Mom, daughter survive simultaneous battles with breast cancer

By Katherine Garcia

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    OMAHA, Nebraska (KETV) — A mother and daughter from Blair, Nebraska, are in remission after their simultaneous battles with breast cancer.

If you look through the branches of Amanda Nelson’s family tree, you’ll find a long history of breast cancer. So it was no surprise to her when she found out she carries the BRCA-2 gene, which makes her more susceptible to the disease.

“I knew without a doubt just from that history that the risk was very high for me,” said Nelson. “There really never was a question of if I would get breast cancer, it was just always a matter of when is it going to happen,” said Nelson.

Nelson stayed on top of her breast health, scheduling annual mammograms and breast MRIs.

“So with that breast MRI, it does take a deeper dive so-to-speak out of that breast tissue, just to see what’s going on,” said Nelson. “It’s a better picture from what you’re going to get with a mammogram.”

Then in 2019, that MRI caught a tumor deep in her breast tissue.

“I believe [the MRI] is what saved my life,” said Nelson.

Things were already hard for Amanda, who was taking care of her mom, Terry Wulf, after she received a diagnosis of her own, a rarer form of breast cancer known as triple-negative.

“It was scary. It was really, really scary to get hers,” said Nelson.

The mother and daughter’s treatments were very different. Amanda underwent a double mastectomy, while her mom was put on several rounds of chemotherapy and intensive oral medications.

“That was probably so hard on my body, that that is when I truly thought I wasn’t going to live any longer, that that was going to kill me,” said Wulf.

Dr. Katie Honz is a reconstructive surgeon with Methodist Health System. She followed the two on their journey and performed Amanda’s reconstructive surgery. Honz and a team of doctors meet each week for a tumor conference. These experts analyze cancer masses and come up with options for each patient.

“These patients need a lot of care, even down to their physical therapy and support teams,” said Honz.

Wulf’s battle with cancer would continue. To her doctors’ surprise, Wulf was diagnosed with another form of cancer in her fallopian tube. But, with her daughter by her side, they never gave up, and after long, arduous battles, they both went into remission.

Now, Terry and Amanda both ask others to keep a close eye on their breast health. Amanda hopes women can find groups for support and the right doctor to make everything more manageable.

“I just want to think, ‘I made it through it. And now I just want to live my life,'” said Wulf.

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