Franklin Township woman forges ahead after initial misdiagnosis
Even almost three years since her initial cancer diagnosis, Chrissy Senft, of Franklin Township, is still trying to understand the disease and why it affected her.
She has no family history of the disease and had no symptoms leading up to the mammogram she received in 2022 that led to her diagnosis that December. Doctors initially thought her cancer was Stage 1 — the best-case scenario for a breast cancer diagnosis — but more exams showed that it had metastasized and was in her spine — close to the worst-case scenario.
It was a whirlwind of emotions that ultimately left Senft with a feeling of uncertainty that persists to this day.
“If someone told me I was going to have a heart attack, I would have understood that,” Senft said. “But metastatic cancer is something I can almost not believe.
“I’m just a regular mom who gets up and goes to work, and I was diagnosed with a life-changing disease.”
Senft had a hysterectomy in February 2023 and began treatment within 90 days of her first diagnosis of breast cancer. She went through treatment at Hillman Cancer Center and was able to stave off side effects of treatment for a while with a prescription of immunotherapy drugs.
And Senft’s treatment for the disease hasn’t stopped.
“I’m still going through chemotherapy. I’m on a schedule where I'm going two weeks on, two weeks off,” Senft said. “I have another scan in October to see if I am going to stick with my current regiment.”
Despite the upending of her life, Senft said she still tries to advocate for herself and other people who are diagnosed with breast cancer in its later stages. She formed a team for the Western Pennsylvania Color Walk, Chrissy’s Crazy Chaos Crew, to help raise money to research metastatic breast cancer. Because, according to Senft, metastatic and Stage 4 cancers don’t get as much research funding as earlier stages of cancer.
Senft and her friends and family have helped make a difference, having raised $2,500 through participation in the walk.
“What people don't understand is so many people end up with metastatic breast cancer, and it receives less funds than any other types of breast cancer,” Senft said. “I firmly believe you have to be your own advocate in these situations.”
Stacy Meyer, oncology patient navigator with Independence Health System, said she met Senft about a year ago. She said she knows Senft to be go-getter who has managed to keep her life going through her treatment and even add fundraising to her plate along the way.
“Cancer can’t keep her down,” Meyer said. “Every time I see her, she’s wearing a shirt for another group.”
Senft said she may never know how her breast cancer developed without warning, but she is OK with that. Knowing how it got there won’t help her move forward in her life and treatment, but helping others in their own treatment journeys might.
“It's easy to become overwhelmed,” Senft said. “Breast cancer specifically, everyone has a story about their aunt's neighbor or cousin. Everybody is going to have a different treatment plan and different side effects, but that doesn't have to be where you go.”
