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SIOUX CITY (KTIV) — According to the American Cancer Society, one in eight women in the U.S. will be diagnosed with breast cancer during their lifetime.
The average median age for women diagnosed with breast cancer is 62.
And while breast cancer in young women is rare, right now more than 250,000 women in the U.S. under age 40 are living with it.
That’s where Melissa Jensen’s story begins.
It was Labor Day Weekend of 2017 when Jensen’s life took a step off the beaten path when she found a lump in her breast.
“I knew that I had a doctor’s appointment at the end of the month with my doctor,” said Melissa Jensen, breast cancer survivor, “And I had him take a look at it and he’s like well it could go away, we can monitor it and revisit it in four weeks. I said I’ve already had it four weeks, I’d like to be referred to another doctor.”
Jensen got a mammogram that next week.
“The radiologist reviewed it and was pretty certain that it was going to come back positive for cancer, but we’d have to confirm it with a biopsy,” said Jensen.
Then on October 11th, 2017 the 38-year-old daughter, wife and mother of two was diagnosed with breast cancer.
“It was stage two and aggressive.”
And so began the whirlwind journey.
“You’re having an MRI done and then the genetic testing and then I had to have a port put in so we could start the chemo treatment cause I elected to do chemo before the surgery and some target therapy which successfully in my case shrunk it, which was nice.”
However, since Jensen had more cancer spots along with the lump, she went from getting a lumpectomy to a full mastectomy.
“It was hard,” said Jensen, “You know I thought a lumpectomy I won’t go through a lot of stuff, no one will know and so when it turned out to be more than that it was going to be full-blown; everyone is going to know when your hair starts falling out.”
In February Jensen had her mastectomy and at the same time began the breast reconstruction process; which she finished in July.
Now fast forward to a year after her diagnosis, Jensen is cancer free and has a new hairdo.
“I get teased with how much grey is coming back,” said Jensen.
She has five rounds of target therapy every three weeks left to go but is looking forward to the future.
“I want to be known for my accomplishments and things like that,” said Jensen, ” And this is just something that has unfortunately happened to me.”
Jensen hopes to encourage those touched by cancer to stay positive.
She adds she’s grateful to all those that helped her and her family through this past year.
Jensen had no family history of breast cancer and since she was under 40, wasn’t at the age to start getting regular mammograms.
She says she is alive today because she performed regular self-exams.
According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, women of all ages should perform breast self-exams at least once a month.
Experts say performing regular self-exams help you to be familiar with how your breasts look and feel so you can alert your healthcare professional if there are any changes.
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