Chair of the Department of Surgery.

After overcoming her first cancer diagnosis, Burroughs never thought it would return. Her second diagnosis was especially rare. While one in eight women in the United States will face breast cancer in their lifetime, it is uncommon for a woman to develop it twice.

Because the cancer returned, Burroughs decided that a bilateral mastectomy was her best option for removing all the cancer in her right breast while reducing the risk of cancer developing in her left breast.

The operation involved removing both breasts, checking the sentinel lymph nodes - the first draining nodes on the cancer-affected side - and performing reconstruction in collaboration with a plastic surgeon.

"These procedures are often done jointly: the breast surgical oncologist removes the breasts and affected lymph nodes, while the plastic surgeon begins reconstruction during the same operation," Lum explains.

"Both surgeons work together in the operating room, with overlapping portions of the procedure."

This multidisciplinary approach to breast cancer treatment is relatively new. Over the past few decades, Lum explains that the standard approach for treating breast cancer was limited to two options: attempt to save the breast with radiation treatment or remove the breast with a mastectomy.

If a woman had a mastectomy, the entire breast, along with all the lymph nodes under the arm, was removed, with no option for reconstruction. This would leave the patient completely flat on one side, with the only option being to wear a prosthetic inside her bra to restore symmetry.

Medical advancements now have several ways to treat breast cancer.

"Women once had long, permanent scars across their chest until the reconstruction happened," Lum says. "Today, we can use much smaller, more discreet incisions, and even perform skin- and nipple-sparing procedures. Women can now often undergo immediate reconstruction, where the plastic surgeon begins rebuilding the breast during the same surgery in which the breast is removed.

Burroughs' decision to have the double-mastectomy proved to be the right move, as very early cancer was detected in her left breast. Because of the procedure, Lum was able to remove all traces of the cancer from both breasts, effectively eliminating any evidence of cancer in her body.

During the same operation to remove both breasts, she had reconstruction completed by plastic surgeon, Hahns Kim, MD. The surgery began with the placement of tissue expanders, which were gradually inflated to achieve the desired size. Once that process was complete, she had another procedure to replace the expanders with permanent implants. Altogether, the process took several months to complete, though all of it was done in an outpatient setting so her recovery could take place at home.

For Burroughs, having doctors like Lum and Kim made her difficult journey a little easier.

"The first time I met Dr. Lum, she was so considerate and respectful, yet also incredibly knowledgeable," Burroughs recalls. "She understood what I was going through and was realistic when she told me, 'You're never going to be the same person.'"

That honesty helped prepare Burroughs not only for the journey of facing treatment, but for how the surgery would forever change her body.

"You don't really understand until you've had a part of your body cut off," Burroughs says. "Suddenly, I found myself missing it, not out of vanity, but because my clothes no longer fit the same way, and I didn't look the same. It made me wonder: am I defined by this one body part?"

That realization forced her to focus on what truly mattered.

"I wasn't depressed or unhappy," Burrougns says. "I got to live all these years with breasts, and now I don't have them. I have implants. But my perspective changed, and I'm happy to just wake up."

After surgery, Burroughs' recovery required a lot of patience. She went home with drains that needed managing for a few weeks, which were later removed once everything was stable and free of infection.

"I got through it and here I am," Burroughs says, "I'm looking forward to so many things. Cancer does not define me."

For more information on breast health services, explore Breast Cancer Care or request a breast cancer screening for you or a loved one today.