The Power of a Team Approach
It had been a rather dramatic several years for Carrie Dean, her husband Matt and their two sons, Clayton and Cayne. Cayne had been saved at full-term through an emergency cesarean delivery and Carrie had successfully fought breast cancer—all with Livingston HealthCare (LHC). So, when Carrie decided she wanted to have a hysterectomy, she knew that Livingston HealthCare’s OB/GYN, Alyson Righetti, MD, would live up to the standard of care she had come to expect.
Bringing Cayne into the World
Carrie jokes that “Cayne began raising Cain the day he was born, and he’s never stopped.” A week before Cayne’s due date, she had just been hooked up to conduct a stress test when Cayne’s heart rate suddenly dropped—twice. “After his heart rate dropped the second time, Dr. Kyra Piñango looked at me and said it was time for an emergency c-section.” Carrie recalls being scared but, she says, “I was in the right place at the right time—Cayne’s umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck twice and pinched under his arm. Dr. Piñango and her team were able to untangle him and save his life.”
A Quick Diagnosis
In early 2021, Carrie noticed an overly sensitive spot on one of her breasts that hurt when it was elbowed or pressed on—something that happened often as she weaned Cayne from breastfeeding. Thinking it might be a cyst or a plugged milk duct, she visited Dr. Piñango, her primary care provider.
Within an hour of her appointment Carrie received a mammography, a dense-tissue ultrasound and a biopsy. A few days later, she learned that her results showed evidence of breast cancer.
As Carrie tried to process the news through a wave of panic, telling Dr. Piñango that she didn’t know what to do next, Dr. Piñango gently stopped her, helped her to calm down and told her that in the next few days LHC would organize all the appointments that she would need through Billings Clinic so she could start to fight. “Dr. Piñango helped me to process the diagnosis and navigate my next steps,” says Carrie.
And fight she did: by the end of 2021, with chemotherapy, a double mastectomy and reconstruction under her belt, no evidence of her cancer remained. Carrie says, “I feel lucky that I got to stay close to home for my oncology and chemo appointments. To call the Infusion nurses like Merrie Murdoch at Livingston HealthCare good is an understatement. They’re wonderful.”
Moving Forward
To ensure her hormone-driven cancer doesn’t return, Carrie is taking a hormone blocker for the next 10 years. The medication is very effective, but it increases her risk for uterine cancer. So, after talking it over with her husband, she decided to explore having a hysterectomy.
Of her decision, she says “we were finished having children, I was on a medication that increases my risk of a different kind of cancer, and I had endometriosis-like pain. Most of all, I wanted to stop constantly worrying that I would have to fight cancer again. It felt like an easy decision.”
At her first appointment with LHC’s OB/GYN Dr. Alyson Righetti, Carrie says, “Dr. Righetti is great. She was so thorough and well-prepared! We spent probably 45 minutes getting to know each other as we talked about my health history and current health goals.” Dr. Righetti established Carrie as an excellent hysterectomy candidate, so they scheduled the surgery. “Dr. Righetti explained the surgery and what it would entail, helping me to feel prepared and less anxious about the surgery itself,” explains Carrie.
After surgery, Dr. Righetti confirmed that Carrie’s instincts had been right to remove her uterus. Her ovary had twisted around its blood supply, causing the pain she had been feeling. Eventually, it likely would have caused another emergency surgery.
The Value of a Team Approach
Looking back, Carrie is thankful that she paid attention to her body’s signals and that her healthcare team helped her get where she wants to be with her own body. Sometimes she still worries that the cancer will come back, but when she starts to spiral and focus on the worst-case scenarios, she credits her husband, Matt, with “helping to bring me back to reality.” And besides, she prefers keeping up with Clayton and Cayne—something she’s grateful to each member of her healthcare team for helping her to do.
