Young Mother Stares Down Cancer, Gets Back to the Job She Loves

You’re 34 years old and married with a five-year-old son. For the last 10 years you’ve had a job you love working as a maternity nurse at Baptist Health South Miami Hospital. Then one day, while vacationing with your family at Universal Studios, your phone pings. There’s an email with the results of a recent MRI you had because of your elevated risk for cervical cancer due to an HPV infection. With your medical training, you know what to look for…and what you see isn’t good.

(Watch now: Priscilla Kahn was 34 and married with a five-year-old son and a job she loves. Then she learned she had cervical cancer. See how John Diaz, M.D., at Miami Cancer Institute got Priscilla back to her family and her work. Video by Eduardo Morales.)

“I’m a nurse and I know how to read an MRI. My mind just went blank and I was in complete shock,” says Priscilla “Prissy” Machado Kahn, recalling the emotions that swept over her at that moment in March 2022 when she learned she had cervical cancer. “We were in the middle of a vacation but I had to tell my husband because I couldn’t keep that in anymore. It was the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to do.” 

Telling her parents when they returned home from Orlando that night was even harder, Mrs. Kahn says, as she is their only child. “Nobody wants to think of the word death, especially when you’re in your thirties. But after a diagnosis of cancer, it’s the first thing that comes to your mind,” she admits.

Mrs. Kahn had been seeing an oncologist for a full year before her diagnosis because she was being treated for Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) infection, which experts say cause the vast majority of cervical cancers. She sought treatment when she started noticing mild vaginal bleeding after intercourse, which she knew wasn’t normal. “But my periods were normal and everything else was normal,” says the Hialeah-born resident of West Dade.

As it turns out, it was a good thing Mrs. Kahn was being followed by an oncologist because a subsequent imaging study revealed she had what was thought to be stage 1 cervical cancer. Luckily for her, she was referred to John Paul Diaz, M.D., chief of gynecologic oncology at Baptist Health Miami Cancer Institute. 

Taking her diagnosis in stride

“When I first met Priscilla in May 2022, she had already been diagnosed with cervical cancer which had been confirmed by a biopsy,” Dr. Diaz recalls. “She was a younger patient than we usually see with this type of cancer, so we did further tests to learn what stage her cancer was and to make sure we tailored treatment to her individual case.”

John Paul Diaz, M.D., chief of gynecologic oncology at Baptist Health Miami Cancer Institute

Dr. Diaz remembers being immediately struck by how determined his patient was to overcome her disease. “Mrs. Kahn is young, with a young family,” Dr. Diaz says. “A diagnosis of cancer can have a profound impact on someone but she took it in great stride and was very patient with the process as we ordered additional imaging and evaluation to determine what stage she was and what would be the best treatment for her.” 

At Miami Cancer Institute, cancer care is not cookie-cutter medicine, says Dr. Diaz, and the physicians take a holistic approach to patient care. 

“We have a multidisciplinary team consisting of surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, nurse navigators and pathologists,” says Dr. Diaz. “We also have comprehensive support services for patients, including nutrition, counseling, physical rehabilitation and alternative therapies such as acupuncture.” He adds that all of these services are dedicated to helping shepherd patients through their cancer journey and defeat their disease with minimal toxicities and best possible outcomes.

More advanced cancer than suspected

Mrs. Kahn had initially sought a surgical consultation but Dr. Diaz says that in her case, surgery wasn’t the answer. “Based on her physical exam and her MRI, her tumor was actually stage 2 and a little bit larger than what we’d like to tackle with surgery,” he explains. “There was a high likelihood that even with surgery she would need additional treatment afterwards, including radiation and chemotherapy.”

As for Mrs. Kahn, going from a stage 1 cancer diagnosis after her initial biopsy to a stage 2 diagnosis after her MRI was a real blow, as it would require a more rigorous treatment plan. “The first diagnosis would have required a hysterectomy and then I would just follow up every six months and it was going to be an easier thing,” says Mrs. Kahn. “Now, the diagnosis was a bit more advanced than originally thought and I was looking at chemotherapy as well as internal and external radiation.”

Adjusting to her new role as patient wasn’t easy at first, admits Mrs. Kahn. “When you work as a nurse, being a patient can be difficult. Eventually you just have to let your guard down and realize that you’re not the caregiver anymore,” she says. “But the staff here at Miami Cancer Institute was truly amazing – everyone was so nice and pleasant and helpful. Anytime I felt bad, there was always someone there to pick up the phone, give me advice or call in a medication for me.”

Precision-guided radiation therapy spares other organs

Mrs. Kahn was treated with an MR Linac, a sophisticated technology available only at Miami Cancer Institute and a few, select other cancer centers around the United States. Dr. Diaz says the MR Linac enables the physician to deliver radiation therapy directly to the tumor while minimizing toxicities to healthy surrounding tissues. “It also accounts for the natural changes as the body moves with normal breathing to ensure that we’re directing that treatment right to the cancer and sparing the underlying organs.”

In addition to 30 doses of radiation – 25 external radiation doses within the first five weeks of treatment followed by five internal radiation doses in the sixth and final week – Mrs. Kahn also received four doses of chemotherapy. “Originally, it was supposed to be six but I was only able to tolerate four because I started having ringing in the ears, or ototoxicity, which is a possible side effect. So they told me that it would be better to just stop the chemotherapy,” she says.

Her family’s support makes ordeal easier

Mrs. Kahn’s family supported her every step of the way during her treatment, she says. “I had to stop working, of course. As soon as I found out I had cancer, we moved out of our house and moved in with my parents. They were amazing, helping with our son, fixing dinners and just being there for us,” recalls Mrs. Kahn. “I never had to drive myself to any of my appointments. My husband brought me to every single one – he was always by my side. If my son was with us, my husband would wait with him in the car for the four hours while I was in treatment.”

 Mrs. Kahn is now disease-free and feels like she’s nearing the end of her recovery, which she says has been rough. “I ended up having an inflammation of my gut from the radiation, another possible side effect, so I had a lot of stomach issues and weight loss for a few months after treatment,” she says. “I took a whole month off after finishing my radiation and chemo in July, and I went back to work on August 1st. I’m getting back to normal now – I feel like I’m 85 percent there compared to where I was before my diagnosis.”

Although she’s relieved to say she’s in remission, Mrs. Kahn admits to still being afraid of her cancer returning. “As any cancer patient will tell you, every time you go back for a follow-up scan or test, there’s always that fear in the back of your mind that your cancer may come back,” she says. And she doesn’t want to have to go through this ever again. “Your body goes through a lot, especially with the radiation – it’s taxing on your body.”

Cervical cancer is a preventable disease

Dr. Diaz says that prevention is the most effective weapon in the fight to eradicate cervical cancer. “Cervical cancer is a completely preventable disease,” he states. “And the best way to prevent it is through routine health screenings, including making sure you see your gynecologist or your primary physician every year for a Pap smear or HPV test.”

Making sure that both boys and girls over the age of nine are vaccinated against HPV before they are exposed to it is critical, Dr. Diaz continues. “HPV is the primary cause of not just cervical cancer in women but also head and neck cancers in both men and women,” he notes. “However, there are no screening programs for those types of cancers, which makes getting the HPV vaccine while you’re still young even more important.”

There’s always someone there to help you

Mrs. Kahn says that going to Miami Cancer Institute and seeing Dr. Diaz for her cancer care was the best decision of her life. Her diagnosis had changed, a simple hysterectomy was no longer an option and she trusted Dr. Diaz completely. 

“Dr. Diaz was very friendly, very nice and very easy to talk to,” says Mrs. Kahn. “He gave me his cell phone so if I ever needed to reach him, I could text him or call him any time. Plus, his staff was awesome, as are all the nurses at Miami Cancer Institute. There’s always someone there to help you.”

Dr. Diaz credits Mrs. Kahn’s determination for her successful fight against cervical cancer. “Right now, she's in remission and our plan is to keep her in remission,” he says. “She never lost faith and she was a great partner to have in her treatment – always upbeat. I think that really contributed to the great outcomes that we saw with her.”

The two still text and check in on each other, Dr. Diaz says. “I like to see how she’s doing, and it’s nice to hear that she’s back to her normal life and has been able to enjoy the holidays and some time with her family and get back to the work she loves.”

Mrs. Kahn is thrilled to be back at work as a maternity nurse. “It’s super-rewarding,” she says of her career. “I love working with babies. I love teaching parents how to be parents the first couple of days of those little babies’ lives.”