Meet Jennie
“I really hated waiting for the results of my repeat breast biopsies for years and wondering each time, 'Is this cancer?'”
Jennie, after repeat breast biopsies, was diagnosed in September 2021, at 56
Jennie was used to undergoing breast biopsies. “It seems like every two years, there was a suspicious spot during my mammograms,” she said. “They’d do biopsies and everything always turned out to be benign, but the constant waiting for biopsy results really was anxiety-provoking.”
In 2021, Jennie felt a small, tender lump. Her doctor sent her for a biopsy right away, and during the procedure, the doctor said the scans suggested breast cancer. “I just thought, well, this thing has finally happened that I’ve been dreading,” Jennie recalled. Even though she was prepared for it to be breast cancer, the diagnosis was still a shock. Jennie’s treatment included chemotherapy and a mastectomy with immediate implant reconstruction. She could have chosen a lumpectomy, but was ready to be done with the biopsies and worrying. “I have no regrets,” she said.
As a nurse, Jennie was able to approach treatment with clarity, even while still acknowledging the emotional weight of it all. “The hardest part of the process was the last legs of chemo. My hair fell out, but otherwise I felt pretty great, until the end,” said Jennie. “But my husband was a fantastic nurse, the kids were great and kept me laughing and the dog stuck by my side, she was my shadow.”
I feel very grateful that I felt enveloped by love and caring, because I know not everybody gets that.
