Standout Pro Mod racer Lizzy Musi unveiled on a YouTube video that she is battling Stage 4 breast cancer.
“I’m going to start at the beginning and explain to everyone and give some awareness while speaking about it,” said Musi, 31. “I started out about two years ago with breast augmentation and it didn’t work out, so I had to do a revision of it, and I went to the doctor in Mississippi, and he did an awesome job and I was very happy with it. It fixed my first situation and then I had my second revision done in June and a couple months down the road, I want to say six months later around December/January I noticed like a marble-sized lump in my breast.”
Musi kept a positive outlook about that finding.
“Maybe it is scar tissue,” Musi said. “I didn’t think nothing of it. We thought about it, and I called the place I had it done, and they said I didn’t have anything to worry about. They didn’t see anything in the pathology that made us alarmed. I had to do my annual (check-up) at my doctor and brought it to his attention and he asked if I had been drinking a lot of caffeine? Why don’t you start taking Vitamin E.
“This is the biggest thing when you go into an OBGYN, they always ask you do you have breast cancer in your family? I put ‘yes,’ every time I go to one. My doctor was aware I had breast cancer in my history, but he didn’t do any tests, no ultrasound or checking up on it or anything. This is when we were getting ready to leave for Australia. He said we will keep an eye on it and if it gets any worse, we will run tests.”
Musi was gone to Australia for a month, and we came back at the end of March it went from a marble size to a larger size, and it was tender.
“The one thing he told me is that breast cancer doesn’t really feel any pain or tenderness when you feel a lump in your breast,” Musi said. “I was like maybe it was one of those thyroid cystic deals that some women get. I’m prone to getting cysts.
“When I came back from Australia, and I made another appointment I felt like the (lump) was getting too big. There has to be something going on. I ended up going back to the doctor and he did an examination and they had to run some tests. They did an ultrasound and a mammogram that same day. They didn’t like what they saw on the ultrasound, and I did the mammogram that same day. They didn’t like the results of the mammogram and they had to do a biopsy. The next day I came in for a biopsy and the doctor was super nice. I had never had one done. It was uncomfortable, but not bad.
“When she was done with the biopsy, she put these clips in, like a marker where they took pieces from those areas. I had to do another mammogram right after that.”
A day after that, Musi went to go testing on the racetrack in Virginia.
“I knew Monday I was going to get my test results. I felt okay,” she said. “We did our first test hit and it was good and waited until we were making the next one and I got my phone call from the doctor. He told me what they found was definitely cancer. I am pretty much at that point I had triple negative breast cancer. It is grade 3. The cancer is growing and aggressive. That was very hard for me.”
That’s when Musi made an appointment to see her doctors and discuss her next step.
“I needed to find out what I needed to do to go from there,” she said. “When I got that news. I kind of felt numb. My dad and mom were there with me. We were in the middle of testing how do you tell everyone? I couldn’t believe I had cancer. When I told my dad the news, we were all quiet for a while. I didn’t cry. I was numb.
“We had close family friends who have gone through stuff like this and worked in hospitals and they told us what direction to go. In the beginning it was so overwhelming because you have all this information. You have to go through so many steps and tests before you can even start treatment. The main thing was to get scans done. All I was praying is that didn’t spread since it is a fast-growing cancer. I don’t how long I had this for. I was waiting for the results and the doctor told me it moved to my liver. I have Stage 4 breast cancer that has moved to other parts of my body.”
Musi is a second-generation race car driver and daughter of deconrated drag racer Pat Musi.
“When I got that news, I finally broke down,” Musi said. “This coming Friday I will be getting my port installed and my liver biopsy so we can see what kind of cancer is on the liver and they are pretty sure it is from the breast. Then I get my first round of treatment of chemo. That will all happen Friday. The thing that bothered me to on Monday was how fast things are moving. At some point, I wanted to have kids in my life. I went to go see another doctor the following day. I was referred to Dr. Phillip Ley and he has really been on top of things. He’s been pushing these other doctors and I have been so thankful for that.
“Moving on to chemo is going to be a life-changing experience. I don’t know what I’m in for. It is going to be really, really rough because my cancer is aggressive. I pray that I can be strong and handle it. I know the first chemo session they are going to hit me with all the medicines. I’m learning all this stuff. The worst thing I did do is Google and you look up Stage 4 triple negative and your days are numbered like you have five years to live. It runs in the back of my mind. It is scary. Now that I have it, I wake up in the morning and I feel fine and I feel good and then I say wait, I have cancer. It hits you like a freight train. Right now, I feel OK. Hopefully my body stays strong on this, and I have God on my side. I’m doing it through it him and I have faith and that is all that matters. I always have great family and friends behind me.”
