Janine Avanti, a bodybuilder and actress, had always suffered from issues regarding fibroids. While she was familiar with growths under her scalp and on her breasts, a particular growth on her neck worried her a little. She naturally went to doctors and was initially told, “When I went to the doctor to have this one looked at they’re like, ‘Oh you have a history of fibroids. If it’s really not bothering you, let’s just leave it alone.”
Avanti told PEOPLE that she wanted to believe what the doctors said and given the fact that she was shooting for the film When Death Comes Knocking during that time, she did not want to get the lump removed as it would have left a scar. However, she could not ignore that growth for long as, ““It was like the end of a thumb sticking out of my neck. I could hide it with my hair. Other people didn’t notice it, but obviously, I felt it. I knew it was there.”
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She further added, “It got to the point where it was starting to bother me, along with, obviously, turning 50. My looks, being in movies, being on stage as an amateur bodybuilder… I thought, ‘You know what? It’s time for me to have a lower facelift.’”
This decision to get a facelift led her to Dr. Kimberly Lee, who, before becoming a plastic surgeon, did her specialization in head and neck surgeries. Avanti recounted to PEOPLE that the doctor had a lot of awards in her office that stood testament to her success as a cancer neck and head surgeon. She then said, “And I was like, wow, that’s impressive. Maybe I should ask her about this tumor. Maybe she can remove this fibroid while we’re doing this lower facelift jawline and neck lift surgery.”
Dr. Lee asked Avanti if she had gotten the lump checked before and she said what she was told by the previous doctors. It was then decided that Dr. Lee would remove the lump and take a closer look at it as well. They scheduled the surgery for March 2024. While the whole surgery was to be done within three hours, it took Dr. Lee three and half hours to only remove the “fibroid” as she told PEOPLE.
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She then added, “When I saw the tumor, I didn’t like the way it looked, because it was matted, really stuck to everything around it. When we have a benign tumor or a benign mass, these things come out relatively easily. Everything comes out in one piece. This particular mass was not like that. So I already knew that this was not good.”
Avanti mentioned that “this was like a chewed-up piece of dark bubble gum. It was attached to everything.” It also explained why she was gradually getting a crooked smile as it was the tumor that was affecting the nerves on her neck.
Dr. Lee then mentioned that the rare variant of Avanti’s rare tumor – mucoepidermoid carcinoma, an oncocytic type, needed surgery as the first base of treatment. However, since in Avanti’s case “There was a little bit of spread into the nerve, [so] she needed some radiation treatment.”
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Dr. Lee, who believes in a deeper connection with her patients, told PEOPLE, “I needed to get her to the best care with the head and neck oncologist, and because I am a head and neck surgeon, I know those people. So it was a lot of behind-the-scenes phone calls trying to get her in to see somebody as soon as possible. I didn’t want her to get lost or fall through the cracks. I wanted to make sure she was going to get all the care she needed and be okay.”
Avanti expressed her unending gratitude to Dr. Lee and said, “I do try to remind myself that I was healthy before cancer, before I was told that I had cancer, and I know that I can be healthy after.” Their case shows how the right doctor who empathizes with their patients and understands their situation always brings out the best results.
