By Stacey Rynders
SSM St. Mary’s Health Center
Pregnant with her second child, the last thing 23-year-old Shelly Parks expected in spring 2009 was to be diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer.
“My first thought was, ‘Is my baby ok?’” said Parks, “It took a while for me to digest. I knew my family had a predominance of women with cancer, but I have never known anyone my age with cancer.”
Induced at 38 weeks, Parks delivered a healthy baby boy and two weeks later was setting her course of cancer treatment at SSM Cancer Care at St. Mary's Health Center with Dr. Francisco Xynos, Division Chief and Gynecologic Oncologist, Saint Louis University School of Medicine department of OB/GYN and Women's Health.
“I hide my emotion, so it wasn’t until after my second treatment of chemo and all my hair fell out that the gravity of the situation set in,” said Parks. “I wanted everything to go on as normal, so I continued working 40 hours a week.”
Parks knew that one woman out of every generation in her family had breast cancer. But none had been so young when diagnosed. For Parks, the cause was genetic.
“Most women have a one in eight, or 12 percent, chance of developing breast cancer,” said Dr. Xynos. “Shelly had a rare genetic mutation that increased her risk for breast cancer to 50-70 percent. Her risks were equally high for ovarian cancer, which is very difficult to detect early and remains the number one killer among gynecologic cancers.”
As a young mother of two, Parks decided on more drastic precautions ― a double mastectomy and a hysterectomy with removal of both tubes and ovaries in January 2010 ― to secure her future with her children.
“I think she is an amazing young lady,” said Dr. Christina Plikaitis, a plastic surgeon at SSM St. Mary’s Health Center with SLUCare. “She is amazingly strong and made some incredibly difficult decisions while raising two children on her own. I was honored to be part of her care and to be able to restore some of what was taken from her.”
Dr. Plikaitis began breast reconstruction on Parks in October 2010. For many women, reconstruction can happen at the same time as the mastectomy, but the earlier radiation delayed the process for Parks.
Because of the radiation, Parks chose a two-stage series of surgeries for reconstruction. the reconstruction she chose was a two stage process. The first surgery involved bringing healthy tissue from her back into the breast where the skin had been damaged from the previous radiation treatment and tissue expanders were placed that would allow us to gradually stretch the skin. A second surgery was planned after the expanders were filled to the desired size to exchange them for permanent breast implants.
“The process is different for each woman,” said Dr. Plikaitis. “I usually counsel patients when they are deciding on their course of breast cancer treatment, and we weigh the options for reconstruction, which is part of the patient’s total care plan. For Shelly, the reconstruction meant she felt comfortable enough with her body to take her kids swimming this summer. That made me tear up.”
Parks admits to being angry, depressed and in denial about her diagnosis. It took her a long time to identify herself as a breast cancer survivor and patient. Her aunt, who had recently dealt with breast cancer herself, counseled Parks as best as she could.
“It is different for someone in their twenties versus someone in their fifties,” Parks said. “I hated looking at myself in the mirror and it started to bother me that I couldn’t have anymore children. I pushed through all of this because of my kids.
“I look at life a lot different than my friends,” said Parks. “I had to find out who I was through all of this. It opened my eyes to a lot of things and a lot of people. At 25, I know what I want to do in life.”
Parks will finisher her studies in Dietetics in February 2012. She then aspires to enter a biomedical engineering program.