Marshfield Clinic Doctors Discuss the Breast Cancer Journey on Your Health Matters

By David Ballerstein - Marshfield Now!
MARSHFIELD — October is a time for reflection and awareness, and in a recent episode of Your Health Matters, host Laura Kibbel sat down with three Marshfield Clinic physicians to discuss the breast cancer journey — from diagnosis to recovery. Joining her were Dr. Joseph Edmund, hematologist-oncologist; Dr. Anna Seydel, breast surgeon; and Dr. Brad Morrow, plastic surgeon.

“I’m thrilled today to bring to you three esteemed physicians that are going to talk to us about what a breast cancer journey may look like for a patient,” Kibbel said.

Pathways to Care
Dr. Edmund explained that breast cancer begins with abnormal cell growth and can appear as a lump. “Breast cancers are divided into lobular and ductal types,” he said. “Risk factors can be things we can change, like alcohol use and smoking, or things we cannot, like family history or genetic mutations such as BRCA1 and BRCA2.”

He described treatment as a team decision. “The choice of whether chemotherapy or surgery comes first depends on a multidisciplinary approach,” Edmund said. “We meet with the surgeons, radiation oncologists, and medical oncologists together to decide the best plan.”

Patient Choice in Surgery
Dr. Seydel said she focuses on helping each patient make informed choices between lumpectomy and mastectomy.
“For most patients, they do have an option to either preserve their breast or remove their breast — and it’s their choice, because there’s no difference in survival between the two options,” she said.

She emphasized that the type of surgery doesn’t determine the need for chemotherapy. “The decision for what operation we do is independent of whether or not they’re going to receive chemotherapy,” Seydel said. “That depends on the tumor factors and the patient.”

Patients’ fears often influence their choices. “Many say, ‘I’ve had friends or family who’ve had radiation and I don’t want to have radiation,’” Seydel explained. “But mastectomy cannot get your risk of recurrence to zero. Some prioritize keeping their native breast, others prioritize symmetry or risk reduction. It’s my job to tease that out.”

Reconstruction and Recovery
Dr. Morrow said reconstructive surgery can often begin immediately after a mastectomy.
“I generally like to see the patients as soon as we possibly can,” he said. “The nice part about immediate reconstruction is that Dr. Seydel can spare most, if not all, of the skin — so we only need to reconstruct the volume of the breast.”

Patients can choose between implants or using their own tissue. “Autologous means using your own tissue — we borrow tissue from somewhere, like the abdomen or back,” Morrow said. “The other option is implants. Most women are down to Tylenol and ibuprofen a few days after surgery.”

When asked how natural the results look and feel, Morrow said, “Implants can have different textures and firmness. There’s one called a ‘soft touch’ that feels very natural and is popular among patients.”

Ongoing Support
​Follow-up care continues long after surgery. “It’s dependent on the stage and type of the cancer,” Dr. Edmund explained. “For early-stage hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer, we may use hormonal therapy. I see patients every three to six months to monitor how they’re doing

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