After studying public administration at the University of Southern California and spending a year as an intern in Washington, D.C., Kristin Banfield settled down in Arlington and began a career doing what she loves.
“Since I graduated college, I’ve worked in government,” said Banfield, director of human resources and communications for the city of Arlington. “I always knew that’s what I wanted to do.”
At the start of 2008, she and her husband, Bill, were planning a trip to Quebec, Canada, for a hockey tournament and their daughter, Teeghan, was set to begin kindergarten in the fall.
Everything was going well for the young family.
“We love hanging out with family and friends, camping and just enjoying life,” Banfield said. “That’s what I remember was going on at the time, but 2008 is what I call, ‘the year I would like to forget.’”
The diagnosis
It began with a routine checkup that February.
When Dr. Johanna Wang of the Everett Clinic in Marysville conducted a breast exam during the appointment, Wang noticed something at the top left side of Banfield’s chest.
“She tried to have me feel it, but I couldn’t. That’s how deep it was,” Banfield said.
Wang sent her for a mammogram at Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett.
With no family history of breast cancer, Banfield was surprised.
“I’m 35, a mammogram, really?” she said. “Since it was my first mammogram, my mom offered to go with me. She is a cancer survivor as well; she had thyroid cancer in her 20s. But we weren’t even thinking of cancer at that point.”
Following the mammogram, her doctors decided to do an ultrasound as well. That’s when Banfield began to worry.
“The ultrasound was the same day, and they said, ‘We definitely see something in there,’” she said.
They ordered a biopsy to find out more.
“It’s a long needle with a hole at the end,” Banfield said of the procedure. “They take five samples, so you feel a bit sore the next day.”
The doctor believed it looked like a fibroadenoma, which is a benign tumor.
“A few days later, the breast center called to go over the results,” Banfield said. “It was what they call ADH, which stands for atypical ductal hyperplasia. It means the cells are growing.”
They did another test and found that the lump was DCIS, or ductal carcinoma in situ — Stage 0 breast cancer. Stage 0 refers to a noninvasive breast cancer, and DCIS is characterized by abnormal cells in the milk duct.
“Stage 0 means it hasn’t gone anywhere outside of that,” Banfield said.
She was scheduled for a lumpectomy in mid-April to remove the tumor. DCIS is treatable, but if left unchecked, can spread into the breast tissue outside of the milk ducts.
“Here I am at 35, we have a 4-year-old daughter and, in two months, I have gone from a regular checkup to a lumpectomy,” Banfield said.
She was overwhelmed by the turn of events and looked online for information.
“I did something I tell people never to do — I went on the Internet. Don’t go on the Internet, you just read all these horror stories. You have to stay away from that kind of negativity.”
A lumpectomy is considered a breast-saving surgical procedure where the tumor is removed, often with some of the surrounding breast tissue. Banfield said she didn’t feel much pain, but did feel soreness following surgery.
The usual treatment for DCIS is radiation, followed by five years on an estrogen blocker called Tamoxifen. Prior to beginning radiation that May, her doctor requested that she undergo an MRI exam. Following the exam, Banfield and her family set out early on a Memorial Day camping trip.
“My oncologist was looking through my records and found that, for some reason, they hadn’t done one test, which checks how responsive it is to estrogen and progesterone,” she said. “So they sent it off to the lab again.”
While the Banfield family was celebrating the holiday in Moses Lake, her oncologist, Dr. Oliver Batson of Providence Regional Medical Center, was trying to reach her.
“Doctor Batson said, ‘I don’t like doing this over the phone but we had your tumor retested, and it’s actually Stage 1,’” said Banfield, who was stunned. “That meant it was invasive.
“And that same day, I got the phone call on the MRI. They found another tumor.”
Weighing options
“Radiation was off the table with the results that my first tumor was actually invasive and that there was a second tumor discovered. We needed to reset our game plan with the new information,” Banfield said. “I could do another lumpectomy and remove the second tumor, or I could get a mastectomy and remove the whole breast.”
She was unhappy with the result of her first lumpectomy.
“Because my tumors were so responsive to estrogen, there was no chance for any more kids,” Banfield said.
So she met with a plastic surgeon.
“He offered to make something beautiful, that made me feel like a woman. And I wouldn’t have to worry or stress about it anymore.”
In July of 2008, Banfield underwent surgery to have her left breast removed. It was during that surgery that doctors found a third tumor that didn’t show on the MRI.
With no breast tissue left to radiate, that left chemotherapy to complete her treatment.
“They have a cool test called Oncotype DX, which tests your tumors’ likelihood of recurrence and its responsiveness to chemo. They rate it on a scale and for anything over 30, they recommend chemotherapy. Mine was just under 20,” Banfield said.
“At that point, I was the luckiest person in the world. Not only do I not have to go through radiation, I also don’t have to do chemotherapy.”
“It’s not that often that you don’t have to do radiation or chemo. From my perspective it’s very unusual,” she said.
Banfield then decided, as a precautionary measure, to have her right breast removed. She had the surgery in September 2008.
“If you only have cancer on one side, there’s a good chance they will find it on the other side,” she said. “They took my right side and ran it through all the same tests that they would if there was a lump there. There was nothing there. It’s always nerve-racking but you can’t live your life in constant fear, because that is not a life to live.”
Reconstructing her life
In January 2009, she had her final surgery, this time for reconstruction.
“It was the longest year of my life, and for my husband and daughter as well,” she said. “My husband was my rock. I could always go to him, and he would focus on the positive, even when I was focusing on the negative. When we would go to a doctor appointment, I would hear only negatives, and he would see the positive, and he kept me on that path. I’m sure that when I was under and having surgery, he was probably a nervous wreck. And I think anyone would be. When you see the person you love suffering, you want to take all that pain away.”
The toughest part of her journey was waiting for results.
“I think the worst part is probably the time in between when you have your surgery and you are waiting for your test results,” she said. “It’s so nerve-racking. It just takes that long to run all those tests. They have gotten faster, but I think it’s always going to be the hardest part.”
Despite the stress and fear that came with the diagnosis and surgeries, Banfield said she had several inspiring people to look to for support.
“I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. I don’t have enemies, but I wouldn’t wish it on anyone,” she said. “I’ve seen people die, and I’ve seen people survive. My mom is my inspiration — she is a 30-plus year survivor. If she can deal with raising me and my brother and survive cancer, then I felt I could too. When my daughter was born, my mom’s mom was undergoing treatment for skin cancer. When you see an 80-year-old woman going through chemo and radiation and saying, ‘Ah, you’re going to be fine.” And she is my grandma? If she can do it at 80, I can do it at 30.”
Fighting on
Since her victory over breast cancer five years ago, Banfield has supported other cancer patients through Relay for Life.
“For the last two years, I was the event chair for Marysville/Tulalip Relay for Life,” she said. “You meet so many survivors. We share our stories, but we focus on how we can make survivors and caregivers feel appreciated, feel blessed and feel like they are not alone. There’s unfortunately millions of us out there. But we are all doing something about it, to hopefully find a cure.”
Banfield is still taking the Tamoxifen, and new studies show that taking it for 10 years decreases the risk of recurrence.
“The side effects are miserable. You get hot flashes and your hair starts getting thinner,” Banfield said. “It basically puts you in menopause. I’ve been on it six years in October, and I’m bound and determined to make it the first 10 years.”
She would do anything to make sure she can be there for Teeghan, who just started sixth grade at Haller Middle School.
“It’s worth it if I get to see my daughter graduate high school and graduate college and walk down the aisle,” she said. “It’s a very small price to pay to be able to see all of that.”
Banfield said she is lucky to have a big support system during her battle with cancer, including her doctors, nurses, neighbors, co-workers, family and friends.
“Everywhere I turned, someone was saying, ‘You can do this’ and ‘You’re going to make it through this,” she said. “We all made it through it, and we are stronger for it.”
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