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2B Daily News – Monday, October 10, 2011 Vitality & health DETROIT (MCT) — More than 2.5 million Americans are breast can- cer survivors. Meghan Malley, 29, a physical therapist from Berkley, Mich., wants her name on that list. She's networking, rally- ing and blogging publicly about her disease to bring attention to the times when breast cancer isn't a lump. For about 5 percent to 10 percent of breast cancers, the warning signs may be a change in the feel of the breast or breast skin that becomes dimpled, puck- ered or reddened. "I want women to know that breast cancer doesn't always begin with a lump," said Malley, whose hair has grown back pixie-cute after chemotherapy. "I want people to be aware that unfortunately you're never too young to get breast cancer." During a monthly self- breast exam in January 2010, Malley sensed something different about her right breast. She had experienced some jolts of pain in the breast, and felt a denseness, almost a change in its weight. After an ultrasound and mam- mogram, doctors said she had fibrocystic breasts, which can make breasts painful and lumpy in response to women's changing hormones, but isn't cancerous. Woman, 29, fighting breast cancer, reaches out a glob of meat sauce in a bowl of spaghetti." Malley will have a dou- ble mastectomy at Beau- mont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich., later this month after undergoing 15 rounds of chemotherapy to shrink the cancer in her right breast and take out the spots on her spine. The survival rate for women diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer is about 23 percent after five years. MCT photo Meghan Malley keeps a note of encouragement on her refrigerator. A little over a year later, Malley was undergoing fertility treatments. She still was concerned about the changes she felt in her right breast and pressed her doc- tor for additional testing. She had an ultrasound, which showed distinct changes, but doctors thought it might be related to the hormones she was receiving for fertility treat- ments. But to be sure, she underwent a biopsy. On March 23 — two days after her 29th birthday — she learned that she had invasive lobular breast can- cer, which occurs in about 5 percent of breast cancer patients. She started chemotherapy one day after she learned additional tests had detected cancer- ous spots on her spine, making it a Stage 4 — the deadliest of cancer diag- noses. "There's a lot of miscon- ceptions about metastatic disease. They look at you like you're going to die any day," said Malley. "And although it's scary, I feel that with more research and more funding, we can live a long time and live very ful- filling lives." Invasive lobular breast cancer forms in the milk- producing glands and caus- es an area of thickening in parts of the breasts, or sen- sations of fullness or swelling. It may also make the skin over the breast dimple or thicken. Malley's oncologist, Dr. Lawrence Flaherty of the Karmanos Cancer Institute, describes lobular breast cancer by likening breast tissue to spaghetti. Every Wednesday October 5, 12, 19 & 26 Pine Street Plaza 332 Pine Street, Suite G Red Bluff, CA Stacy L. Garcia Hearing Aid Dispenser Lic. #7440 (800) 843-4271 "Most breast cancers are like a meatball in a bowl of spaghetti, so they're easy to find," said Flaherty. "Her particular type is more like "She's gotten an excel- lent response in her treat- ment and her cancer is in remission," said Flaherty. "And based on that, her outlook is certainly a more favorable one. I have peo- ple in my practice who are five and 10 years and more years out with that stage of the disease." Flaherty says Malley may be a candidate for clinical trials of new drugs down the road. In 2010, about 27 percent of breast cancer patients at Kar- manos participated in some 30 clinical trials involving drugs and other research. "We try to steer people into getting those opportu- nities when it makes good sense to do that in their care," he said. Malley has chosen to undergo a double-mastec- tomy and reconstruction, a choice she elected although no cancer has been found in her left breast. She will take tamoxifen, a drug that inhibits estrogen's impact on breast tissue, for at least the next five years. "For my own peace of mind, I wanted them gone. It was a very, very personal decision," said Malley, acknowledging that other women in her position might choose otherwise. "Many women could do the chemo, the radiation and the hormone therapy and see what happens. For me, I just wanted the origi- nal site gone." Northern Valley Indian Health, Inc. WE HAVE MOVED! 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Nutrition Quiz: Diet detective (MCT) — Frustrated dieters out there may ask, "When is someone gonna write a weight-loss book that allows me to eat at 7- Eleven?" Their wish has been granted by none other than Charles Platkin, the "Diet Detec- tive" syndicated colum- nist and assistant profes- sor at the CUNY School of Public Health. His new book, set for release in January by Rodale Books, is "The Diet Detective's All- American Diet." Take our quiz based on food choic- es at quintessential Amer- ican establishments. 1. It's late in the dark night of a dieter's soul. You find yourself at a 7- Eleven. Caloriewise, which is the best choice? a) 7-Eleven Fresh To Go Chicken and Bacon Cobb Salad b) 7-Eleven Chicken Tenders (three pieces) c) 7-Eleven Corn Dog Roller 2. You've been driving all night. What's that up ahead? Sunrise? No, it's the yellow Denny's sign. Which breakfast side dish should a calorie-con- scious dieter select? a) Bacon (four strips) b) Turkey bacon (four strips) c) Hash browns 3. You've tried to resist the lure of KFC. You know you have. But you're only human and have succumbed. Yet you're trying to be good by ordering from the grilled chicken menu. Which is your best caloric choice? a) drumstick b) breast c) thigh 4. You went running today, so you figure you can "reward" yourself with dessert in the freezer aisle. Which is the best caloric option? a) Skinny Cow Vanilla Low Fat Ice Cream Sand- wich b) Weight Watcher's Vanilla Ice Cream Sand- wich c) Smart Ones Key Lime Pie ANSWERS: 1: c (corn dog: 320 calories; cobb salad: 350 calories; chick- en: 540 calories); 2: a (bacon: 140 calories; bacon: 150 calo- yeturk wns: 210ries; hash bro calories); 3: a (drumstick: 80 calories; thigh 160 calories; breast 210 calo- atch-eight Wries); 4: b (W yers: 120 calories; Skinn w: 140 calories; pie:co 190 calories). Have a news tip? 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