How an ASCP Panel Led to Early Breast Cancer Detection

When Rachel Anderson, MLS, of Nevada, attended the ASCP 2023 Annual Meeting in Long Beach, California, she didn’t know that it would do more than offer her some quality education—it would save her wife’s life. 

Rachel’s wife, Tina Anderson, age 44 at the time, had had one uneventful regular mammogram, but had a second scheduled when the pandemic hit. The challenges of getting healthcare during that time pushed it to the back burner. Since Tina’s first mammogram had been clear, they’d felt no rush. 

It wasn’t until a panel on early detection of breast cancer detection in 2023 inspired Rachel to urge her wife to get the mammogram that they discovered life altering news. 

“Rachel had to push me to go because I definitely thought it was going to be one of those mammograms where you go, you get it, you go home, you come back next year. No big deal,” Tina says. 

To Tina and Rachel’s shock, the results were quite a big deal and Tina describes feeling “floored.” She was diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer. 

The importance of advocacy 

Getting a breast cancer diagnosis is, of course, only the beginning of an incredibly challenging journey that included more self-advocacy than either Tina or Rachel anticipated. 

Tina discovered she would have to push for agency over her own body with her healthcare providers. “So, for example, my first surgeon was very stubborn with giving me information and was very steadfast on what I was going to do with my body. They told me the procedures that I was going to do. They told me the drugs that I was going to have to take and that was that. There were no options,” Tina says. 

As a burlesque performer whose body is critical to her art, she felt her concerns were dismissed.

Tina adds, “So, when you're at your most lost and just want to curl up and hide and absorb what you've just found out, you have to put yourself out there, go to tons of appointments, speak up for yourself constantly.” 

Trusting intuition 

Because Tina’s cancer showed up as a “smudge” she didn't want to keep coming back for biopsies of any other similar smudges that might turn up on her imaging. “I knew I wanted to go the route of having a mastectomy and trying to avoid taking all of the chemicals and radiation and pills for 10 years.”  

She sought a second opinion and found the perfect surgeon for her, who took her time and listened well. 

“The second surgeon came in and gave me options, and took less time than the first appointment,” Tina says. 

Benefits of working in the lab 

While no one wants their loved one to deal with cancer, Rachel found it more than useful to work in the laboratory in the hospital where Tina got treatment. When the pathology from Tina’s mastectomy returned, there were some results that needed further explaining.  

“There was a biopsy clip marking the original tumor and it wasn't in the specimen that they took out, which we were wondering about,” Rachel says. “Then then they went back, pulled out her original breast tissue, X-rayed it, re-biopsied it, and did a whole new addendum where they actually found the original site and it was bigger than the original report.” 

Confused about whether this meant she still had cancer or more serious cancer, and what had happened to that clip, Rachel took their questions to their main pathologist, whose office she happens to walk past every day, and asked her to explain. 

Though Tina would end up needing another surgery to find and remove the clip lost in her body, Rachel’s ability to get information from her colleagues in the field was “such a valuable nugget of information to add some peace of mind to what had happened,” Tina says. 

Tina is grateful to the laboratory professionals and others who offered what she calls “the invisible care,” adding, “They may not have held your hand or been there at your bedside, but they were doing just as important care behind the scenes that you wouldn't be able to get healthy without.” 

Cancer’s impact  

Rachel’s laboratory training helped prepare her for her wife’s cancer in one way, but, she adds, “They always say one person is diagnosed with the cancer, but you're both going through it. So it really is about making space for yourself so that you can be strong for your partner.” 

Rachel has also gone on to be a fierce advocate for all her friends to get their mammograms. “I have three friends that are turning 40 this year and I've already heckled all of them about getting their imaging,” Rachel says.  

Going through her wife’s treatment has taught her to slow down and ground herself more through the arduous process. 

Titanium Tina 

Though cancer treatment and her subsequent surgeries have had a significant impact on Tina’s ability to perform burlesque, they haven’t stopped Titanium Tina (a name she took on after having two knee replacements). In fact, Rachel says, “She’s very much used her platform as Titanium Tina the burlesque performer to encourage people to take care of themselves and get their mammograms.”  

Tina’s newest shows incorporate her journey through breast cancer treatment. Additionally, Tina has been very frank in charting her unvarnished journey on camera to show people what cancer treatment and recovery actually look like. 

“I want it to be seen. I want other people who are going through [cancer] or have gone through it or lost somebody to just have a moment to see somebody who is still here. Like I said, I'm stubborn. I'm still going to live. I'm not going to hide away. I will show my scars in front of everyone.” 

In what she calls “a full circle moment,” Tina performed her show in Chicago at the same time as ASCP was hosting its 2024 Annual Meeting there. “Last year’s conference is what prompted me to get the mammogram and this year I performed my act inspired by the whole breast cancer journey.” 

For Rachel, the experience has not only made her more aware of the tolls of cancer on a loved one, but it has also given her further empathy in her work. “I try to never forget the patient in front of me when I look at the laboratory reports and notes.”