Monique Bass, 53, has always been proactive about her health. A single mother of twin boys and grandmother of four, she started having annual mammograms at the age of 40. But one night of self-examination while lying in bed at the age of 47 changed everything. He found a lump that didn’t feel right.
Three tissue biopsies were then taken from the nodule over three years, all of which were found to be benign. The doctors wanted to keep an eye on him. She pushed him backwards. The lump grew and he knew his body well enough to know something was wrong. He insisted that the lump be removed (a procedure called a lumpectomy) and tested. The diagnosis: stage 1 invasive ductal carcinoma that was aggressive enough to require immediate chemotherapy.
Bass got the call while sitting in a car wash. “I felt like I was in it The Twilight Zone“, she says. “I never thought in a million years that I would ever hear the words, ‘You have cancer.’ The timing made everything difficult. It was 2020, the height of the pandemic, so he navigated most of his journey alone. She went through a divorce, complete with “another emotional layer.” The treatment included four rounds of doxorubicin, 21 rounds of paclixite and losixite. her hair hit the hardest “But the silver lining is that it grew back even better after the treatment,” says Bass.
His faith was anchored in him throughout. “I’m not a deeply religious person, but I believe in God and I knew he had me in the palm of his hand,” says Bass. He established on the other side of the treatment What’s behind the bra?is a New Jersey nonprofit that distributes year-round comfort care packages to breast cancer patients and hosts the weekly podcast of the same name every Sunday at 7:30 PM ET.
2. “I surrounded myself with love and laughter.”
Jaqueline Beale, 64, comes from a family with long-standing cancer patients, including her mother she had breast cancer. That’s why it wasn’t a big surprise when, at the age of 40, she found a lump during a breast self-examination. Even though sonograms and mammograms came back clear, it was obvious something was wrong, so Beale had a biopsy.
When the radiologist called with the result—stage 1 breast cancer, meaning the cancer had not spread beyond the site where the abnormal cells had formed—she heard a loud noise in the background. He said, “I’m in New York and I’m trying to call a cab, but she has breast cancer. She needs to see a breast surgeon.” Despite the rawness, Beale says she couldn’t help but find humor in the situation, which she carried with her through treatment.
