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Janet Beatty—Young Woman Manages Breast Cancer, Gathering Strength for Her Family

By Mona Kleinberg, LBBC Staff

When Janet Beatty learned she had breast cancer just six weeks before her wedding, she thought, "I don’t have time for this." At age 29, living in Chicago, breast cancer was the last thing Janet expected.

Because she had no family history and was young, Janet did not think she was at risk. Neither did her doctors. When Janet went to her gynecologist, he said, "You are young. It’s nothing." Still, he suggested she call a surgeon. The surgeon recommended a biopsy to rule out cancer. Janet did not feel alarmed, so the results caught her off guard.

"When my fiancé, Eric, and I were asked to step into a side room of the surgeon’s office, I still did not think [it was] cancer," she says. "When the surgeon told me it was, I felt numb and I couldn’t follow the conversation. I thought about the wedding and the honeymoon and I thought, how is breast cancer going to fit into these plans?"

Janet, Eric and her healthcare team decided on an aggressive course of treatment for her Stage 2, estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer. Her treatment plan included chemotherapy twice a month for six months, followed by 38 daily radiation treatments to her breast.

From the beginning, Eric played an active part in Janet’s recovery. He began researching breast cancer right after her diagnosis, and they decided together that Janet should begin chemotherapy treatment immediately. Janet received her first treatment two weeks before their honeymoon to the South Pacific.

Eric escorted Janet to every appointment, attended all meetings with doctors and continued to educate himself. Being able to ask questions when they met with doctors enabled him to counter his feelings of powerlessness, Janet says.

Because Eric had taken a job in Philadelphia, he and Janet moved from Chicago in August 1996, only three months after her diagnosis. The move was a "blessing in disguise," she says. When the couple arrived, they faced the grueling task of building a new healthcare team in a new city. Together, they interviewed many doctors at various hospitals until they built a team they liked and trusted.

Since Janet and Eric wanted a family, they were concerned about how breast cancer treatment would impact Janet’s fertility. They were pleased that their new healthcare team encouraged their questions and concerns.

"It felt good knowing that you have a doctor who treats the whole person," she says.

After her last radiation treatment in February 1997, Janet received a very favorable prognosis. To decrease her chances of recurrence further, her doctors recommended she take tamoxifen (brand name: Nolvadex). But Janet hesitated. She and Eric were ready for children, and they knew that women taking tamoxifen should not become pregnant. Eric and Janet felt they had "done enough" and decided against tamoxifen.

However, some chemotherapy regimens may also affect the way the ovaries function, especially in women under age 40. They may cause an interruption in the menstrual cycle or put women into premature menopause. Janet went into temporary menopause for three months during chemotherapy, but her menstrual cycle returned by the time she finished radiation. Three months after she completed radiation, Janet saw her radiation oncologist, Marisa C. Weiss, MD, for a routine check-up. During the exam, Dr. Weiss discovered Janet was pregnant. The couple’s first child was born January 1998, one year after Janet’s last treatment.

While living in Philadelphia, Janet also became involved with Living Beyond Breast Cancer. She became an avid volunteer for LBBC’s Survivors’ Helpline, a toll-free hotline that offers guidance, information and hope in a confidential setting. Janet’s volunteer work allowed her to work with other young women coping with the disease.

More than seven-and-a-half years later, Janet and Eric have three children. Janet gave birth to a girl in summer 2000, and she was pregnant with their third child when they moved once again, this time overseas to Belgium. Four months into her pregnancy, doctors discovered that the child she was carrying had a rare genetic disorder.

"Once again, we were asked to have a seat in one of those dreaded side rooms," says Janet. "The doctors were speaking in French and going through books, and we did not understand what they were saying."

They learned that their daughter, Clara, had Treacher Collins Syndrome and would most likely be born with underdeveloped facial and cranial bones and would have to undergo complicated operations even as a baby to ease breathing and other complications.

In a later meeting, the healthcare team suggested Janet and Eric end the pregnancy. But Janet never considered it. "They did not realize that this baby was chosen," she says. After coping with, and recovering from, breast cancer, "You take it as it comes, you figure out what to do and you do it."

Janet and Eric eventually returned to Chicago because of differences over the best medical treatment for Clara. In the United States, Clara underwent numerous successful operations and three years later is "mentally and physically 100 percent a 3-year old," says Janet. "She just looks a little different. Clara has learned that it is normal [for people] to stare, and I can’t waste my time with those people."

With Clara growing older and becoming more independent, Janet now can take time for herself. She takes tap dance classes, meets up with her girlfriends at night, volunteers where needed and plans to donate time to more breast cancer organizations in the future.

"LBBC was my life when I was in Philadelphia," Janet says. Now that she lives in the United States again, she refers women to LBBC who are affected by breast cancer.

Since her diagnosis, Janet is acutely aware of the fragility of life, but she says that she and her family are strong. They share a level of confidence that allow them to face their challenges.

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This article was found in the following newsletter:

Insight, Winter 2005

In our winter 2005 issue of Insight, we help you understand clinical trials, share the story of one young woman's experience of breast cancer and explore the celebration of milestones during and after treatment.

View entire newsletter

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