Kay Boyd, a longtime resident of Murfreesboro, has a long history of working in the field of medicine. She started her career as a kindergarten teacher after college and decided that her passion was in patient care. In 1982 after graduating from MTSU nursing program Kay began her work at MTMC as a Registered Nurse. She served as a nurse in surgery as well as the materials manager for the surgical department until 2007. She retired in 2017 as a nurse from MTSU health services. She spends her free time enjoying her 3 grandsons, traveling with her husband Dale, gardening and is often behind the pottery wheel at Studio.
On December 31st, 2001 Kay went to her scheduled annual mammogram and received news that there was an abnormal area in her upper outer left quadrant. She had missed her scheduled mammogram due to the passing of her parents in the fall and just thought it would turn out to be normal. After a second mammogram confirmed the findings, Kay underwent a Breast Biopsy done by Dr. James Nunnery on January 23, 2002. At this point, Chemotherapy was the next step with Dr. John Barton. With a fantastic support system of friends, she was determined she was going to beat this and retain as much normalcy in life as possible. Her daughter was recently engaged and lived in Charleston, SC for graduate school. Her goal was to continue to visit her daughter as much as possible and to be a part of everything leading up to the wedding. She was prepared for what the side effects would be and that her course would last until the summer of 2002.
Determined to maintain normalcy, she scheduled her treatments for Thursdays so the rough part after each treatment would occur through the weekend and she could return to work on Monday. With the support of her co-worker’s friends and her husband Dale she worked full time throughout her chemo and radiation. Her daughter Caroline mentions, “she’s one of the strongest people I know.” Based on the type of cancer she had, invasive ductile carcinoma with lymph node involvement, it was highly probable that it would reoccur in the other side. She made the decision with her care team that completing the bilateral mastectomy was the right decision. She had the surgery in June of 2003 followed by reconstruction.
Caroline Lampley is the Daughter of Kay. She chose to be involved in WATS in 2011 to support the women of Rutherford county in their journey toward diagnosis and potential treatment. Caroline shared that when her mom was diagnosed, she was in PT school at the medical Univ. of SC. I was lucky to have developed a great friend in my roommate, whose mom was also a nurse. They took me in and became my support system being so far from my mom during that time. Around the time of her diagnosis, I was learning about lymphedema in PT school and recommended she find a certified PT in lymphedema for drainage exercises and compression sleeves for travel. This wasn’t standard of care in 2002 and there was only one therapist in the Murfreesboro area and was not something insurance covered at that time.
Her therapist was Linda Bullard, who still practices in Murfreesboro with Donnelly Physical Therapy. Coincidentally Linda worked with the MTMC Foundation and in 2004 she established the lymphedema fund to provide financial assistance to cover expenses associated with lymphedema supplies.
As technology and detection continues to advance, Due to the death of Caroline’s paternal aunt and her mom having BC it was suggested that she have BRCA gene testing. After considering it and discussing the recommended double mastectomy and hysterectomy with a positive result with my doctor and husband, in 2012 I was tested. The result was negative, but I didn’t realize the true impact of what a positive result would mean until I was waiting for mine to come back. While fortunate my results were negative, it gave me a better understanding of why the test and early detection are so important. If positive, I knew what I needed to do for the best chance of remaining cancer free. There have been many advances in both testing and treatment even since 2012. I would encourage anyone with a family history or first degree relative who has had breast cancer to take the time to be tested. It’s a very personal decision, but is a great tool that hasn’t always been available.
Each year before her annual scans and check up with Dr. Ma, Kay says the same feelings she had around her diagnosis resurface, but it’s a further reminder of why regular mammograms are so important and a celebration of her many years being cancer free! Kay also says that if a diagnosis is positive, reach out to a someone who has been through it before. There is so much to absorb in a time that’s life changing, having someone to ask that’s been there makes all the difference in the journey.
Her doctors now are Dr. Ramesh, Dr. Ma and Dr. LaRoche
Timeline:
December 31st, 2001 Abnormal Mammogram
January 11, 2002 Second Mammogram
January 23, 2002 Breast Biopsy with wire localization by
Dr. James Nunnery
Diagnosed Invasive/institubular carcinoma
January 28, 2002 Simple Mastectomy with sentinel node
injection by Dr. James Nunnery
Chemotherapy by Dr. John Barton