Opting for Surgery

Life never seems so precious until something threatens to take it away. Doctors told Sherry Schapkers mother she had breast cancer. Sherry was there through the chemo, shaved her head, and painfully watched as she died. Sherry wanted to spare her daughters that greif. So, she embarked on a mission to find someone, anyone, who could help her family. She found a ray of hope in something thats long been considered extreme: Preventive mastectomy. Now Sherry is shedding the stigma and empowering others along the way. If Sherry Schapker had a weaknesss, it would be QVC. One day, they were selling a quick little three wheeled scooter, and, on a whim, she bought it. Shes a woman who knows what she wants. But in 2002, eighteen months after her mom died of breast cancer, a mammogram showed a suspicious lump and suddenly, Sherry couldnt make up her mind. She said, "I was like, oh my God, youve got to take them off. Just take em off. Then I thought, Im overreacting, you know." Doctors performed a lumpectomy, it came back benign. Genetic tests even came back negative for BRCA1 and 2, which are gene mutations that indicate high risk of breast cancer. Sherry just could not shake her fear. Then, she heard about prophylactic mastectomy, total removal of the breasts and breast tissue to prevent cancer. Its a procedure regarded as so extreme, no one seemed to understand why shed consider it, except a small community of women online. They belonged to FORCE, which stands for Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered. They, like Sherry, saw beyond the stigma. Sherry said, "Some of my friends couldnt understand why I wanted to do this and they did not hold my mothers hand, they didnt, they werent there, they didnt shave her head. And you know everybody on that site got. They absolutly got it. And it felt great." Four months ago, doctors removed all of Sherrys breast tissue and both nipples. During that same procedure, Evansville surgeon Dr. Alina Sholar placed tissue expanders under the chest muscle. Then, during the office visit, she actually comes in and we put a little saline in each visit into this port here to expand her to the size she wants to be. Once shes chosen that size, then we take the tissue expanders out and we put a permanent prosthesis in." Next month, Sherry will go in for her implants. Dr. Sholar will also create new nipples by tucking and pulling the skin, and then theyll tattoo the skin to look make Sherrys new nipples look real. Because of her strong family history, having this preventive mastectomy and reconstruction cuts her risk of developing breast cancer by 90%. And because of her strong family history, its was cost effective for the insurance provider to help her tackle breast cancer before it could develop. Insurance Provider Drew Shockley says, "That is definately a very serious surgery, but insurance companies are deciding to cover those types of things - theyre incurring costs that are going to save them money later." With doctors behind her, insurance behind her, and her family behind her, Sherry says, there was no room for "mastectomy-shame" of yesteryears. Shes proud of how shell look when shes done and proud she took her health into her own hands. "I was so afraid to tell my dad, he was the one I dreaded most. And he goes, yeah. Cut them things off. I saw what youre mother went through. My god. If you can do this and not have to go thru that - oh - by all means." When Sherry asked her doctor about prophylactic mastectomy, he told her she was the 3rd woman that month to ask about it. And Sherry says she realized Evansville needed its own FORCE group. So shes helping start one. The first meeting will be May 14th at 6:30 at the Chancellor Oncology Center in Evansville. For more information on Force: http://facingourrisk.org/ For more information Hereditary Breast Cancer and Genetic Testing: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/risk/brca