Breast cancer survivors shared their stories at Cancer Treatment Centers of America for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
October is breast cancer awareness month, and Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Philadelphia brought in two survivors to tell their stories and inspire patients.
Savita B. — who did not want her last name used — emphasized the importance of not hesitating when it comes to your health, and Amy Brink encouraged patients to keep looking forward.
“There’s so much more out there every day that is going to help make this an easier journey for people diagnosed today versus me three years ago,” Brink said. “There’s so much hope to be had.”
Savita was 41 years old with a 13-year-old son when a radiologist reported seeing something that caused her to worry in her routine mammogram. She recalled not hesitating to call a healthcare provider for a follow-up ultrasound.
“They could not get me an appointment for another week, and that was not acceptable,” she said.
Savita was able to make an appointment at CTCA after hours and scheduled a biopsy within the next couple of days. She received her results the next day after it was supposed to take five.
“The doctor looked at me and said, I just want you to know that my plan is to make sure that everything we can do we will do so you will live up to be 80,” she said.
After undergoing surgery, Savita had to have radiation treatment, but wanted to continue working full time. Radiation nurses agreed to come to the center before operating hours to accommodate her schedule and allow her to keep working.
Realizing there was the possibility of going bald during chemotherapy treatment, Savita decided to shave her head beforehand. When she told her son about the treatment and shaving her head, he made her promise one thing.
“Just promise me you’ll wear a hat because wigs are not cool,” she joked.
Savita championed herself through her experience, and wants current patients to know they are not alone in the fight.
“I’m hoping they can understand it’s important to fight for yourself and they have champions everywhere,” she said.
Brink’s family had no history of breast cancer, so when she felt a lump completely by chance, she became the “patient zero” of her family.
“It’s not something you dream about as a little girl,” the Fort Washington resident said.
She was laying in bed watching television when she thoughtlessly crossed her arms and felt the lump. A mammogram failed to find the tumor, but a follow-up ultrasound found three tumors in a triangular configuration that made a mastectomy necessary.
Brink came to CTCA to seek a second opinion on her treatment. On the day of her surgery, the doctors discovered the cancer was much more aggressive than anyone expected.
“I went into surgery a stage one and I came out and I was almost a stage four,” she said.
But the treatment plan was already set in place when she had woken up, albeit completely different than what they were expecting it to be.
“That’s when I knew I was in the right place,” she said.
Remaining hopeful wasn’t a choice. Brink has three sons, and she had already promised them she would “make a fool of herself” at their kids’ weddings. She said it was a “mountain” in the road instead of a detour, but it never took her off the path of life she had planned.
“I don’t think I have a particularly unique story, I don’t feel that I am different from any other woman who gets that phone call or sits across from that doctor and gets that news,” she said. “From the moment I heard I got cancer I had a hard time putting a why to this, and after all this I feel like my why is for this reason. Because I can maybe help somebody else get through it.”
Brink highlighted the support she had from family and friends, and also from Dr. Steven Standiford, who had helped both her and Savita through their treatments.
“With every patient, I want to remember something unique about them,” Standiford said. Savita said they had bonded over her son. “You find ways to have fun with them, even in the hard times.” ••
