Makeup, Medicine, and Moving Forward: How Touro Helped Diana Beat Breast Cancer

A few years ago, Diana Ivanov-Clements, 35, was living her dream. A celebrity makeup artist in Los Angeles, she worked with stars on major TV shows like The Bold and the Beautiful, traveling between photo shoots and sets. In 2021, she and her husband, Kyle, made a big move to New Orleans, ready to start a new chapter closer to family.

Just months later, everything changed.

A lump, a phone call and a life-changing diagnosis

In November 2021, while relaxing in the tub, Diana felt a hard pea-sized lump on the outside of her right breast. “I felt sick to my stomach,” she recalled. “Tears started streaming.”

Because Diana was only 32 at the time, she didn’t qualify for a routine mammogram under her insurance. (Age 40 is the recommended age for women with average risk to start getting mammograms, according to the American College of Radiology and the Society of Breast Imaging.)

“I couldn’t just say, ‘Hey, something feels weird, can I get a mammo?’” She had to first endure multiple referrals and tests until she could get a mammogram.

It took a few months until she was able to undergo a mammogram. On February 23, 2022, she received a call that changed her life. Diana remembers going numb as she listened to the voice coming from her phone speaker. It said: “You have invasive breast cancer.”

Finding strength at Touro

Diana’s imaging and biopsy report was sent to Alfred Colfry,III,MD, a surgical oncologist at Touro in New Orleans. From the moment she stepped into his office, she knew she was in the right place.

“He was so encouraging and he made me feel strong. When I left his office, the last thing he said was, ‘You’re young and we were going to knock the cancer out. We are going to be aggressive with treatment so you can move on with your life.’”

Additionally, Diana added that Dr. Colfry’s physician assistant, Karley Boagni, PA, was “a lifeline during treatment.”

“She even gave me her personal number and supported me through some of my lowest moments,” Diana said. “She was such a vital part of my team at Touro.”

Dr. Colfry worked with Diana’s oncologist at Touro, George Zacharia, MD, to develop a tailored plan for Diana that included surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. He carefully explained her diagnosis which included ductal and lobular features.

He also revealed genetic testing results showed that Diana had both a BRCA1 and a CHEK2 gene mutation. These are genetic markers known to increase the risk for breast and other cancers. Both men and women can have a BRCA1 mutation, which is often hereditary. The mutation puts a woman at a significantly higher risk of developing cancer, especially ovarian and breast cancer. Diana does have a cancer history on her father’s side, but she doesn’t know if it’s related to BRCA1.

An increased risk of some cancers, including breast, colorectal, and prostate cancers, have also been associated with a mutation in the CHEK2 gene.

Diana is not the type of woman who waits for life to happen to her.

While the diagnosis did throw her for a loop, she admitted, her husband was there every step of the way to keep her calm. And, she didn’t just wallow in the anxiety of the diagnosis either.

A prolific artist, she picks the paintbrush up any time the whim strikes. Similarly, faced with her daunting diagnosis, she followed the path her Touro doctors laid out for her care.

First up: Chemotherapy treatment with a cold cap

In March 2022, Dr. Zacharia reviewed Diana’s chemotherapy treatment plan with her. Chemotherapy was scheduled to begin after surgery. “He was so lovely,” she said. “He had a PowerPoint and sat down to explain every step of the process. I asked the same questions a thousand times, and he answered them with kindness and patience.”

While preparing for chemotherapy, Diana also decided to freeze her eggs. She desperately wanted to start a family and knew the cancer was going to sideline that dream for a while. “Freezing my eggs meant I still had a chance to have a baby, even though I was about to go through treatments that affect fertility,” Diana said.

Diana started chemo in April 2022. For months, she juggled work with intense treatment: 16 rounds of chemo over several months, six hours at a time. She opted to include a “cold cap” in her treatment. This is a device the patient wears on their head during chemotherapy; it freezes hair follicles to reduce hair loss.

And it worked! While her hair certainly thinned out, she didn’t go bald. “As a makeup artist and hair stylist, being able to style my hair made such a difference to my mental health,” she said, noting she cut the length off her locks before chemo started.

Still, the experience was grueling. “The physical pain was unbearable,” she said. “But the nurses at Touro were angels. They were gentle and encouraging. I felt safe with them.”

She rang the “no more cancer” victory bell marking the completion of chemotherapy at Touro on August 29, 2022.

Next up: Surgery and radiation…and another surgery

The following month, Dr. Colfry performed a nipple-sparing mastectomy, in an effort to remove the cancer. He also removed 15 lymph nodes.

During the same operation, Touro plastic surgeon Ravi Tandon, MD, handled her breast reconstruction. He put in an implant to preserve the shape of Diana’s breast. “Having this surgery really helped my confidence. I just wanted to look like me,” she said.

Diana then embarked on a long road of radiation: 28 sessions, five days a week. The ordeal ended in early January 2023.

Finally, Diana was getting her groove back. Throughout her treatment, she relied heavily on expressing her emotions through her artwork and took makeup jobs when they came her way.

She was ready to jump back into her life. However, before the end of 2023, she decided to have a second surgery to remove the other breast. “I had been thinking about it and decided it was a no-brainer. I knew there was a 90 percent chance I would get cancer in my left breast and I didn’t want to go through all of this again. I felt lucky to make it through this time and I wanted peace of mind.”

It was during the second mastectomy surgery that she had full reconstruction on both breasts, again performed by Dr. Tandon.

Final surgery offers best chance at remaining cancer-free

In May 2025, Diana took another step toward prevention with risk-reducing surgery. Amelia Jernigan, MD, a gynecologic oncologist at the LSU LCMC Health Cancer Center, offered her the opportunity to participate in a clinical trial.

National guidelines recommend risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy—removal of the fallopian tubes and ovaries—for women with a BRCA1 mutation between age 35 and 40. However, emerging research suggests that most of the risk originates in the fallopian tubes, meaning the ovaries may not always need to be removed. This finding has significant implications for women who want to preserve their ovaries to avoid menopause.

Diana enrolled in the SOROCk trial, an NCI-sponsored clinical trial offered through the LSU LCMC Health Cancer Center. As part of the study, she was given a choice and decided to retain her ovaries while removing her fallopian tubes. Researchers at LSU and the NCI will follow her closely, measuring ovarian cancer risk and quality-of-life outcomes to build evidence for future best practices. The LSU LCMC Health Cancer Center is working toward becoming Louisiana’s first and only NCI-Designated Cancer Center, and a critical part of that journey is developing a strong clinical trials program. Courageous women like Diana, along with the exceptional breast team who guided her care, are making that mission possible.

Diana and Kyle had some deep discussions about going through with the salpingectomy. Doing so would mean she could no longer conceive naturally, though IVF would still be possible since she had her eggs harvested. Still, as much as Diana had hoped for a natural pregnancy, they decided her life came first.

“Being told I couldn’t have a child without medical help made me sick to my stomach—but I’m glad I did it. I made that choice myself and now I know that if we are meant to have a child, we will. We will find a way,” Diana said.

A new mission, inspired by her breast cancer journey

Now cancer-free and taking tamoxifen to reduce recurrence, Diana has found purpose in helping others. She became certified in 3D areola tattooing through her business, alldaybaby.co. The service she provides offers lasting healing and hope to breast cancer survivors.

“I feel like I have lost so much. I left California. My work focus changed. I got breast cancer. This business gives me a sense of purpose,” Diana said. “I’m a doer. My art and tattoo work distract me and allow me to help people.

“Makeup washes off,” she said. “Nipple tattooing gives people a way to feel feminine again. It’s permanent and meaningful. And though I was able to keep my nipples, being able to do this for others has saved me in emotional ways.”

Diana’s advice for others: trust, stay busy, and keep hope alive

Looking back, Diana is grateful for the care she received at Touro, noting her care was tailored specifically to her. “I feel like they saw me as a person—not just a patient—and treated Kyle and me as a team.”

She maintains that the compassionate care she received at Touro made a world of difference. “I felt very confident in all my doctors. They gave me all the information I needed when I needed it. They didn’t dump information on me. I can’t explain how important that felt to me — to not be inundated and overwhelmed.”

Diana’s advice to others? First, take advantage of all of the “amazing programs at Touro in place to support women with breast cancer. Therapy, for example, really helped me. I went several times.”

Also, she added, “Trust your decisions. At Touro, you have great doctors. Let them do what they do. Stay positive. Keep yourself busy. I trusted these doctors with my life and now I’m still here to tell my story.”

For more information about cancer care at Touro, please visit: https://www.lcmchealth.org/~/touro/our-services/cancer-care/

For more information about breast care at Touro, please visit: touro.com/breastcare