The message light on my phone blinked today heralding sad news. I returned the call from Julie Neff’s mom fearing the worst. I had featured Julie in a story last October. She opened up to all of Utah about her life and her battle against Inflammatory Breast Cancer with the hope of helping others. The 33 year old mother of two didn’t realize she had the rare form of cancer until it reached stage 4.
Julie’s mother told me her daughter’s condition continues to worsen. The cancer has spread throughout her body. Chemo-therapy is no longer an option, and pain management is now the best the medical community has to offer. It was heart breaking news about a woman who battles with both courage and faith.
Julie thought she had mastitis because she was nursing her newborn infant when her symptoms began. Unlike other forms of breast cancer, IBC rarely shows up as a breast lump, and it may not show up in a mammogram. Because it doesn’t look like a typical breast cancer, it is often hard to diagnose, and misdiagnosed. When Julie went to her doctor he also thought she had a breast infection and treated her with antibiotics. The key to survival is early detection.
IBC presents with nipple retraction and dimpling, swelling and redness, like a rash on the breast. It accounts for one percent of all breast cancers diagnosed in the United States, but because it’s difficult to diagnose those numbers may be higher.
Julie is now a statistic, but she is so much more to her mother, husband and two children and so many others who love her. She said last October “I would look at my little baby’s face, and my little boy, and I just, it was really hard, a lot of despair because I was like, they are not even going to remember me.”
Julie, we will remember your message. “Get tested regularly, go do all of the tests that you need to do, and if there is something that worries you, get in right away, right away.”
We will also not forget your courage and beauty.
