My Story: Doris and breast cancer

Doris is a nurse and the Manager of Navigator Services at Emory Decatur Hospital in Atlanta, GA. She is also a breast cancer survivor. Doris talks about her cancer journey and the importance of breast self-exams and mammograms.

Transcript

00:00

[SERIOUS MUSIC] I didn't know what to think, because now all of a sudden, I'm not an oncology nurse. I am a patient. And I'm like, my mind was blank.

00:09

Very good friend of mine just got diagnosed with breast cancer. And I just said, oh my gosh. And I just sort of did a little thing like this.

00:18

I thought, gosh, isn't your brain just take you places? Because you almost think there was a lump in my breast. I did a self-breast exam a few weeks later

00:26

and I thought, well, I really think that is a lump. And I was due in August for my routine test for the mammogram.

00:34

And I just went ahead and did it in August and it came out suspicious. And there we went. I had surgery.

00:43

I had chemotherapy. I had radiation therapy. I had reconstruction. I'm going to do it, and I'm going to do it right.

00:49

So I had it all. And I had about 52 weeks of treatment for my cancer.

00:55

I found my own breast cancer with a self-breast exam. Don't be afraid if you think there's a change.

01:02

You must now follow through and let someone tell you if that's a concern or not. Mammograms are important early because you

01:10

can do your self exam and you feel something that's different. A mammogram can actually determine something that's

01:18

there before you feel it. So it helps with a earlier diagnosis, which is always

01:24

the best way to manage and treat a cancer successfully is to get something treated at an early stage.

01:32

I feel like I'm sort of better equipped after cancer to actually help people the way I would enjoy doing that.