Ballet Uncovered ~ Balancing Pointe Podcast

Maggie Kudirka was a member of the Joffrey Concert Group in NYC when she was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer in June 2014. She was only 23 years old and had no risk factors for breast cancer other than being female. Results from a subsequent genetics screening showed that she did not carry the genes linked to breast cancer. Maggie had a large, aggressive tumor that grew very quickly and spread to her bones and lymph nodes. She moved back home to be with her family and began treatment at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, Maryland. Fortunately, her type of breast cancer (positive for Her2, ER & PR) responds very well to the drug Herceptin. Maggie's tumor began shrinking after her first chemo treatment on 7/1/14 and continued to shrink until it was completely gone. The pathology report following her double mastectomy on 12/26/14 found no cancer in either breast or lymph nodes. She had a pathological complete response. Six days after surgery, Maggie was back in the studio working to regain my strength,