Battling for family and self

By Joel Wittnebel/The Oshawa Express

Since her mother was diagnosed with stage 3B breast cancer in 2012, Kathryn Mac Isaac has been taking part in the Durham Region leg of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation’s Run for the Cure to show her support for her (now healthy) matriarch.

Now, when Mac Isaac hits the pavement at Oshawa’s Lakeview Park on Oct. 4, it will be in support of someone else, someone she never expected – herself.

After it was discovered her mother was a carrier of the BRCA2 genetic mutation, a mutation that exponentially increases one’s risk of developing breast or prostate cancer, Mac Isaac was urged to get tested for the gene as well.

With her mother as a carrier, Mac Isaac had a 50 per cent chance of carrying the genetic mutation as well.

Just prior to her 30^th birthday, Mac Isaac found out she tested positive for the gene as well, but things got worse.

“I was put on the high-risk list and my first mammogram MRI showed a mass,” Mac Isaac says. “They tested and it was cancer.”

Mac Isaac was diagnosed with stage 2B breast cancer in May – the two indicating the size and the B indicating the cancer had already spread to her lymph nodes.

“I never thought this was going to impact me the way it has,” she says.

In June, Mac Isaac underwent a double mastectomy and had 21 lymph nodes removed. While it is believed doctors were able to remove all of the cancerous tissue, she’s currently undergoing chemo therapy as a precautionary measure.

“After chemo, the first three days kind of knocked me on my butt, then I started to feel like myself again,” she says. “Other then that, I’ve been pretty good.”

And battling cancer hasn’t stopped her from helping others either.

Mac Isaac, along with her 29-person team “The Tittie Bittie,” has raised more than $16,000 leading up to the Run for the Cure, the most of any team in Durham Region and one of the top raisers in Ontario.

Mac Isaac alone has raised more than $10,000, making her one of the top fundraisers in all of Durham Region as well.

“It’s a great charity,” Mac Isaac says. “They do a really good job.”

According to Mac Isaac, statistics put her recovery and survival rate at 88 per cent, numbers she’s fairly comfortable with. Her mother, who also underwent a double mastectomy, a hysterectomy and numerous rounds of chemo, as also made a full recovery.

“It brought everyone in the family so much closer,” Mac Isaac says, and especially the relationship with her mother. “The thought of losing my mom, the person who has always been there for me, was just shocking, so our relationship has been so much better since.”

For more information on the Run for the Cure or to donate to Mac Isaac and her team, visit www.cibcrunforthecure.com