Just over a year ago, Jantina Nelson-Stastny went in for her annual mammogram. What she thought would be a routine exam, led to doctors finding breast cancer.
“I really didn’t know what to think, it was a little bit of a shock, I didn’t know of any history in our family,” said Avera patient, Jantina Nelson-Stastny.
This eventually led her to meeting with breast surgeon, Dr. Michelle Bryan in Sioux Falls.
“In terms of her plan going forward we were able to talk through that,” said breast surgeon, Michelle Bryan, MD, PhD.
“It was all day I met with her and others, they were just really thorough,” said Nelson-Stastny.
Her case was discussed at one of the breast cancer multidisciplinary tumor boards.
“It’s where physicians can present different cases, so the physicians that are present include everybody that takes care of the patient,” said Avera Medical Group oncologist, Mary Lee Villanueva, MD. “We talk about that as a big group to say each patient is individually reviewed there to say what is the best treatment and then we try to make a good plan.”
“It makes me feel like I not only got a second opinion, I got a third and a fourth and fifth. It’s really reassuring to have that many people looking at your various slides and such,” said Nelson-Stastny.
It was decided she would start with chemotherapy. Living in Yankton, Nelson-Stastny was able to do her treatments there, rather than traveling to Sioux Falls multiple times.
“My hair started to fall out, which I think is kind of hard on some people, I got a cute pixie cut and it just started falling out in clumps, so my daughter’s friend graduated from beauty school and she shaved my head for me,” said Nelson-Stastny.
She then had a double mastectomy with Dr. Bryan. Then radiation, which she was again able to do in her hometown.
“She has positive lymph nodes and needed radiation treatment after her mastectomy, so we gave radiation therapy to her right chest wall and lymph node areas,” said Avera Medical Group radiation oncologist, Michael Peterson, MD. “She needed five weeks of radiation treatment Monday through Friday.”
All three of these physicians worked closely together in Jantina’s care.
“We want to work and collaborate with our providers in Sioux Falls, or throughout the region, and we want to be able to give the best to our patients so they don’t have to travel far and wide to get great treatment,” said Dr. Villanueva.
“Patients want to know that their doctors are talking to each other. It’s frustrating to go to one physician, get one story, and then another, and I think it also saves time in terms of treatment plan if we’ve all discussed it,” said Dr. Bryan.
“They like that a group of doctors who are experts in a certain area of cancer care have talked about them and decided what is best for them,” said Dr. Peterson.
Jantina has had a few setbacks during her cancer journey, including hospital stays, but still she keeps a positive attitude.
“She keeps having a great attitude and that uplifts us as well because we know we are going to keep doing what we can for Jantina,” said Dr. Villanueva.
