CANCER
SECOND OPINION, SECOND CHANCE
In early 2019, Angela Fitzgerald of Iowa City started feeling “off.” She kept picking up colds and had a hard time kicking them. She initially attributed this to her work environment, as she had recently started a new job at an assisted living facility, and thought her immune system needed some time to catch up. Then one day Fitzgerald felt a lump in her breast. “I thought, ‘This isn’t right,’” said Fitzgerald. “I called my gynecologist first thing Monday morning and she sent me right over for a mammogram and ultrasound.” That ultrasound led to a biopsy, and results showed stage 1B triple-negative invasive ductal carcinoma. Triple-negative breast cancer, meaning the cancer cells don’t have estrogen or progesterone
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receptors and also doesn’t contain much of the protein called HER2, differs from other types of invasive breast cancers. Triple-negative breast cancer grows and spreads faster, often requires treatment with chemotherapy or immunotherapy and typically results in worse outcomes.
Starting Treatment Upon her diagnosis in March, Fitzgerald elected to receive treatment in Iowa City, where she completed eight rounds of chemotherapy followed by a bilateral mastectomy. There was still quite a bit of cancer in the mass that was removed, so Fitzgerald once again met with her oncologist who put her on an oral chemotherapy. A couple of rounds in, she noticed a lump in her lymph nodes. Fitzgerald underwent a CT scan, which
Angela Fitzgerald at Terry Trueblood Recreation Area in Iowa City.
doctors said showed masses in her lungs as well. It was at this point her doctors told her there wasn’t anything they could do to cure her cancer, and she had two years to live.
Second Opinion Brings New Hope During her initial round of treatment, Angela had sought out a second opinion with the Nassif Community Cancer Center and Rasa Buntinas, MD, Physicians’ Clinic of Iowa (PCI) Hematology and Oncology in Cedar Rapids. Though she had ultimately decided not to change doctors in the middle of treatment, Fitzgerald never forgot the compassion Dr. Buntinas showed during her visit.
