Martina Navratilova on GMA talking about her DCIS diagnosis

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sweatyspice
sweatyspice Member Posts: 922

Martina Navratilova is on Good Morning America talking to Robin Roberts.  Martina has recently been diagnosed with DCIS, Grade 3. 

Lumpectomy with rads upcoming.

She'll be doing a webchat on AARP (aarp.org) tom'w at 1 eastern time.

Best wishes to her!

Comments

  • lvtwoqlt
    lvtwoqlt Member Posts: 6,162
    edited April 2010

    GMA has the segment on their site so you can watch it when convienent.

    http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/martina-navratilova-breast-cancer-tennis-star-tells-gma/story?id=10299319

    I have to be at work at 8:00 am and missed this announcement.

    Best wishes to Martina.

    Sheila

  • otter
    otter Member Posts: 6,099
    edited April 2010

    The report has been picked up by other news outlets, too...  Sounds like she's handling this the way she handles everything else.  She was asked about the new screening guidelines that recommend mammograms only on alternate years for women her age, and she (reportedly) said, "Get the bloody mammogram!".

    http://www.usatoday.com/sports/tennis/2010-04-07-martina-navratiolva-breast-cancer_N.htm

    Similar story on AP wire as reported by Google News

    otter (slipping through the DCIS forum almost undetected)

  • Jelson
    Jelson Member Posts: 1,535
    edited April 2010

     People Magazine picked up by CNN.com calls DCIS .. BREAST CANCER, no quibbling, no saying it is precancer or not cancer.

    http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/04/07/martina.navratilova.breast.cancer.ppl/index.html?hpt=T2

    we are on to you OTTER.......

  • sweatyspice
    sweatyspice Member Posts: 922
    edited April 2010

    Breast cancer sells newspapers, magazines and advertising time.  Precancer does not sell newspapers, magazines or advertising time.

  • Alpal
    Alpal Member Posts: 1,785
    edited April 2010

    Like Otter - I'm also sneaking in here! Just saw Martina on Rachael Ray - she did a wonderful job.

  • 3monstmama
    3monstmama Member Posts: 1,447
    edited April 2010

    Just watched it as well---she did do a nice job, didn't she?

    I was particularly struck by her comment about missing her exam for 4 years.  I actually was keeping up with my exams [mostly] and the year [okay 15-18 months] before, there was nothing there.  Sort of scary to think her doctor told her that had she waited longer, her situation would have been invasive breast cancer and not DCIS.

    3 cheers for that darned old stupid cyst in the right boobie that led to the discovery of badboobie!

  • Beesie
    Beesie Member Posts: 12,240
    edited April 2010

    I saw her on Larry King last night, along with Dr. Oz.  I though they both handled the explanations wonderfully.  DCIS was called breast cancer.  It was explained that at this stage it's non-invasive but that it has the potential to become invasive cancer and be much more serious and that's why it's great to catch breast cancer at this stage, when it can be treated.  Hence the push on getting mammos (and yes, I know that mammos don't catch all cases of DCIS but they didn't get into that which I think was a good thing because it would only have confused & complicated the message....) Martina, to her credit, said that she was surprised and scared when diagnosed but since learning the actual diagnosis (DCIS, non-invasive) and considering her treatment (lumpectomy, which she considered to be easy, and radiation coming up), she not scared now.  She came across as being very in-control and very calm.  And very pleased that her breast cancer was caught early.  So good for both of them for playing it exactly right, in my opinion, by treating it seriously but not over dramatizing it (which I know irks those who've been diagnosed with more advanced BC).

  • CTMOM1234
    CTMOM1234 Member Posts: 633
    edited April 2010

    Yes, I, too, thought she did a wonderful job on GMA and L.K! Very calm and also brave, great spokesperson!

    Did get me wondering if she also has micro-invasion because she mentioned that her nodes were clear. Think my surgeon is like the majority who don't remove sentinel node(s) unless there's an indication there's possibly more than DCIS; amount of DCIS doesn't seem to matter, because I had a good amount of grade 2 DCIS known going into lump. surgery (I went under for a second surgery when pathology came back with small invasion, no regrets . . .he was trying to spare the node removal). She mentioned that her DCIS was grade 3, so maybe her dr. felt it was worth checking the nodes during her lumpectomy surgery.

  • sweatyspice
    sweatyspice Member Posts: 922
    edited April 2010

    I had consults with more surgeons than I care to remember, and multicentric grade 3 DCIS per my biopsies.  Different surgeons had different attitudes about SNB.  I'd say most surgeons wanted to do a SNB together with my lumpectomy, but not all.  

    (Of course, some surgeons simply thought I needed a mastectomy.  Period.) 

    So I'd hate to assume the SNB was a second surgery for her.  Might have been, but I wouldn't assume it was.

  • bichonlvr03
    bichonlvr03 Member Posts: 84
    edited April 2010

    I, like Martina, had not had a mammagram in a number of years prior to my diagnosis (5 years to be exact).  I'm glad she included the fact that it had been four years since her last mammogram when telling her story.  I am also her age, I will be 53 in May.  Women our age need to get mammograms every year if not diagnosed, and obviously, more often after diagnosis.  I have no idea how long the tumor was there, although my rad onc told me at the end of Dec. 09 that it was not there a year ago.  Of course, I will never know. 

  • sweatyspice
    sweatyspice Member Posts: 922
    edited April 2010

    Beesie, you're certainly correct about it irking those who have been diagnosed with more advanced disease.  Coolbreeze has blogged about this subject.  As far as Coolbreeze is concerned, DCIS is not cancer and she's upset with both Martina Nav. and the media in general for not making that distinction clear.

    http://butdoctorihatepink.blogspot.com/2010/04/martina-navratilova-diagnosed-with-dcis.html

  • 3monstmama
    3monstmama Member Posts: 1,447
    edited April 2010

    Thanks for the link sweatyspice.  I read the blog post.

    Coolbreeze is lumping all DCIS in the same catagory which, in my humble opinion, is completely bogus.  I will stop here.

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