‘The Youngest Person in the Room’

BOONEVILLE, Mississippi—Family ties are important to Amber Hare of Booneville, so after close relatives were diagnosed with cancer, she took action.

Her maternal aunt died at 66 from invasive ductal carcinoma. Then a maternal cousin was diagnosed with Stage 4 ovarian cancer. Realizing that cancer is prone to run in families, Amber and her mother, Marilyn Kelly of Booneville, went for genetic counseling to assess their own risk.

Both Amber and Marilyn tested positive for the breast cancer gene BRCA1, which put them at an increased risk for breast and ovarian cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute, about 13% of American women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime; 1.2% of American women will have ovarian cancer in their lifetime. For women with BRCA1, those percentages increase to 55%-72% for breast cancer and 39%-44% for ovarian cancer.  

In 2015, Marilyn had a full hysterectomy to reduce her risk for ovarian cancer. The following year, Amber had a full hysterectomy and started yearly mammograms.

In 2017, Marilyn had a double mastectomy, removal of both breasts, to reduce her risk for breast cancer. That same year, Amber had a scare. “In Fall 2017, they saw something suspicious on my mammogram, so they followed up with a breast MRI and biopsy,” Amber says. “The breast tissue came back benign.”

The following year, Amber talked with her OB-GYN, Dr. Cassie Hill, about having a double mastectomy. She met with Dr. Danny Sanders at North Mississippi Medical Center’s Breast and General Surgery Clinic in Tupelo. “Dr. Sanders told me that by age 40, my chances of getting breast cancer would increase,” she says.

To head off the danger, Amber decided to have a double mastectomy—but then the unthinkable happened. “My Daddy—who was 67 and healthy—died suddenly from a heart attack,” she says. “I was depressed, so I put off my surgery.”

But Amber continued her annual mammogram. This July, at age 39, she was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma—the same type of breast cancer her aunt had. In August, Dr. Sanders removed both her breasts, followed by reconstructive surgery by Dr. Robert Buckley. On Sept. 9, she started 16 rounds of chemotherapy at NMMC Cancer Care.

Three days later, she returned to her second grade classroom at Marietta Elementary School. “I knew if I sat at home, I would get depressed,” she says, “so I started back teaching.”

So far, Amber has been able to continue teaching school and keep up with her two sons, age 10 and 7. “I’m optimistic and pray that it stays this way,” she says.

Fortunately, Amber’s cancer was caught early. “If breast cancer runs in your family, don’t wait until you’re 40 to start having mammograms,” she says. “Usually, I was the youngest person in the room at the Breast Care Center, but it didn’t bother me a bit. That little peace of mind is better than finding it when it’s too late.”

Both Amber and her mother encourage others with a family history to consider genetic counseling, which can predict whether you will get certain types of cancer. NMMC Cancer Care offers a genetic services consultant for:

• Patients who have been diagnosed with a genetically-linked cancer (especially breast or colon cancer) because results of the testing may help doctors and patients decide what type of treatment to provide.
• Family members of breast or colon cancer patients when there is a strong trend of genetically-linked cancers in the family, because more aggressive screening and prevention options may be recommended for family members found to be at an increased risk for cancer.

A referral is required for genetic counseling. If the initial assessment determines the patient is a candidate for testing, a simple blood or saliva test will be performed. For more information, talk to your primary care provider about referral to NMMC Cancer Care for genetic services.