Key points from today’s guests:

Mila Ellsworth, breast cancer survivor

• She detected something unusual in her breast during a self-exam and had it checked out.
• One hospital was showing inconclusive results several times.
• She went to The University of Kansas Cancer Center, where they detected two different types of cancer in the same breast and put her on a specialized treatment plan to address both cancers.
• She is now cancer free, but she does battle lymphedema, which is a typical after effect.
• Battling cancer was a difficult journey and part of the difficulty was explaining it to her three young children. She said that was an important part of moving forward with the treatment.
• Her advice is to get checked early and get checked often. And for those who are battling, she said to embrace the support of others around you and find a doctor who you can trust with your life.

Dr. Priyanka Sharma, medical oncologist, The University of Kansas Cancer Center

• The type of situation Mila had is not very common – less than 10 percent of cases – but it is common enough that we should be looking for it.
• The two cancers differed in the expression of a key protein. We made sure that the treatment recommendations include a therapy that would address the hurtful positive cancer along with providing the chemotherapy. We made sure that the chemotherapy could be appropriate for both types of cancer.
• When it comes to genetic testing, it's a discussion that all patients should have with their care team. There are certain criteria and guidelines that we have in place by national societies that help guide the decisions about which patients should be tested.
• Most patients that are younger than 50 years of age at the time of diagnosis, any patient that has more than one family member that has had breast cancer and takes into account both sides of the families in up to second and third degree relatives, should get tested.
• One piece of advice I tell every woman is to be your own advocate. If you're encountering or an illness, cancer, or anything else, make sure that that you feel comfortable and satisfied with your care team. If that means a second opinion, talking to friends, colleagues, other survivors or individuals with an illness, do it.

Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of Infection Prevention and Control, The University of Kansas Health System

• The hospital COVID count for this week is down slightly to 21 inpatients.
• New research posted by the CDC last week shows an increase in Lyme disease. This is a tick-borne illness, but the numbers can be misleading because the CDC changed how the cases are actually reported.
• We know that people whenever they even see a tick on them, they're concerned about Lyme disease in general. But in 2022, Kansas only had nine cases of diagnosed Lyme disease and Missouri had seven. There are other more significant or more prominent tick borne illnesses around.
  
  

Wednesday, Feb. 21 at 8 a.m. is the next Open Mics with Dr. Stites. Instead of six weeks of radiation, imagine needing just one second of treatment. Learn more about the potential breakthrough of flash radiation, which could spare your tissue and your immune system.

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