Taking her power back: AFLCMC Logistics Chief explains decision to have preventive mastectomy

  • Published
  • By Allyson B. Crawford, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center Public Affairs
Family history is a major risk factor for developing breast cancer. This is especially true if a first degree relative (mother, sister) develops breast cancer younger than 40.

Emilee Ambrose, AFLCMC Mobility Directorate Logistics Chief for the C-130J Foreign Military Sales (FMS) office, knows this all too well. Her mother, maternal grandmother and both maternal great-grandmothers all had the disease and survived. 
 
The American Cancer Society provides screening guidelines for women with average risk:
 
  • Women between 40 and 44 have the option to start screening with a mammogram every year
  • Women 45 to 54 should get mammograms every year
  • Women 55 and older can switch to a mammogram every other year, or they can choose to continue yearly mammograms
Those with high risk  – like Ambrose  –  should begin screening in their 30s.

“My mom was 45 when she was diagnosed,” explains Ambrose. “She was very young – so doctors recommend [screening] at least ten years prior to your closest family member.  Because she was fairly young, they wanted to start the protocol [on me] no later than when I turned 35.”

Ambrose was 32 when she started talking to her doctor about her breast cancer risk. The Tyrer-Cuzick risk assessment questionnaire put her in a high-risk category. This categorization meant Ambrose would begin screening every six months, alternating between a mammogram and an MRI. She had her first mammogram at 33 during November of 2019. By the following spring, her first MRI showed a suspicious area in her breast tissue. Biopsy results were benign.

Armed with first-hand knowledge of what a breast cancer fight would entail, and coupled with her family history, Ambrose made the decision to have a preventative double mastectomy before her 35th birthday.

During this time, Ambrose was working for the Air Force Security Assistance and Cooperation Directorate (AFSAC).

“I actually had a series of three surgeries,” she explains. “The first initial was the mastectomy with expanders – I had those in for three months. [A tissue expander is used to stretch the skin and create pockets for future breast implants during reconstruction surgery]. That surgery was probably one of the biggest recoveries.”

After this first surgery, Ambrose says she was on medical leave for two weeks and then working at home during the rest of her recovery.

“My leadership was very supportive,” she says of her AFSAC and AFLCMC family. “Obviously we accrue generous leave as civilians.”

Surgery number two happened three months later. This one was to remove the expanders and place the implants. The recovery was easier with a week of medical leave and more working from home after.

Several months later, Ambrose had fat grafting to “look more natural.” Nearly all her tissue was removed during the double mastectomy. The grafting helped replace some of that missing tissue.

A mistake in coding meant Ambrose saw the bill for her surgeries and it totaled around $200,000. Her federal insurance provider corrected the error, and her medical care was covered. Any future procedures must be covered because of the Women’s Health and Cancer Rights Acts (WHCRA) of 1998. 

“That is such a blessing. I’m very thankful for our insurance,” Ambrose adds.

She urges others to begin routine health screenings as early as possible.

“Just knowing your body and understanding your baseline and your normal. Paying attention, being proactive, you are your own best advocate. No one is going to save you. No one is going to say, ‘Hey! Here’s a reminder you need to make an appointment.’ It falls on the individual to take control of their health. And never be afraid of having difficult conversations with your physician.”