Being Proactive with Medical Checkups & Seeking Multiple Opinions
- Former professional tennis player Serena Williams, 43, recently had a “small grapefruit”-sized benign cyst surgically removed from her neck, and we can’t help but admire how the mom of two advocated for herself and her health when she noticed the unusual lump in her neck earlier this year.
- When you see a doctor for a problem, don’t hesitate to make sure that your questions are fully answered and that you are comfortable with the plan moving forward. By doing this, you are advocating for your health.
- Seeking a second or third opinion for your diagnosis and treatment plan is another aspect of advocating for your health and making sure you get the treatment you need.
- SurvivorNet offers questions you can consider asking your doctor if your are thinking about seeking another opinion on your diagnosis or treatment plan.
Williams, who was previously ranked as the No. 1 in singles in the world by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) for 319 weeks, took to social media this week to inform her fans about getting the brachial cyst removed and appears to be recovering well.
@serena Read More Back in May I found a lump showing on my neck. I immediately went to the doc got a mri and was told I have a brachial cyst. Have you ever heard of that? They said I don’t need to get it removed if I don’t want. So I did not get it but it kept growing. I decided to get more test and 3 test and one biopsy later everything is still negative but doctors advised I get it removed asap because it was the size of a small grapefruit and it could get infected or worse leak. So this is me removing it. I am feelimg so grateful, and fortunate everything worked out, and most of all I’m healthy. I still made it to American doll with Olympia as promised. And yes all is ok. 🙏🏿🙏🏿 #fyp #foryourpage #serenawilliams #mom ♬ original sound – SerenawilliamsWilliams, a loving mom to her and her husband Alexis Ohanian’s two daughters Alexis and Olympia, offered her fans a glimpse captioned an informative TikTok post, “They said I don’t need to get it removed if I don’t want. So I did not get it but it kept growing. I decided to get more tests and three tests and one biopsy later everything is still negative but doctors advised I get it removed asap because it was the size of a small grapefruit and it could get infected or worse leak.”
“So this is me removing it. I am feeling so grateful, and fortunate everything worked out, and most of all I’m healthy.”
In the video clip, featuring Williams talking about her health situation while sitting on what appears to be a hospital bed, she explained further, “Hey, so a lot has been happening.
“I had surgery recently where I had to take some yucky medicine, that I hated so much. So, one day, back in May, I found this big mass on my neck. I was mortified by it and I got tests done.”
She explained, “Everything you can image. Everything was negative, and it turns out I had what they called a cyst, a brachial cyst to be exact.”
Williams, who has been dubbed the 2024 Glamour global Woman of the Year, continued, “I ended up having to get it removed and it was so big, it was the size of a grapefruit … Yikes!”
View this post on InstagramAfter noting that it “kind of hurt coming out,” she said she wasn’t awake during the procedure as she had been given anesthesia, but was present when they put a drain in her neck.
“Everything worked out and I feel really happy to have worked with some great doctors. A little scared here, but excited to move onto the next steps of healing and doing well,” she added.
Williams’ TikTok video continued with her leaving the hospital after the “successful” removal of what she dubbed a “giant cyst that was the size of a giant grapefruit.”
She then shared some footage of her, with a bandage on her neck, inside of the American Doll store with her eldest daughter Olympia.
“Mommy is suffering,” she explained, pointing to her neck. “But mommy has to keep showing up.”
Williams, who is known for winning 23 Grand Slam women’s singles titles, admitted her next plan was to go home and sleep, but we’re delighted to see her continuing to take part in her mom duties and do what’s best for her in this recovery period.
@serena Welcome my beautiful angel
Understanding Branchial Cysts
Williams revealed she had a branchial cyst removed from her neck. And although she doesn’t specify whether it’s specifically a branchial cleft cyst, according to John Hopkins Medicine a branchial cleft cyst “is a lump that develops in the neck or just below the collarbone.”
John Hopkins explains, “Branchial cleft cysts form during development of the embryo. They occur when tissues in the neck and collarbone area (branchial cleft) fail to develop normally. The birth defect may appear as open spaces called cleft sinuses, which may develop on one or both sides of the neck. A branchial cleft cyst may form from fluid drained from a sinus. The cyst or sinus can become infected. ”
The academic institution adds, “Infected branchial cleft cysts or sinuses require antibiotic treatment. If there are persistent problems with drainage or infection, these cysts should be surgically removed.
“Most branchial cleft remnants require no treatment. If surgery is required, results are usually good.”
An article published in the National Institute of Health’s National Library of Medicine, explains these type of cysts “are congenital epithelial cysts that comprise approximately one-third of congenital neck masses” that are benign and can show up at any age.
Pushing for a Correct Diagnosis
When it comes to your health, be a little pushy. You know your body better than anyone else. When you see a doctor for a problem, don’t hesitate to make sure that your question is fully answered and that you are comfortable with the plan moving forward. From a doctor’s perspective, every problem should have a diagnosis, a treatment, a plan for follow-up, and a plan for what happens next if the treatment doesn’t work.
As a patient, if you don’t feel like each of these four things has been accomplished, just ask. Even if it requires multiple visits or seeing additional providers for a second opinion, always be your own advocate.
Be Pushy, Be Your Own Advocate, Don’t Settle
Dr. Zuri Murrell, director of the Cedars-Sinai Colorectal Cancer Center, previously told SurvivorNet that healthcare guidelines are meant to do the right thing for the largest number of people while using the fewest resources.
“The truth is you have to be in tune with your body, and you realize that you are not the statistic,” he said.
RELATED: Close the Gap: Racial Disparities in Cancer Care Are Devastating Let’s Change Things
Additionally, Dr. Murrell says not every patient will “fit into” the mold, so it’s important to “educate yourself and be your own health care advocate.”
“Every appointment you leave as a patient, there should be a plan for what the doc is going to do for you, and if that doesn’t work, what the next plan is,” Dr. Murrell added. “And I think that that’s totally fair. And me as a health professional that’s what I do for all of my patients.”
The Importance of Getting a Second Opinion
After receiving a diagnosis, like cancer, it’s important to remember that you can, and should, talk to other cancer specialists about your disease.
“If I had any advice for you following a cancer diagnosis, it would be, first, to seek out multiple opinions as to the best care,” National Cancer Institute Chief of Surgery Steven Rosenberg told SurvivorNet in a previous interview. “Because finding a doctor who is up to the latest of information is important.”
RELATED: Second (& Third) Opinions Matter When Deciding Between Surgery or Radiation
As we highlight in several areas of SurvivorNet, highly respected doctors sometimes disagree on the right course of treatment, and advances in genetics and immunotherapy are creating new options.
Also, in some instances the specific course of treatment is not clear cut. That’s even more reason why understanding the potential approaches to your disease is crucial.
At the National Cancer Institute, there is a patient referral service that will “guide patients to the right group depending on their disease state so that they can gain access to these new experimental treatments,” Rosenberg says.
Cancer Research Legend Urges Patients to Get Multiple Opinions
Furthermore, getting another opinion may also help you avoid doctor biases. For example, some surgeons own radiation treatment centers. “So there may be a conflict of interest if you present to a surgeon that is recommending radiation because there is some ownership of that type of facility,” Dr. Jim Hu, director of robotic surgery at Weill Cornell Medical Center, tells SurvivorNet.
Other reasons to get a second opinion include:
- To see a doctor who has more experience treating your type of cancer
- You have a rare type of cancer
- There are several ways to treat your cancer
- You feel like your doctor isn’t listening to you, or isn’t giving you good advice
- You have trouble understanding your doctor
- You don’t like the treatment your doctor is recommending, or you’re worried about its possible side effects
- Your insurance company wants you to get another medical opinion
- Your cancer isn’t improving on your current treatment
Black Women Die From Breast Cancer at Shockingly Higher Rates Than White Women
Closing the Gap in Cancer Care
Cervical cancer, triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and colon cancer are all cancers that have higher mortality rates in the Black community. In an earlier interview with SurvivorNet, Atlanta-based oncologist Dr. Anita Johnson outlines ways to close the gap in cancer care. “The mortality rates for African-American women is substantially higher than Caucasian women,” she explains.
“They often present with triple-negative breast cancer, which is a more aggressive type of breast cancer that always requires chemotherapy and has a higher recurrence rate,” Dr. Johnson says.
RELATED: SurvivorNet and NYU Langone Health’s Perlmutter Cancer Center are collaborating to help close the racial gap in cancer prevention, cancer care, and survival rates.
“I’m here in Atlanta, where we have some of the highest death rates from breast cancer in the country. And so when we look at different metropolitan areas where there are more black women, but still, they’re not being screened adequately,” says Dr. Johnson.
“And then when we look at the stage for stage,” she says, “the outcomes are much worse as compared to Caucasian women. When we look at the standard of care treatment options based on stage, in some cases, African-American women are not being treated with the same standard of care treatment options.”
Close the Gap in Racial Disparity “Access to Care is Key”
Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff
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