Meet Nancy
“To others diagnosed, my advice is to take it one step at a time, ask for help and advocate for yourself.”
Nancy had enlarged lymph nodes that led to her diagnosis in September 2019, at 57
In the 1970s, Nancy’s mom passed away from breast cancer. Because of her family history, Nancy has always been diligent about her annual mammograms. In September 2019, when Nancy was 57, she was diagnosed with stage 3 triple positive breast cancer.
“It turns out that the type of breast cancer I have wasn’t visible on a mammogram,” she said. “It wasn’t detected until it had spread to my lymph nodes.” Nancy’s treatment included chemotherapy, a lumpectomy and radiation therapy. She then continued with targeted chemotherapy for a year, and is now on hormone therapy .
“Breast cancer changed me. I think it’s the reason I ended up retiring. I asked myself, is this really what I’m meant to do? My work just didn’t bring me the same level of joy,” she said. “I now volunteer with Komen, I spend time with family and friends, I do things that bring me joy.”
After my diagnosis, I started to see the world with a silver lining, each part of it, even the hard things.
