How breast milk discoloration helped this woman in cancer diagnosis

At 32nd week of pregnancy Kate Grainger, a teacher by profession, noticed that her first breast milk was pink; not yellow.

This rang an alarm and the woman who already had three kids by then was just two weeks away from giving birth to her child.

As per Daily Mail, she gave birth to a healthy baby boy on February 25.

The discolored colostrum was the first indication for her obstetrician that something was terribly wrong with her.

She had initially ignored the pinkish colostrum. “I didn’t think anything of it. \

“I was like, ‘Oh pregnancy boobs, weird things happen,” she told 7Life. “Boobs are always lumpy during pregnancy so I really didn’t think anything of it,” the media reported.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) means when the cancer cells do not have estrogen, progesterone receptors and HER2 protein; which is when the cancer cells test negative on all the three tests.

As per the American Cancer Society, these cancers tend to be more common in women younger than age 40, who are Black, or who have a BRCA1 mutation.

The symptoms of triple negative breast cancer are swelling in the breast, unusual skin texture, pain in the nipple, nipple retraction, dry and flaky skin around the nipple, nipple discharge other than milk and swollen lymph nodes under the arm or near the collarbone.

The American Cancer Society says that, “TNBC tends to grow quickly, is more likely to have spread at the time it’s found, and is more likely to come back after treatment than other types of breast cancer. Because of this, the survival rates for TNBC are generally not quite as high as they are for other types of breast cancer.”

Around 10-15% of all breast cancers are triple negative breast cancer.

Amid her health condition, Katie was recommended to have a C-section.

‘We had to put the cancer in a little box and get into baby mode. It was the most beautiful experience. It was my third cesarean and by far the best. It felt like my body had gone to the stars and back – it was just euphoric,” the media reports have quoted her saying.

Chemotherapy started after she healed from C-section. She underwent first chemotherapy session nine days after giving birth to her boy. She was told she might need a double mastectomy.

Following her cancer treatment, she is also taking sessions with a perinatal psychologist.

“It’s a normal response to be pretty upset about all of this, but I just wanted to be on top of that as soon as possible,” she told the media.

“I think I’m trying to be fierce but gentle, so allowing myself to feel those (negative) emotions when I feel them.

She has even tried to convey it to her kids about her health condition.

“We just told them I had bugs in my boobies,” she told the media. “So now little Iris will tell everyone that ‘Mum’s got bugs in her boobies’, which is actually quite funny and cute,” she adds.

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