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Breast Cancer Patient and Her Oncologist Become Fast Friends

Baptist Health Miami Cancer Institute

“My experience was better than I could have imagined. From the moment I walked in, everyone was so friendly. I immediately felt like I was in the best hands. I had the best team of doctors I could ever have had – always responsive and approachable – and the nurses and staff and everyone just made me feel so comfortable and welcome. I am so thankful to have been treated there.”

 

That is Lindsey Lamchick, a Coral Gables real estate attorney and title company owner, talking about her experience this past year being treated for breast cancer at Baptist Health Miami Cancer Institute.

 

(Watch now: A little over a year ago, Lindsey Lamchick was celebrating the holidays on a cruise with her husband and their 15-year-old twins and 5-year-old daughter when she felt a small lump in her right breast. It was breast cancer. Today, she is cancer-free and has become “fast friends” with her surgical oncologist at Baptist Health Miami Cancer Institute, Starr Mautner, M.D. The two will be running together to raise funds for breast cancer survivors in the upcoming Lifetime Miami Half Marathon. Video by Alcyene de Almeida Rodrigues.)

 

A little over a year ago, the energetic, athletic, always-on-the-go mother of three was celebrating the holidays on a Christmas cruise with her husband and their 15-year-old twins and 5-year-old daughter when she felt a small lump in her right breast. “I just felt something uncomfortable. I didn’t know what it was but I wasn’t really worried about it,” she recalls.

 

Although Ms. Lamchick had missed her last couple of mammograms – because, well, life gets busy – she went to see her gynecologist when she returned home. She had both a mammogram and an ultrasound, which is recommended for women who, like Ms. Lamchick, have dense breast tissue.

 

Both tests revealed a suspicious lesion, which a biopsy later confirmed to be invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC). According to the American Cancer Society, IDC is the most common type of breast cancer, accounting for 80 percent of all new breast cancer diagnoses in the United States.

 

Connecting with Her Care Team

When she got the call confirming that it was cancer, Ms. Lamchick was with a client at a home inspection. “I couldn’t really react. I was really just in shock. I wasn’t crying. I was just trying to process everything and think how is this going to happen? What’s going to be next? I had a million questions,” she recalls. “I like to be in control of things and I knew right then that I wasn't going to be able to have much control over what would happen next.”

 

Ms. Lamchick says her overall health was great so her diagnosis came as a shock. “I never thought I’d get a diagnosis like this,” she says. “I was very active and had a very healthy, active lifestyle. I did Pilates multiple times a week. I had run a half marathon and I jog as often as I can. I eat very healthy.”

 

Ms. Lamchick was referred to Starr Mautner, M.D., a breast surgical oncologist with Miami Cancer Institute. “I received a text message from Dr. Mautner introducing herself and telling me that she was available the next morning. She asked if I could come in and see her then and of course, I said yes.” It was a decision that would lead to what has become a very close relationship between doctor and patient, who had known of each other through school and social circles but had never actually met prior to last year.

 

“I had heard such wonderful things about Dr. Mautner. She’s a mom and her kids are at the same school as my daughter. I knew that we would be able to relate to each other, but I never knew how she could make such a scary, uncomfortable situation seem like it was going to be okay so quickly. I was immediately at ease,” recalls Ms. Lamchick.

 

Although she knew she had breast cancer, Ms. Lamchick says she had no idea there were different types of breast cancer. “Dr. Mautner made everything so clear. She explained it so thoroughly and so well, and I just felt like I was in the best hands,” says Ms. Lamchick. “I didn’t want to talk to anyone else. I didn’t want to go anywhere else. I just knew that she was going to be the person that would help me get through this and save my life.”


Mapping Out a Treatment Plan

Dr. Mautner recalls her first meeting with Ms. Lamchick in February. “I first met Lindsey right after she had been diagnosed. She presented with what appeared to be an early-stage breast cancer. It was small, it was unifocal, meaning that we thought there was one site of disease, and it was not clear that it had spread anywhere else.”

 

Unfortunately, it had; a later MRI revealed that her cancer was adherent to the muscle of the chest wall and an abnormal lymph node was also detected. “It became clear that she did not have as early of a breast cancer as was initially thought,” says Dr. Mautner.

 

An ultrasound guided core biopsy of the suspicious lymph node revealed that Ms. Lamchick’s cancer had indeed spread beyond the original site in her breast to a nearby lymph node in her armpit, necessitating a change in her treatment plan. The next step would be a PET scan to see if it had also spread beyond the lymph nodes to other areas of the body. It had not, thankfully.

 

In order to achieve the best possible surgical outcome, Ms. Lamchick would need neoadjuvant, or upfront, chemotherapy treatment under the care of Siddhartha Venkatappa, M.D., an oncologist/hematologist at Miami Cancer Institute. That would be followed by a double mastectomy – suspicious lesions were detected in her left breast, too, so Ms. Lamchick opted to have both breasts removed – as well as breast reconstruction, 33 rounds of radiation treatment and years of oral cancer medication, called endocrine therapy.

 

The chemotherapy was successful and Dr. Mautner informed Ms. Lamchick that her diseased lymph node had a “complete response.” “When Dr. Mautner called with the news that everything was clear, there was no more evidence of disease, tears just came pouring down,” Ms. Lamchick says. “I was just so happy. I couldn't believe it.”

 

Lindsey Lamchick with her daughter following her treatment for breast cancer at Baptist Health Miami Cancer Institute

 

Seeing the Silver Linings

“Lindsey is doing great, I’m very happy to say. She is the type of person who even before her cancer diagnosis lived life at 200 percent and she has not stopped doing that throughout all of her treatment. If anything, she’s busier than ever,” comments Dr. Mautner. “It’s just so amazing to see her thriving and enjoying life to the fullest. She has more energy than anyone I know – she’s always doing something. She’s also so kind and caring and thoughtful. She’s made friends with some of my former patients and they all support each other through this process. That’s been amazing to see.”

 

Starr Mautner, M.D., a breast surgical oncologist with Baptist Health Miami Cancer Institute

 

Dr. Mautner says that Ms. Lamchick likely developed this cancer between the ages of 41 and 43 but because she had missed a couple of annual mammograms, it wasn’t detected until the age of 44. By that time, she says, it had already advanced to a lymph node

 

“It’s very possible that if caught earlier, potentially we could have avoided chemotherapy in this case,” says Dr. Mautner. “That’s why early detection is so important. Not only does it improve survival and prognosis, but it can minimize the amount of treatment a patient needs to receive for their breast cancer.”

 

In addition to being an entrepreneur, business owner, mother and wife, Ms. Lamchick can now add breast cancer survivor and awareness advocate to her resume.

 

“There have been many silver linings throughout this whole journey and many special friendships formed,” says Ms. Lamchick. “Now, when I get calls from friends or friends of friends who are newly diagnosed, I take time to really be there for them. I had someone who was there for me like that. Fighting breast cancer or any kind of cancer really takes a village. I’m so grateful for the village that I had.”

 

Finding Ways to Give Back to Others

Ms. Lamchick is also excited to be able to get back to exercising again and to have found a new way to give back something after all the help she received along the way. “This February, I’ll be running the Lifetime Miami Half Marathon with Dr. Mautner to raise money for Sharsheret, a wonderful organization that gives so much back, not only to breast cancer survivors and patients, but also ovarian cancer,” she says. One could say the two have become “fast friends.”

 

Reflecting on her cancer journey, Ms. Lamchick says there is much to be grateful for. “There are so many people I’m thankful for, especially all of the doctors and nurses and staff at Miami Cancer Institute who have been there for me. They have friends, people that I love to see and speak to and stay connected with. And having a doctor like Dr. Mautner, who’s become such a special friend, was so meaningful. She connected me with Dr. Venkatappa, my medical oncologist; Joseph Panoff, M.D., my radiation oncologist; Harry Salinas, M.D., my breast reconstruction surgeon; and many other specialists.”

 

Stressing the Importance of Early Detection

While breast cancer screenings are recommended to begin at the age of 40, it is relatively rare to develop a breast cancer between the ages of 40 and 45 such as Ms. Lamchick did, says Dr. Mautner.

 

“That is considered premenopausal breast cancer and young breast cancer. While it is still relatively rare to be diagnosed with a breast cancer at that age, it is becoming more common now,” Dr. Mautner notes. She acknowledges that more research is needed to better understand the increasing rates of young breast cancer and says she is committed to helping other young women like Ms. Lamchick navigate their breast cancer treatment.

Healthcare that Cares

With internationally renowned centers of excellence, 12 hospitals, more than 28,000 employees, 4,500 physicians and 200 outpatient centers, urgent care facilities and physician practices spanning Miami-Dade, Monroe, Broward and Palm Beach counties, Baptist Health is an anchor institution of the South Florida communities we serve.

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