{"id":2092,"date":"2018-09-28T09:00:12","date_gmt":"2018-09-28T13:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=2092"},"modified":"2018-09-28T15:58:01","modified_gmt":"2018-09-28T19:58:01","slug":"christina-wallace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=2092","title":{"rendered":"Christina Wallace"},"content":{"rendered":"

Teaching the Importance of Early Detection<\/em><\/h1>\n

By Jamie Jenson | Photography by Paul Carmen Viggiano<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Christina Wallace was only 38 when she found the lump that would completely change her life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was lying on my couch watching TV, and my cat, who had been unusually clingy for a few weeks, jumped up on my side and it hurt,\u201d Christina said. \u201cI went to reach to figure out why it hurt so badly and that\u2019s when I felt the lump.\u201d<\/p>\n

Christina, now 41, made an appointment to see her gynecologist. When she told the nurse she had felt a lump near her armpit, the nurse immediately took action and scheduled an ultrasound and diagnostic mammogram for her.<\/p>\n

On Friday, December 5, 2014, after the mammogram illuminated the lump Christina had felt and a biopsy confirmed it, she was given the news no one wants to hear: she had cancer.<\/p>\n

After discussing her options with the surgeon, Christina chose to have a lumpectomy three days after she was diagnosed.<\/p>\n

The surgery revealed some good news for Christina. The margins of the tumor were clean and hadn\u2019t spread to her lymph nodes. The aggressive chemotherapy and radiation that followed were just a precaution; the doctors and Christina wanted to be sure there was no cancer left in her body.<\/p>\n

Christina\u2019s relief didn\u2019t last long, though. Shortly after her lumpectomy, her doctors told her she has a predisposition for cancer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI found out I have a genetic mutation \u2014 a PALB2 \u2014 that\u2019s actually the gene that is responsible for keeping the BRCA gene in check,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n

Christina also found out the type of breast cancer she had was extremely rare. It comprises about 3 to 5 percent of breast cancer cases and normally doesn\u2019t occur until a person is in their 50s or 60s.<\/p>\n

She learned she wasn\u2019t the only one who carried the genetic mutation; her mother did, as well. In 2016, about a year after Christina finished her treatment, her mother was diagnosed with cancer.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe got diagnosed, I believe, in June,\u201d Christina said, \u201cand, by Thanksgiving, it had spread to her brain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Christina\u2019s mother passed away in July 2017. She was only 59 years old.<\/p>\n

Christina, who has two children and two stepchildren, worries about what this genetic predisposition could mean for her biological children.<\/p>\n

\u201cKnowing that I have the genetic mutation, did my kids get this, too?\u201d she said. \u201cAnd what do we have to watch for with them?\u201d<\/p>\n

Christina said her daughter, who is in high school, will be monitored closely and begin getting mammograms in her late 20s. Under normal circumstances, women typically don\u2019t start getting mammograms until their 40s.<\/p>\n

The important thing, Christina said, is to make sure her children are educated about the disease.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve talked to both my girls \u2014 my stepdaughter and my daughter \u2014 about breast exams,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s good that they know what is normal for them and they know that if they feel anything weird, they\u2019ve got to let me and their doctor know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Christina isn\u2019t just teaching her children about the importance of early detection, however.<\/p>\n

About a year-and-a-half after finishing her treatments, Christina found out about a cancer services assistant job with Oswego County Opportunities, a nonprofit organization that delivers services and programs to people in Oswego County.<\/p>\n

Christina said the program is state-funded. There is one in every county in New York. In her role, Christina enrolls people in Oswego County into the program so they can get access to routine cancer screenings, including mammograms and colonoscopies. Many of the program\u2019s participants don\u2019t have insurance and would not have access to these screenings otherwise.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I found out about that position, I knew it was for me,\u201d Christina said. \u201cI love my job because I get to help people. I can talk to people because of my experience and it helps me really enforce the importance of early detection.\u201d<\/p>\n

Christina wants to tell her story \u2014 and her mother\u2019s \u2014 to as many people as she can because she wants to educate them.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to pay attention to your body and take care of yourself because you don\u2019t get another chance,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been three years since Christina received the news that there was no evidence of cancer in her body. Last October, after her mother passed away, Christina opted to have a double mastectomy as an added precaution. She said she wants to make sure she\u2019s here for her children, who are her No. 1 priority.<\/p>\n

Even after all she\u2019s been through, she remains positive and thinks she\u2019s lucky.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve made friends. I\u2019ve learned a lot. I have a job that I love getting up and going to,\u201d Christina said. \u201cIt gives me the opportunity to educate the community. It\u2019s setting a good example for my kids that if you fight hard enough, you can overcome almost everything.\u201d SWM<\/em><\/p>\n

For more information on Oswego County Opportunities, visit oco.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Teaching the Importance of Early Detection By Jamie Jenson | Photography by Paul Carmen Viggiano Christina Wallace was only 38 when she found the lump that would completely change her life. \u201cI was lying on my couch watching TV, and my cat, who had been unusually clingy for a few weeks, jumped up on my…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2107,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[706,676,695,677,262,705],"class_list":["post-2092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","tag-christina-wallace","tag-jamie-jenson","tag-october-2018","tag-paul-carmen-viggiano","tag-syracuse-woman-magazine","tag-the-pink-editin"],"gutentor_comment":0,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/001_Wallace_SWM_PRINT-2.jpg?fit=5200%2C3436&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2094,"url":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=2094","url_meta":{"origin":2092,"position":0},"title":"Benedicte Doran","author":"Staff","date":"September 28, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Facing the Unplanned By Jamie Jenson | Photography by Paul Carmen Viggiano\u00a0 Benedicte Doran is a planner. 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