Stage 4 Breast Cancer: How a Second Opinion Saved Her Life

For Eileen Carter, getting a second opinion after a stage 4 breast cancer diagnosis changed the course of her care.

Eileen was diagnosed with metastatic invasive ductal carcinoma weeks after giving birth to her daughter, Rebekah. Her first care team told her she had two to three years to live and that standard breast cancer treatment and surgery were not options.

After three weeks of chemotherapy, Eileen could feel the tumor shrinking. Her husband, Jeff, is a clinical chaplain with Hackensack Meridian Health (HMH) Hospice. He pushed for second and third opinions, and the couple moved her care to HMH.

In an interview with CURE® for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Eileen urged people with cancer to seek a second opinion, even if they like their doctors.

“Either it will validate that your doctor is good, or it will give you better insight,” Jeff said.

Today, Eileen is on maintenance immunotherapy after breast cancer surgery.

Transcript:

You were told you had two to three years and that standard treatment and surgery were not options. What made you decide to seek a second opinion, and what would you say to someone who feels hesitant or guilty about getting one?

Eileen: It was 100% Jeff’s coworkers who got us to HMH. He was telling them what we were going through, and they kept saying, “Get a second opinion.” After we got that call with the two to three years, he said, “We’re going somewhere else.” I was willing to do whatever I could, because I wasn’t done. When they gave me two to three years, I had only had three weeks of chemotherapy, and I could physically feel that the mass had shrunk. So I thought, why are we here? Jeff’s coworkers gave us names, and we went to another place as well, so we had three opinions.

For anybody, even if you like where you are, get a second opinion, get a third opinion, so you know you’re getting the best care you possibly can. You never know what a hospital has available. I didn’t know Hackensack was a teaching hospital, so they are very up to date. Even if you love your doctors, it doesn’t hurt to get a second opinion. If you get one and you still like where you are, you’ve validated that you tried everything you possibly can.

Jeff: I’ll validate that. In these kinds of cases, you should always get a second opinion. Either it will validate that your doctor is good, or it will give you better insight. If we hadn’t done that, that team would have killed Eileen. She would not be alive today. We didn’t know any better. We would have just followed whatever they said. That second and third opinion completely framed why we needed to get away from them and get to HMH.

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