Jessica Wharton survived breast cancer | chemotherapy | taxol | super radiation | red devil | ptsd | invasive ductal carcinoma

DESCRIPTION

When Jessica Whorton discovered lumps on her left breast in 2011, she sought medical attention.  The doctors she spoke with said breast cancer was not indicated.  She walked around with the lumps for another nine months before seeking a second opinion.  Tests revealed she had Stage 3A invasive ductal carcinoma.  Doctors urged that she get a double mastectomy even though her right breast was still healthy.  After chemotherapy and radiation, Jessica achieved survivorship in 2013.

Jessica thought there was something wrong when she detected three lumps on her left breast in 2011.  She had them looked at, but doctors said they didn’t feel anything that seemed cancerous.  Jessica did nothing for the next nine months, but then decided she needed to be seen by a different care team, led by a plastic surgeon.  After tests and a biopsy, he said while her right breast was healthy, there was cancer in her left breast.

As if that diagnosis weren’t enough, her care team urged Jessica to undergo a double mastectomy to minimize the chance of a recurrence in the right breast.  The following week she underwent the procedure, and it was successful.

Jessica was told her post-surgery regimen would have to start with what is known as the ‘red devil,’ a highly-potent chemotherapy cocktail.  She suffered the usual side effects, including extreme fatigue and hair loss.  After the red devil, Jessica was supposed to go on Taxol, but she had an allergic reaction to it and the Taxol was discontinued after two dosages.

Next up was super radiation, requiring 30 visits administered five days a week.  Jessica said the Taxol experience made the radiation even tougher, and just when she started feeling better after her weekly two days off, she would have to go in for more radiation.

However, things changed for the better and in 2013, Jessica Wharton was told she had gone into remission.  The day she got the news was, she said, “Like winning the lottery.”  She has been in remission ever since.

Jessica says to this day she still feels the effects of PTSD and is not able to return to the workforce on a full-time basis, but she is grateful that cancer is in her past.

TRANSCRIPT

Bruce Morton: Greetings.  This is the Cancer Interviews podcast, and I’m your host, Bruce Morton.  Our guest on this episode has overcome a lot.  Breast cancer, double mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiation.  But we are happy to report, she is very much still with us and has a powerful story to share.  She is Jessica Whorton of Las Cruces, New Mexico.  Now is the time to hear that story, and here she is.  Jessica, welcome to Cancer Interviews.

Jessica Whorton: Thank you so much, Bruce.  I appreciate you having me on.

BM: Jessica, first off, let’s learn a bit about you and your life away from cancer.  If you would, tell us a bit about where you are from, what you have done for work and what you do for fun.

JW: Sure.  I am originally from the Pacific Northwest.  I have two adult daughters.  I am in school finishing pursuit of my Business Administration degree in human resources, and for fun, I like to be outdoors.  I love the mountains outside Las Cruces.  I love to go hiking when I can.

BM: For each of us who has been on a cancer journey, there was that time in which we noticed something unusual about health, something that demanded medical attention.  For you, what got your attention?

JW: In 2011, I noticed that I had visible breast lumps.  Three of them on my left breast. And I was losing weight rapidly.  When I went to the doctors, they said it didn’t feel like cancer, and that I was too young to get breast cancer.  I was 33 at the time.  So, I went nine months with visible lumps on my left breast before I decided to seek a second opinion.  My lymph nodes were swollen and being painful, and I was just really uncomfortable.  I had no idea what was going on in my body at the time.  That’s when I had tests done, and I was diagnosed.

BM: This was obviously horrific news.  How did you handle it?

JW: I was by myself.  I had gotten my biopsy from a plastic surgeon, which is unheard of.  I kept waiting in the plastic surgeon’s office for about two hours, but finally he saw me.  He said my right breast is fine, but my left breast had cancer in it.  My world just collapsed.  My heart sunk into my stomach.  I didn’t know how to handle it.  I called my partner at the time, Jake.  He came and got me, and we just say and cried together in the car.

BM: We’re confident you’ll be able to learn some tips and tools to help you through your personal cancer journey, but we’d like to invite you to please give us a like, leave a comment or review below and share this story with your friends.  Kindly click on the Subscribe button below and click on the bell icon. That way you will know the next time we post an interview.  We also want to remind you we are not distributors of medical advice.  If you seek medical advice, please contact a license health care professional.

So, Jessica, you have gotten this awful news, but at some point, you have to look forward and decide what you are going to do about it.  Did you have treatment options?

JW: I did, but I was advised it would be best for me to have a double mastectomy because my breast health was so unhealthy at the time.  It was crushing for me to learn this news. 

BM: This would seem to be a lethal one-two punch.  A diagnosis of  cancer followed by learning you would have to undergo a life-changing double mastectomy.

JW: I immediately had to stop work and scheduled my double mastectomy for the next week.  As of 2025, it has been twelve years, and I haven’t been able to return to work.  It was huge change in many ways.

BM: You mentioned Jake as a source of support.  Beyond Jake, were there other people or organizations who provided support?

JW: My in-laws were supportive, as were my parents and the Tammy Dykstra Foundation, they took me to some of my appointments.  My partner, Jake, had to move to New York to get a job so he would have health insurance that would cover me, as I had none.  He wasn’t able to be with me during my treatment, but he was a source of hope and inspiration, along with his family, too. They would come visit me every few weeks and the spaces in between is when the Tammy Dykstra Foundation would come in and help.

BM: Now, in terms of addressing the double mastectomy, did you have choices or was there only one way to go?

JW: That was the one way to go, and I didn’t want to have the thought of recurrence in my ‘normal’ breast, so again, I did have choices, but I chose to go with the doble mastectomy.

BM: Would you say the procedure was a success?

JW: Yes.  Removal of the cancer was a success.  I have been in remission since 2013.

BM: In terms of treatment after the procedure, what were your choices for that?

JW: They had to be chemotherapy and radiation.  I was not given a choice as to what type of chemotherapy regimen.  The first four sessions were what they call the Red Devil and the last four were Taxol.

BM: I have heard two things about the Red Devil.  It is potent and it is nasty.  What was the toughest part of the Red Devil phase of your chemotherapy?

JW: I felt like I had this terrible flu all the time, and as soon as I started to feel better, it was time for another treatment.  I was completely incapacitated at that point.  I needed help in my home and so I had an agency come in and help me do my chores and take care of my personal needs.  It was a very hard experience, and on top of everything else, it was difficult to lose my hair.  It was quite devastating.

BM: So, you had the Red Devil cocktail to start off, then you were going to go with another form of chemotherapy. What happened with the Taxol? 

JW: I was allergic to it, so I had an allergic reaction, so I became a convalescent for several years afterwards.  I wasn’t able to take care of myself and do normal activities of daily living as a result of the Taxol treatment that I had.  I had no idea that you become allergic to chemotherapy, but it wasn’t until I was hospitalized several times in the span of the two doses I had of Taxol, and they decided after that, I didn’t have to do Taxol anymore, and that I would move on to something else.

BM: And what was something else?

JW: It was super radiation, and I had thirty sessions of that. 

BM: And what was the toughest part of the radiation?

JW: The burning of my skin, having open sores, open wounds, and then you go every day for several days.  You go five days a week for five weeks and it is just hard to get up every morning to do that because you are so fatigued.  I was so tired from the Taxol that the radiation just made the fatigue even worse. 

BM: I have to ask, obviously this was difficult physically, but how tough was it mentally, knowing each day you were tired and had to face the day, face these treatments?

JW: It is very challenging, and that is inspiration from family and friends came in.  They really motivated me to keep going through treatment when I wanted to stop.  The emotional toll still lingers.  To this day, I have PTSD from my cancer treatment that I had.

BM: But there had to be a point in which you felt your journey was trending in a good direction. Could you sense that change coming?

JW: Yes. After I was done with the radiation and there was some time to heal and be back with my partner, Jake, and sort of resume a normal schedule, things had gotten better for me, and then I was told I was in remission.  I have been in remission since 2013, and that’s a very good feeling.

BM: And how exciting was it when they told you there was no evidence of disease?

JW: I felt like I had won the lottery.  It was amazing to be told that your cancer may never come back, that you are healed, I mean, that’s life-changing.  It is as profound as getting a cancer diagnosis as it is to hear that you don’t have cancer anymore. 

BM: So, in terms of the here and now, physically, is there anything you cannot do that you could do before your diagnosis?

JW: I am not able to be a part of the workforce in a full-time capacity like I want to because of my fatigue.  I also have an autoimmune disorder.  Those things definitely play a role in my life.  I am back in school so that’s fabulous.  I love doing that, but I wish I had the capabilities to return to work full time.  I work in human resources.

BM: Jessica, it is time to wrap up, but we are going to conclude the way we do with many of our guests.  If you encountered someone who had just been diagnosed with breast cancer or fear they might be so diagnosed, they probably have a lot of questions.  If you spoke to such a person, if there was one message that stood above all others that you wanted to get through to them, what would it be?

JW: To self-advocate.  If you are not feeling good, let people know.  It’s okay to talk to your doctor about those kinds of things.  Definitely speak up, build up that relationship with your medical providers because it is essential.  So, self-advocacy and build a relationship with your provider.

BM: Excellent advice.  Jessica, thanks for much for sharing your advice with us.  This is going to be informative and inspirational to somebody out there who either has just been diagnosed or thinks they could be.  Jessica, thanks for being with us on Cancer Interviews.

JW: Thanks so much, Bruce. It’s my pleasure.

BM: And with that, we complete another episode.  Remember, if you or a loved one are on a cancer journey, you are not alone.  There are people out there like Jessica Whorton, who have words of wisdom that can ease the journey.  So, until next time, we’ll see you on down the road.

SHOW NOTES

TITLE: Jessica Whorton – Breast Cancer Survivor – Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA

When Jessica Whorton discovered lumps on her left breast in 2011, she sought medical attention.  The doctors she spoke said breast cancer was not indicated.  She walked around with the lumps for another nine months before seeking a second opinion.  Tests revealed she had Stage 3A invasive ductal carcinoma.  Doctors urged that she get a double mastectomy even though her right breast was still healthy.  After chemotherapy and radiation, Jessica achieved survivorship in 2013.

Time Stamps:

01:27 Jessica said in 2011, she noticed lumps on her left breast.

02:27 Her reaction to her breast cancer diagnosis.

04:04 She opted for a double mastectomy.

07:17 Said the double mastectomy was a success.

07:50 Jessica describes her chemotherapy, which began with the ‘Red Devil.’

09:50 Stopped taking Taxol as part of her chemo regimen because she was allergic to it.

10:35 Super radiation took over for Taxol.

12:05 Recalls when recovery was trending in a good direction.

13:07 Even in remission, Jessica cannot return to the workforce on a full-time basis.

15:09 Urges those diagnosed with cancer to self-advocate.

KEYWORDS (tags):

taxol

jessica whorton

double mastectomy

chemotherapy

ptsd

super radiation

invasive ductal carcinoma

bruce morton

red devil