Eight-year-old Chrissy Turner, who was diagnosed with a rare type of breast cancer underwent mastectomy on Monday Dec. 7.
The surgery was performed at Primary Children's Hospital in Riverton in Utah, where Chrissy is expected to be admitted for a couple more days. She will have to regain her strength before she can be sent home. The girl's condition will have to be monitored closely even after hospital discharge to ensure that the cancer does not recur in the next few years.
"She's been really brave and this is a big person's surgery for such a little girl," said Chrissy's mother, Annette.
The surgery has paved the way for the little girl to avoid undergoing radiation therapy, which entails harsh chemicals that can deteriorate her health.
The parents created a Facebook page for their daughter to let everyone know about Chrissy's progress. In one of the photos posted, the child was seen walking into her surgery, holding a hospital staff's hand.
After the surgery, Chrissy was given a stuffed bear named Andy, all dressed up in a scrub suit. The toy also had a bandage on its chest, just like its owner's surgical dressing.
"She's doing pretty good, pain managing right now," said Annette.
Secretory breast carcinoma is a benign type of cancer that occurs mostly in adult men and women, but may also develop in teenagers. The disease usually has good prognosis.
Chrissy was diagnosed with the disease in November 2015. Before that, the child came up to his parents and reported a lump on her chest, which made her scared.
The parents accompanied their daughter for a medical consultation and to the family's dismay, it was indeed cancer.
Battling with a cancer diagnosis is not new for the Turners. Chrissy's father has non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and the mother had cervical cancer.
Chrissy may opt to undergo a breast reconstructive surgery when she reaches puberty, but as of now, she is recuperating from the major surgical operation.
