Nina Karasavidis

Nina’s battle with breast cancer begins at the age of 22 when she discovers a cyst the size of an almond. The year is 1968, the place - Athens Greece.  A biopsy confirms it is a carcinoma and she undergoes a radical mastectomy, removing the entire breast as well as, a good amount of lymph nodes . Upon her return to the United States, she also undergoes radiation therapy which months later, would mislead doctors into thinking her cancer had metastasized to her lung. To add another twist, the post operative pathology report never revealed any other malignancy in the breast nor any signs of metastasis in the lymph nodes.  But this was 1968.

Nina is in remission for over a decade when her cancer returns.  She undergoes a lumpectomy, followed by radiation therapy, and goes into remission for another decade.  They say 3rd time’s the charm … regrettably not for Nina.  When the cancer comes back , her family is going through financial difficulties and she loses her medical coverage. By the time she is able to reinstate her policy and go to her surgeon, her entire breast is one solid mass.  She removes the breast but has only 2 chemo sessions  due to an infection in the surgical site.   She opts not to continue the chemo and the cancer metastasizes to her bones. My mother loses her battle to breast cancer two months after her 49th birthday.

Being recently diagnosed with breast cancer myself, I have thought a lot about my mother’s journey.  There was so much we didn’t know back then ! Don’t know if she had the BRCA 1 mutation ….. her mother and aunts all died in their 90’s.  Don’t know if her cancer was a triple negative or even if her treatment plan should have been chemo first and then surgery .  So much has changed in 50 years! What I do know is how vital research has been and continues to be.  So thank you Project101 !