Kiana Wooten

Kiana Wooten was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma in October 2019 at the age of 34. Months prior to the diagnosis, she found a lump. Thinking it was a cyst, she ignored it until, five months later, she had pain when she would lift her left arm and her left breast felt very tender to the touch around the nipple area. She went to a doctor to get it checked out. Upon doing the breast examination, the doctor felt the lump and ordered her a mammogram. A week later she had a mammogram and an ultrasound, after which the doctor looked over the slides and proceeded to tell her that he was 99% certain that the tumor they found was cancerous, and that she would need to have a biopsy.

She waited two weeks for an appointment for the biopsy. Indeed, she had cancer. Before any type of treatment, however, her oncologist recommended genetic testing, since her older sister also had breast cancer. As it turned out, she had a mutated gene in her ATM RNA, which means she has a higher chance of developing other cancers, and there is a 50% chance her daughter also carries the gene.

Her treatment consisted of chemotherapy, a bilateral mastectomy, as well as hormone therapy for the five years. She developed a staph infection and sepsis as a result of her tissue expanders; then she developed sepsis from her implants and required emergency surgery to remove them. She did not get implants again; instead, she opted to be flat and has never looked back!

It has been a little over two years since the original surgery, and she feels as if she traded one ailment for five others. She has osteoporosis, eczema, POTS disease, cognitive issues, and alopecia.

She now works as a breast cancer advocate, bringing awareness and education to as many people as she can.