Dr. Catherine Sue Hwang had treated dozens of breast cancer patients and thought she knew everything about the disease.
So it came as a complete shock when, despite having no symptoms or family history of the disease, a routine mammogram revealed five masses in her right breast.
The 46-year-old from Florida went from being a radiation oncologist at a major breast radiation oncology center in Orlando to becoming one of its patients.
She had both breasts removed, several rounds of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and then more surgeries to remove her uterus and ovaries to fight the disease.
She found herself dealing with hair loss, hot flashes and weight gain that she couldn’t change – and struggled after being told she had a 15% chance of not not survive until 2035.
Now Dr Hwang has revealed how being a patient – rather than the doctor – has revealed to her that much of the advice doctors give patients can be “insensitive” and left her feeling guilty .
One example she gave was the advice doctors doled out to cancer patients to shave their heads in order to feel “in control” of the disease.
She said it’s just one of many things doctors should rethink telling patients.
Dr. Catherine Sue Hwang, pictured, was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 46. She revealed how it affected the way she treated patients.
Dr. Hwang, who shared her cancer journey on Instagram, is pictured above in two Reels where she discusses her treatment for the disease.
Writing a guest essay for HuffPost, she said: “I spent the last 15 years of my life as a practicing radiation oncologist and considered myself a cancer expert.
“(But) by being on the arena field and fighting this terrible disease as a patient, I have become a more effective doctor who does not lose sight of the humanity of patients.”
Using the advice to shave one’s head as an example, she said: “As a doctor, I encouraged patients to shave their heads to regain control,” she wrote, “as a patient (however), I could never bring myself to actually do it. ‘.
“Even though I looked ridiculous with a huge bald spot, I found comfort in preserving the hair that remained on my head, because it represented the person I was precancerous – a person I was not sure to find one day.”
She also told how she had previously “passed judgment” on women who refused chemotherapy to preserve their hair, seeing it as preserving their vanity over their own lives.
But now she says she understands their position.
“The temporary loss of my hair had more of an impact on my self-esteem than the permanent loss of my breasts,” she said.
“As someone who has always been known for having amazing hair, I struggled a lot.”
She also criticized diets she previously offered to breast cancer patients struggling with weight gain.
Breast cancer treatment can trigger menopause because it causes changes in hormone levels, with the side effect of weight gain.
Dr Hwang said one of the major effects of his treatment was his hair loss (pictured).
She is shown above in an online reel raising awareness of breast cancer risks
Dr. Hwang, who is 5 feet 8 inches tall, gained 10 pounds during her treatment — an amount she found impossible to change despite following the diet she gave patients.
“I now understood my patients’ frustrations and felt extremely guilty for blaming them when they weren’t seeing results,” she said.
Dr. Hwang also explained how she had previously dismissed low-risk cancer patients who were worried about their death, often telling them that they probably would not die or that their cancer, if it returned, would be detected through routine analyses.
But when her own diagnosis came, and she was given an 85% chance of surviving the next ten years, she said that with three sons, that figure was far from good enough.
“The insensitivity of past comments I have made to patients has become glaringly obvious,” she said.
“Even though I didn’t have a low-risk disease, I can now understand this desire to exhaust all options to achieve the best possible outcome, because cancer is scary.”
Dr Hwang was diagnosed with breast cancer last year following a routine mammogram and ultrasound, with mammograms recommended every two years for women aged 40 to 75.
She was first treated with a bilateral mastectomy – or an operation to remove both breasts – which doctors said would likely be the end.
But it later emerged that his cancer appeared to have spread – with Dr Hwang being booked for chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
Two weeks after her mastectomies, she returned to work – following advice she would give to patients that they should return to their routine to try to manage the mental concerns surrounding the diagnosis.
She then had her uterus and ovaries removed to help manage the symptoms, and will now be on maintenance treatment for 15 years. His cancer is now in remission.
Dr. Hwang works at AdventHealth Cancer Institute in Orlando.
In the United States, about 272,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year, a number that has increased about 1% per year since 2012, although the number of deaths has declined, with 42,000 deaths estimated this year. .
Doctors have blamed the rising rates on a range of factors, from more women being overweight to exposure to pesticides.
Most patients have their cancer diagnosed at stage one or two, where it is easier to treat because it has not spread, and about 93 percent live more than five years.
Women are told to have a mammogram every two years between the ages of 40 and 74 to check for breast cancer cells.