Metastatic breast cancer patient tests negative for COVID-19

Janice Cowden, a Florida resident who has metastatic breast cancer and symptoms of the novel coronavirus, has tested negative for COVID-19 after a lengthy process that involved being denied testing multiple times—despite her vulnerable status (The Cancer Letter, March 20).

Cowden, 62, was worried about having potentially exposed other patients at a fundraising event in late February. Two weeks ago, on March 21, she finally received a test. To be exact, she received two tests—one at a curbside testing facility, and one at her primary care provider.

It took 13 days for Cowden to receive the results from both tests. “The upside of two negative tests is that MD Anderson might be less likely to reschedule my PET/CT/Onc appointments again,” Cowden said.

Cowden’s symptoms have mostly subsided after a full month of not knowing whether she put others at risk. The delay indicates a nationwide response to COVID-19 that can be best described, in Cowden’s words, as “a total shit show.”

“That’s usually what we call metastatic breast cancer—just a total shit show. It’s very valid to use that term in relation to this virus too, because it truly is that,” Cowden said.

Cowden first developed symptoms of COVID-19 in early March—severe coughing, labored breathing, aches and a high fever of 103. There was a delay in testing, because her primary care physician and the emergency room didn’t have any tests.

“This whole experience has been one of extreme frustration and disappointment for me. There are so many other people who are just at the beginning of this,” Cowen said. “Clearly they’re not going to be getting their results, unless they’re inpatient, any faster—or unless they’re a health care worker at a facility.”

In Florida, where there are upwards of 8,000 confirmed cases of the virus, Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a statewide stay-at-home order April 1. On the day Cowden sought treatment at the ER at the direction of her primary care physician, her community held a St. Patrick’s Day celebration.

“It’s just so widespread in Florida. So, I look at this and I think, why is it so difficult for Americans in general to do what we need to do to lessen the spread of the disease?” Cowden said. “Those of us who’ve been immunocompromised due to disease treatment for breast cancer are used to having to socially isolate. If they could just do it for a short time, then it would change that entire trajectory pattern.”