{"id":423193,"date":"2026-09-01T20:26:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T20:26:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/423193\/"},"modified":"2026-09-01T20:26:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T20:26:10","slug":"metastatic-breast-cancer-survivor-ut-md-anderson-saved-my-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/423193\/","title":{"rendered":"Metastatic breast cancer survivor: \u2018UT MD Anderson saved my life\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gladys Gakuu was diagnosed with stage 2B breast cancer<\/a> in 2012. She was 29. She had a mastectomy<\/a> with breast reconstruction surgery<\/a>, followed by chemotherapy<\/a> and five years of hormone therapy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Things were fine for several years until she began having chest pain on her right side. She saw a local doctor in Kansas City, but imaging didn\u2019t show anything concerning. So, she chalked it up to working too hard and took pain medicine as needed.<\/p>\n

A few months later, her oncologist referred her to a plastic surgeon to check on the implant used during her breast reconstruction.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when they discovered that the breast cancer had come back<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Choosing UT MD Anderson after breast cancer recurrence<\/p>\n

The cancer had returned<\/a> and spread<\/a> to Gladys\u2019 neck, parts of her chest wall and several lymph nodes<\/a>. Because of the extent of the spread, it was considered stage 4<\/a>. Surgery<\/a> was not an option.<\/p>\n

Her oncologist recommended she take the oral targeted therapy<\/a> palbociclib. It works by blocking specific proteins that help cancer cells grow. She also took hormone therapy to lower the estrogen in her body.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter a couple months of taking these medications, I thought I should get a second opinion<\/a>,\u201d recalls Gladys, who was 37 at the time. \u201cI reached out to doctors at a couple of well-known institutions before my friend in Houston suggested I try UT MD Anderson.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gladys had thought it would be difficult to get an appointment here. She was pleasantly surprised at how easy the process was.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just called to ask for an appointment<\/a>,\u201d she says. \u201cI didn\u2019t have to contact previous hospitals to get all my medical records. I just gave the patient access representative<\/a> the hospitals\u2019 names, and they took care of everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gladys had her first appointment at UT MD Anderson on Aug. 28, 2020. She met breast medical oncologist Sadia Saleem, M.D.<\/a><\/p>\n

Saleem was able to feel a lump<\/a>. Because the cancer had spread to the opposite side of Gladys\u2019 body, she recommended they start with chemotherapy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember Dr. Saleem saying, \u2018We will try our best, but we may not be able to cure the disease,\u2019\u201d says Gladys. \u201cI\u2019m a woman of faith, so I leaned into my faith and trusted my care team. I knew UT MD Anderson was where I needed to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

An aggressive treatment plan for metastatic breast cancer<\/p>\n

The plan was for Gladys to start with three rounds of the chemotherapy drugs carboplatin and docetaxel. Then she\u2019d have scans to see how well the chemo worked before starting radiation therapy<\/a>. The targeted therapy she was taking was causing low white blood cell counts<\/a>, so Saleem switched her to another medication called abemaciclib.<\/p>\n

Gladys had since moved to Florida, so she flew back and forth to Houston for her chemo treatments. She took anti-nausea medicine that helped during treatment.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter completing three rounds of chemo, the technologist doing my ultrasound kept looking at my previous scans. She told me she couldn\u2019t see any cancer,\u201d says Gladys. \u201cShe said she had never seen anything like it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The technologist called Saleem into the room. She was also amazed.<\/p>\n

\u201cDr. Saleem said that I\u2019d had probably more than 50 metastases before starting chemo, and now they were gone,\u201d says Gladys. \u201cI responded so well to treatment that she wanted me to do one more round of chemo, just to be sure. Then I\u2019d start radiation.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Gladys met breast radiation oncologist Benjamin Smith, M.D.<\/a>, he told her that she had one of the most complex breast cancer recurrence cases he\u2019d ever seen.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven how much it had spread, Dr. Smith said it could\u2019ve been too late if we\u2019d caught it a few months later,\u201d she says. \u201cUT MD Anderson saved my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because the cancer had responded so well to previous treatments, Smith believed an aggressive radiation therapy regimen could potentially cure Gladys of breast cancer. It would target any remaining microscopic cancer cells.<\/p>\n

She underwent seven weeks of radiation therapy, including six treatments with proton therapy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

She stayed with friends in Houston while getting radiation treatment. \u201cThey took me to and from my appointments and cooked meals for me<\/a>,\u201d Gladys recalls. \u201cI\u2019m very thankful for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

She completed radiation therapy in June 2021. Her first scans after that showed no evidence of disease<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Thankful for precision during radiation therapy<\/p>\n

Gladys\u2019 radiation team worked carefully to map out where the radiation needed to go while identifying healthy tissue and structures to protect, such as her left breast and esophagus.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey did a lot of planning and mapping<\/a>,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m glad they were careful; the radiation did not affect<\/a> me as much as we thought.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith recommended an oral powder she could mix with water and drink before each treatment to help prevent mucositis<\/a>. As a result, she only had minor trouble swallowing<\/a> at the end of radiation, and that has gotten better. And it wasn\u2019t until her very last radiation treatment that she experienced some burning on the skin of her neck. But after applying ointment, it healed fine.<\/p>\n

She also had some hair loss<\/a>, and certain foods didn\u2019t taste good anymore<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

UT MD Anderson dietitians<\/a> gave her suggestions of what to eat and what to avoid.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey said if I eat foods I love during radiation, I may end up not liking them later because of how they taste now,\u201d Gladys says. \u201cThey showed me how to make healthy smoothies<\/a> with less sugar<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Enjoying life<\/p>\n

Gladys is grateful for her support system, which includes her sisters, Elizabeth and Felista; boyfriend, Mark; friends from Houston, Kansas City and other states; and her community back home in Florida. She loves spending time with them and going to the beach, which is only 10 minutes from her home.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s had clear scans for five years. Soon, she\u2019ll only need checkups at UT MD Anderson once a year. She sees pain management specialist Matthew Chung, M.D.<\/a>, once a month for ongoing lower back pain unrelated to cancer.<\/p>\n

\u201cHouston is like my second home,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s thankful for UT MD Anderson and the life she\u2019s able to enjoy again.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody at UT MD Anderson has the same culture of kindness,\u201d she says. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter where I go on campus; I always have a good experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

And if the cancer ever comes back, she trusts she\u2019s in good hands.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a reason why people from all over the world<\/a> come to UT MD Anderson,\u201d she says. \u201cThey offer the best cancer treatments, and they\u2019re always researching<\/a> new and better ways to treat patients.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Request an appointment at UT MD Anderson online<\/a> or call 1-877-632-6789.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gladys Gakuu was diagnosed with stage 2B breast cancer in 2012. She was 29. She had a mastectomy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":423194,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[583,91926,1145,56,58,57,39161,39164,75671,1148,91923,2822],"class_list":["post-423193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-breast-cancer","tag-cancer-recurrence","tag-caregivers","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news","tag-in-treatment","tag-newly-diagnosed","tag-patient-caregiver-stories","tag-patients","tag-second-opinion","tag-survivors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=423193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423193\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/423194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=423193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=423193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=423193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}