Meet Shanae & Joyce
“I couldn't believe my daughter had breast cancer, too.”
Joyce was diagnosed in August 2023, at 55, and Shanae was diagnosed in July 2024, at 33
Joyce and Shanae are mother and daughter – and breast cancer survivors. Joyce was diagnosed with stage 3 triple negative breast cancer in 2023. Less than a year later, Shanae was diagnosed with stage 1A triple positive breast cancer.
When Joyce felt a lump in her breast, she reached out to her doctor, who scheduled a diagnostic mammogram followed by a biopsy. “They said it would take a week or so for the biopsy results, but I saw my results first on my patient portal,” Joyce said. “It was overwhelming.” At first, Joyce kept the news to herself, trying to maintain a sense of composure before telling family and friends. Shanae was closely involved in her mother’s treatment and knew Joyce’s care team.
Eleven months later, Shanae felt a lump in her breast. A mammogram showed something suspicious and a biopsy confirmed it was breast cancer, just four days before she turned 34. “I could not believe my child had cancer, too,” Joyce said. “But my doctors became her doctors, they all knew her, and she already knew them, and she saw how they cared for and treated me.”
Some of my friends never had mammograms until I told them about breast cancer, and now they're having their mammograms.
