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Mother and Daughter in Remission After Getting Breast Cancer at the Same Time: 'It Was Scary'

Mother and daughter survive simultaneous breast cancer battles
Mother and daughter survive simultaneous breast cancer battles

KETV NewsWatch 7/YouTube Amanda Nelson and Terry Wulf

Knowing that breast cancer runs in her family, Amanda Nelson expected to get the disease at some point. But it was a "scary" surprise when she and her mom ended up with it at the same time.

Nelson, from Omaha, Nebraska, had always been careful to get annual mammograms and breast MRIs to keep an eye out for any abnormalities.

"I knew without a doubt, just from that breast cancer history, that the risk was very high for me," she told KETV News.

And after Nelson learned that she had the BRCA2 gene mutation, which makes her more susceptible to developing breast and ovarian cancer, she knew it was coming.

"There really was never a question for me of if I would get breast cancer, it was just always a matter of when it was going to happen," she said.

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Her mom, Terry Wulf, was diagnosed with a rare form of breast cancer called triple-negative, which can't be treated as easily as others.

"It was scary," Nelson said. "It was really, really scary to get [Wulf's diagnosis]."

And soon after, in 2019, a doctor noticed a tumor deep in Nelson's breast tissue during an MRI and diagnosed her with cancer.

"I do believe that's what saved my life," she said.

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Nelson was already taking care of Wulf, who was undergoing intensive chemotherapy and a difficult course of oral medications that were tough on her body.

"That was probably so hard on my body," Wulf told KETV of the medications. "That is when I truly thought that I probably was not going to live any longer, that that was probably going to kill me."

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Meanwhile, Nelson underwent a mastectomy and reconstructive surgery to try to halt her breast cancer. And then Wulf was surprisingly diagnosed with another form of cancer in her fallopian tubes. But they pushed through treatment together, and are now both in remission.

"I just want to think that, I made it through it, and now I'm just going to live my life," Wulf said.