When Cassandra Brittmon was diagnosed with breast cancer, she was understandably anxious and scared.
Regional One Health Cancer Care’s Ashley Hendrix, MD, FACS, a breast surgical oncologist, helped her select the best treatment option for her needs and goals.
Thanks to Dr. Hendrix’s medical expertise and supportive style of care, Cassandra is back to her work and family and embracing life as a breast cancer survivor.
Ever since a breast biopsy that turned out to be benign, Cassandra Brittmon has been vigilant about following her doctor’s mammogram recommendations. After years of clear findings, she never expected to hear the words, “You have breast cancer.”
When she did, she was terrified – but the compassion and support she received from Ashley Hendrix, MD, FACS, surgical oncologist at Regional One Health Cancer Care and assistant professor at University of Tennessee Health Science Center, helped her process her diagnosis, select the right treatment, and embrace life as a cancer survivor.
“I’m here, thank the Lord! I did it, and I did it with the help of Dr. Hendrix,” Cassandra said. “Thank God for her! She has made a big difference in my life.”
After her screening mammogram in 2023, Cassandra received a call to return for a diagnostic mammogram. Initially, she thought it was a mix-up. Even during the exam, as the radiologist asked for more images, she figured the pictures just looked different because she had lost weight.
By the time she was sitting across from the radiologist, however, she was worried.
“He told me they wanted to do a biopsy because there were suspicious findings in my milk duct,” Cassandra recalls. “I said, I haven’t breastfed for 30 years! I didn’t know I still had milk ducts! That’s what I do when I’m anxious. I try to make everyone laugh so they think I’m comfortable, but I was not comfortable.”
Her anxiety worsened when the biopsy revealed early-stage breast cancer and she was told she needed to see a surgical oncologist.
But after meeting with Dr. Hendrix, Cassandra started to regain a sense of control and calm.
Dr. Ashley Hendrix says it is important to tailor each patient’s care to their needs and goals. “The most important thing I remember is that it’s their journey,” she said. “We want to make sure they feel emotionally healed as well as physically healed.”
Dr. Hendrix told her the cancer was non-invasive, meaning it was confined to the milk duct. She explained surgery would be the first treatment, as it would both remove the cancer and determine if radiation or chemotherapy were necessary.
Dr. Hendrix also told Cassandra the cancer was caught early enough that she had options.
Breast conservation therapy would remove the tumor and surrounding tissue while preserving as much of the breast as possible, followed by radiation to reduce risk of recurrence. Or, she could have a mastectomy to remove the entire breast, after which she would not require radiation.
“She talked with me about everything. I’ve never experienced a bedside manner like she has!” Cassandra said. “She’s so personable. She didn’t stand over me; she sat down eye level with me, talking with me. Before I left, she told me not to hesitate to call if I had questions or felt uneasy about anything. She told me, ‘Stay off the internet – call me instead!’”
For Dr. Hendrix, it’s important to make sure patients understand their diagnosis and treatment options so they can play an active role in their care.
“I make sure all their questions are answered and their values and desires are taken into account. Then, I explain it in the context of their cancer, so we make sure we’re maintaining their values while also maintaining good cancer treatment,” she said.
Her goal is to understand what is most important to the patient and marry that to their treatment decision. In Cassandra’s case, a mastectomy would successfully treat her cancer while addressing the anxiety she felt about additional treatment and the possibility of recurrence.
“I didn’t want to go through anything like this again,” Cassandra said. “It had taken me a while to accept that I was a cancer patient. I felt like my body had betrayed me.”
Through it all, Dr. Hendrix, her nursing team, and her nurse navigators were a big source of support. “Without them, I would have lost it!” Cassandra said. “Dr. Hendrix let me know that everything I was thinking and feeling was normal, and everyone was so reassuring.”
Cassandra is grateful for Dr. Hendrix’s expertise and support. “Building that relationship with her as a doctor helped me understand what I was going through. My journey wasn’t as mysterious as I was afraid it would be because of who she is as a person and a provider.”
Dr. Hendrix is proud to have built a team with both surgical expertise and compassion. “We’ve put together a group of humans who have more empathy than anyone I’ve ever met,” she said. “We provide a safe space where people feel like they can ask questions and make decisions.”
The team considered not only Cassandra’s diagnosis, but her healing, every step of the way.
They used pre-operative nerve blocks to reduce pain and help her be mobile more quickly after surgery. They taught her to manage the drains that would be placed. They connected her with resources for patients who have had a mastectomy.
While the loss of her breasts was an adjustment – “You look at yourself, and you do grieve,” Cassandra said – she got through it with the knowledge that she was doing everything she could to fight back against cancer.
Now, as she continues healing, she is back to work, enjoying her grown children, and spending time on activities that bring her peace, like coloring and journaling.
“I’ve learned to take one day, one moment, at a time. This cancer journey taught me that,” she said. “It empowered me to be more alert to my body, and to let others know they can get through it too as long as they have the right people around them. It makes such a big difference.”
For Cassandra, Dr. Hendrix and her team were precisely the people she needed.
“She has a passion for her patients,” Cassandra said. “Building that relationship with her as a doctor helped me understand what I was going through. My journey wasn’t as mysterious as I was afraid it would be because of who she is as a person and a provider.”
Dr. Hendrix said that is her goal for every patient.
“The most important thing I remember is that it’s their journey,” she said. “We want to make sure they feel emotionally healed as well as physically healed.”