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Lillie D. Shockney, RN, BS, MAS

Lillie D. Shockney served as administrative director of breast center from 1997 to November 2018 and director of cancer survivorship programs from 2011 to November 2018, at which time she retired from her hospital leadership roles. She continues to serve on the faculty in the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and also as the co-developer of Work Stride - Managing Cancer at Work, an employee benefit developed for Hopkins employees that now is being utilized by businesses and corporations nationally. 

Her name is well known in the cancer field, especially in navigation, survivorship, patient-centered care, preservation of quality of life, end-of-life planning and care, improving the cancer patient's experience, breast cancer, and clinical outcomes. She clinically specializes in breast cancer care. Her public speaking, literary work, and notable roles she has held over the last 40+ years are well known to many.

  • University Distinguished Service Professor of Breast Cancer (2016-present)
  • Former Administrative Director, Johns Hopkins Breast Center (1997-2018)
  • Former Director, Johns Hopkins Cancer Survivorship Programs (2011-2018)
  • Professor of Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (2016-present)
  • Co-Developer and medical advisory of Work Stride: Johns Hopkins Managing Cancer at Work Program (2012-present)
  • Co-founder, the Academy of Oncology Nurse & Patient Navigators (AONN+) (2009- present)
  • Co-founder, the Association of Chronic & Complex care Nurse Navigators (ACCCNN) 2021-present
  • Former Program Director of AONN+ (2009-2019)
  • Editor-in-chief of the Journal of Oncology Navigation and Survivorship (2012-2023)
  • Author of 30 books and > 350 articles on various cancer topics and 20 book chapters
  • National and international public speaker (1997- present)

A two-time breast cancer survivor, originally diagnosed in her 30s, Lillie has worked tirelessly to improve the care of breast cancer patients around the world. She has worked at Johns Hopkins since 1983. Lillie takes great pride in the Academy of Oncology Nurse & Patient Navigators (AONN+) which has more than 9,000 members. She has served as a consultant for breast cancer for national ABC News and Good Morning America, and has been also consulted regularly by the Today Show and CNN. Lillie serves on 28 medical advisory boards currently.  

In 2008, The President of The Johns Hopkins University and their Board of Trustees appointed her to a Distinguished Service Faculty Chair. This is the first and only time in the history of the institution that a hospital nurse has been appointed to a distinguished service designation. She continued to climb the academic ladder and in 2016 was promoted to full professor and is the only nurse at Johns Hopkins to have a primary faculty appointment in the School of Medicine and the only nurse in the country to have reached the highest academic faculty ranking and be appointed to a faculty chair as a University Distinguished Service Professor of Breast Cancer at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

In 2009 she co-founded the Academy of Oncology Nurse & Patient Navigators, a national professional organization for those working in the navigation space with oncology patients.

In 2012, she and a colleague created an employee benefit called Work Stride- Managing Cancer at Work. Though originally developed for Johns Hopkins employees, its success resulted in it being offered nationally to other businesses and corporations across the country. She continues her work as a medical advisor within Johns Hopkins Healthcare Solutions to enhance the program and continue to support its growth.

In 2021/2022, she co-founded the Association of Chronic & Complex Care Nurse Navigators, a national professional organization for those working in the navigation space with chronic illness and complex care patients. 

She has authored 30 books and more than 350 articles on breast cancer, oncology navigation, survivorship, patient advocacy, communicating bad news, end of life, and most recently, chronic illness and complex care. 

She has received 62 awards—55 national, 6 state, and 1 international award including being inducted into the Maryland Women Hall of Fame, Women in Business Healthcare Trailblazer Award, Johnson & Johnson's Most Amazing Nurse in America award, National Komen for the Cure's Professor of Survivorship award, and several national life time achievement awards. Her research area of focus is preservation of quality of life for patients with metastatic breast cancer. 

A documentary was made about three key components of her life's work over a 5 year period and completed in 2022. It launched to audiences nationally and internationally in 2023 and is calle

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Perimenopausal Breast Tenderness

I'm 46 years old and my breasts always feel swollen, is there a natural way to help with this?

Ask the Expert
perimenopause

Q:

I'm 46 years old and going through perimenopause. I have irregular periods and water retention. My breasts always feel swollen; not sore—just enlarged. Is this due to water retention and lack of progesterone? Besides using progesterone cream, is there a natural way to help with this breast enlargement?

A:

Swollen and tender breasts are often a sign of high levels of estrogen, which is common in the perimenopausal period. It's also common when you're pregnant and just before your period (which is why your breasts are often tender then). One study found about a third of women experienced tender breasts in early perimenopause. The good news is that this is often the first menopausal symptom to disappear as you get closer to the menopause itself, which, as you may know, is 12 months from the date of your last period.

Because high levels of estrogen are often behind the breast swelling, you're right to think that progesterone—which can help balance your hormonal levels and prevent estrogen from overstimulating breast tissue—might be a possible treatment. There are numerous options available, including natural progesterone cream that can be applied to the skin or vaginally (available over the counter or by prescription), oral progesterone, and progesterone-only birth control pills (or combination birth control pills).

One study of 40 premenopausal women found their premenstrual breast pain significantly improved when they used 4 grams of a vaginal cream containing 2.5 percent natural progesterone from the 19th to the 25th day of their cycle for six months, compared to women using a placebo cream. Although oral progesterone might initially increase breast tenderness, that quickly disappears. Generally, if you're still menstruating your health care professional will likely prescribe progesterone just during part of your cycle, usually for about six months.

You can also talk to your health care professional about combination estrogen/progesterone therapy. There's evidence that it may relieve breast tenderness in women who have breast tenderness prior to starting hormone therapy; paradoxically, however, it may increase breast tenderness in women who didn't have it to begin with. However, if you have a family history of breast cancer or other known risk factors for breast cancer, your health care professional may not prescribe hormone replacement therapy.

If you don't want to use hormone therapy, you might consider evening primrose oil. This oil is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which can reduce the inflammation associated with breast swelling and tenderness. Just follow directions on the bottle. Other supplements that may help are vitamin E, 400 IU a day, and a good quality vitamin B supplement.

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