{"id":7845,"date":"2016-10-20T17:07:04","date_gmt":"2016-10-20T17:07:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/?p=7845"},"modified":"2016-10-20T17:07:04","modified_gmt":"2016-10-20T17:07:04","slug":"jsu-alum-battles-rare-form-of-inflammatory-breast-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/2016\/10\/20\/jsu-alum-battles-rare-form-of-inflammatory-breast-cancer\/","title":{"rendered":"JSU alum battles rare form of inflammatory breast cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
JSU alum, Kiwana Thomas Gayden battling rare form of breast cancer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Deirdra Harris Glover
\n<\/strong>Managing Editor<\/em><\/p>\n

Kiwana Thomas Gayden found the lump in her breast after a run last December.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was prepping for the Mississippi Blues Marathon and I thought (the lump) was a swollen strain or sprain,\u201d said Gayden, who holds a B.S. and an M.S. in chemistry from Jackson State University.<\/p>\n

Gayden\u2019s family has a history of breast cancer, and so she paid careful attention. After a few weeks, the lump was larger and soft, and the skin was redder and dimpled like orange peel. Her nipple began to invert.<\/p>\n

Gayden\u2019s first mammogram and ultrasound showed nothing to worry about, and she continued training. Within six weeks, she went back to her gynecologist for a recheck and a biopsy. \u201cI ran the Blues on Saturday\u2026and was diagnosed on Tuesday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gayden was diagnosed with stage three, triple-negative inflammatory breast cancer. IBC is a rare, aggressive cancer with subtle symptoms, and is often only diagnosed at stage four\u2014after it has metastasized to other areas of the body. Gayden received eight rounds of chemotherapy and 33 radiation therapy treatments, and worked through her treatment.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour normal is different now (after a diagnosis) but working made me feel like myself. Work was one of the normalizing routines that kept me going,\u201d said Gayden.<\/p>\n

Gayden cites her family and friends as part of her excellent support system, but also takes care to mention her healthcare team. Above all, she singles out her husband Lorenzo.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt can be overwhelming. Lorenzo was my champion, my advocate. He always remembered things to ask that I\u2019d forgotten and was with me every step of the way,\u201d said Gayden.<\/p>\n

Gayden\u2019s background in science gave her the ability to be an educated and involved patient, but it also brought her to a deeper understanding of disparities in diagnosis and care.<\/p>\n

The 2014 Racial Disparity in Breast Cancer Mortality Study, funded by the Avon Foundation for Women and the Sinai Urban Health Institute, shows that there is not only a racial disparity in care and mortality, but it also lines up with where you live and the policy enacted there.<\/p>\n

Atlanta shows the widest disparity in mortality rates, where black patients are more than two times more likely to die than their white counterparts.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was important to note that some individual cities have shown a decreasing disparity and there is much we can learn from those that are doing well. However, the Black:White disparity in breast cancer mortality still exists and needs to be addressed as a public health problem,\u201d said Marc S. Hurlbert of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, and former executive director of the Avon Foundation for Women.<\/p>\n

Gayden agrees. \u201cMore white women are diagnosed, but black women are more likely to get more aggressive forms of cancer. It isn\u2019t fair. Regardless of ability to pay, it is a fundamental human right to receive quality health care.\u201d<\/p>\n

Age also plays a factor in diagnosis. Gayden wants to empower young women to be mindful and to fight for their rights to be tested.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though you\u2019re young, be aware of your breasts and their normal\u2014do routine checks on your own, and get any rash or lymph node hardening checked out. Above all, don\u2019t let them dismiss you because of your age. Find a doctor who doesn\u2019t answer questions with his or her hand on the door. Fight for yourself,\u201d Gayden said.<\/p>\n

Jackson State University Mr. Junior Asean Davis is hosting \u201cThee Breast Cancer Walk\u201d Sunday, October 23 from 3-5 p.m. The route is on campus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Deirdra Harris Glover Managing Editor Kiwana Thomas Gayden found the lump in her breast after a run last December. \u201cI was prepping for the Mississippi Blues Marathon and I thought (the lump) was a swollen strain or sprain,\u201d said Gayden, who holds a B.S. and an M.S. in chemistry from Jackson State University. Gayden\u2019s family […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-7845","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-campus-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7845"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7845\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}