Melanie Cole (Host): Welcome to It's Your Health Radio with Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital. I'm Melanie Cole, and today's guest is Lisa Passamonte Green. She is the 2023 Sheila R. Veloz Breast Cancer Testimonial Speaker. She's here to tell us her story and to emphasize the importance of performing monthly self breast exams. Lisa, thank you so much for joining us today. I'd like you to start by telling us your story and how you came to Sheila R. Veloz Breast Center and Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital.

Lisa Passamonte Green: Thanks, Melanie. It's really my pleasure to be here today and tell you the story. I'm the co-owner of an international lighting design firm located here in Santa Clarita, and I'm super grateful to have this opportunity to share my journey with the Breast Cancer Center and explain how the Sheila R. Veloz Breast Center played a key role in my story of survival.

My family has a huge history of many different types of cancer, which is something that I've often thought about but I never had to deal with until last year. In July of 2022, I was doing a self-exam and I felt a small pea sized lump and then two weeks later I noticed a small amount of blood coming from my nipple.

I had made an appointment with an OB GYN who was new to me here in Santa Clarita, and when she examined me, she struggled to feel that lump, and she dismissed it as nothing more than a fatty tissue buildup, and while I hoped she was right, I told her I've known my body for 57 years, and she was just now meeting my body, and I asked her, if she would help me get a second opinion and put in an order for a diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound at Sheila R. Veloz Breast Center. When I arrived at the Breast Center, the technicians doing the diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound were so kind and so professional, and each one went out of their way to make me feel as comfortable as possible.

Host: That's quite a story, Lisa. And as a woman who is also 59, you know, just in the same age range, taking charge of your own health like that, I commend you like I can't even tell you because so many women are afraid to speak up. They're afraid to say, no, you know what, I don't agree. I think there's really something going on here.

So I'd like you to tell us about that monthly self-breast exam that you found that lump, because a lot of women hesitate to do this. They say, oh, I'm going to get my mammogram, you know, and I get a breast ultrasound because I have dense breasts. So I do that all the time, every year as well. But tell us about that breast exam.

What did you do? Give women a little lesson because it's not always easy for everybody.

Lisa Passamonte Green: I mean, I have to admit and say that I was not great at it, and I didn't do it monthly prior to this. I had a pretty bad track record. I would say I did it more every other month, maybe, at the best and really just tried to pay attention to my body, and I was fortunate that I did feel the lump when I did feel it. And it made me so much more aware of how important those monthly breast exams really are. And that I kind of have to deal with my own guilt about not having been better at it. And then I have to say that I'm not generally shy, but I, just like you said, like many women, I haven't advocated for myself over all of the years.

And at this moment in time, it was so important for me to do so. And as much as I wanted that first OB GYN to be right, and that it was nothing, you just know your body, and you know when you should be asking those questions. So, to get that second opinion, and know that I really trusted the doctors and the technicians over at Sheila R. Veloz was where it was comforting to do so, which gave me the courage to say, no, I really want a second opinion, so let's get it scheduled. And I have to say that when I was in the examination room after the procedures and Dr. Date walked into the room and insisted that I had a biopsy done that day, that only validated that advocation, that advocating for myself was stressful. I didn't know why she wanted the biopsy yet at that point, but it validated that choice and that request, and I was so grateful that she insisted that I have that biopsy that day based on something she had seen in the scans.

Host: Rock on Dr. Date. And she has done podcasts with me before and that is awesome. Now I'd like you to tell us a little bit about what happened next and your experience with the hospital, how they helped you navigate your condition and how they contribute to your continued recovery.

Lisa Passamonte Green: So, Melanie, I would love to just quickly give a shout out to Colleen Audra Arvalo, who was the health nurse navigator at Sheila R. Veloz, because she came in and she talked to me about the procedure that Dr. Date was going to do. She held my hands throughout the whole procedure while Dr. Date did the biopsy. She gave me the recommendations to the breast cancer surgeons in the area. And through that list is how I found Dr. Amanda Woodworth. And Dr. Amanda Woodworth, is just spectacular. I scheduled a consultation with her and she was so knowledgeable during that appointment. She really put my mind at ease. And so between Dr. Date and Colleen and Dr. Woodworth, I was off and running with my treatment at the hospital and I was diagnosed with stage one invasive ductal carcinoma and ductal carcinoma in situ, as well as Paget's disease of the breast. And Paget's disease of the breast only affects roughly four percent of breast cancer patients.

And throughout all of this, I still consider myself lucky because if the amount of cancer that Dr. Woodworth removed from me, she removed 13.5 centimeters of cancerous tumors from my right breast, if that had been one single tumor, I would have been stage three diagnosis, but because I had hundreds of smaller tumors, I was able to stay stage one, which made a huge difference in the treatment journey.

Host: Wow. So again, advocating and really those shout outs to the people that helped you are so important and that makes their day too, Lisa. It's important that they get recognized as well. And how do you feel now?

Lisa Passamonte Green: Well, I feel great now and to continue my shout out to Dr. Woodworth, I have to add a couple other doctors because what she did was she's made it so that I had one operation or one procedure and that included removing the cancerous cells, having my left side reduced by Dr. Tran. He operated on me at the same time Dr. Woodworth was removing the cancer from the right side. He was reducing the left side and then when she was done removing all the cancer, he walked around the table and reconstructed the right side all in one surgery session. And at the time I didn't really understand how unique that was, but it totally shortened my recovery time. And it shortened the number of procedures I needed, and it allowed me to move straight into radiation with Dr. Tao over the holidays last year. So, I just can't speak highly enough of the whole team that cared for me and still cares for me. I'm still connected to all of them, and they're still a part of the journey.

Host: As we wrap up, and I thank you so much for coming on and telling your story. That can't be easy and you seem such a strong and forward thinking woman, like you really are ready to take charge and you're willing to do that and speak to other women about taking charge of our own health. So I'd like you to wrap it up by telling other women who are maybe a little hesitant to get a mammogram while also emphasizing the importance of those monthly self-breast exams because it is really such an important message we're giving here today.

Lisa Passamonte Green: I can't stress enough how important the monthly self-exams are. And I can't stress enough how important the annual mammograms are. It allows you to be empowered and to advocate for yourself because you are able to catch cancer early, and you're able to get a treatment plan that allows you to become a cancer survivor. The journey for me is really summed up in the fact that you know your body best, and when you think something is off, you should seek the best care and treatment and that monthly exams and the mammograms help you get that best care and treatment.

And here in Santa Clarita, we are privileged to be surrounded by the most supportive and compassionate people in the field of breast health. I learned that and I lived it in the past year and I'm so grateful for all of the team, and my husband, and my staff, and everybody who has supported the journey.

Host: Well now I'm certainly choked up. Lisa, thank you so much for your beautiful words and for your shout outs and really most importantly for letting women know how important it is that we do these exams, that we question some of the things that our doctors say, that we advocate for ourselves. That's just so important.

And thank you again. Please make your annual mammogram appointment at the Sheila R. Veloz Breast Center by calling 661-200-1099. Or by visiting SheilaVeloz.com. You can also visit our free health information library at library.henrymayo.com. There's so much great information there. And that concludes this episode of It's Your Health Radio with Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital.

I'm Melanie Cole. And please, ladies, share this show with your friends and family because we are learning all about ourselves and our health from the people at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital. So share this show on your social channels so we can all learn together. Thanks so much for joining us today.