Survivors
* Final in a 4-part series
Sweetwater – In 2012, Susie Garland Adams was doing all the right things to detect breast cancer early.
At 47 years of age, she had a regular exam at Tallulah Health Clinic by Dr. Patricia Johnson. She had been for her annual checkup by her OBGYN in Asheville. Every exam and every report she received had confirmed she had no sign of cancer.
A month later, she went for her yearly mammogram. Several days after her visit, she received a phone call requesting that she come for another mammogram at the Asheville Imaging Center.
Her second mammogram confirmed that she had a mass and she began her battle against breast cancer.
She met with Dr. Williams in Asheville. He confirmed a 5-cm mass that was at Stage 2. Her cancer was HER2-positive. According to the Mayo Clinic, HER2-positive is a breast cancer that contains a protein called “human epidermal growth factor receptor 2.”
This protein promotes the growth of cancer cells. In about 1-of-5 breast cancers, the cancer cells have extra copies of the gene that makes the HER2 protein.
This diagnosis meant that there was a greater chance that the cancer would return within five years, so Adams underwent surgery, six rounds of chemotherapy and radiation. She also remained on medication for over a year.
Today, she is cancer-free. She goes for a check-up every six months, to stay on top of the game. She encouraged women to go for their scheduled exams and noted that she had seen two doctors – and received very thorough exams that did not detect her cancer. She felt like her cancer was fast growing and was not apparent when she had the first exams: instead, a mammogram found the cancer.
“If I had skipped my mammogram, it would not have been found as early as it was,” Adams said, with the reality of what could have been had a mammogram just four weeks after seeing her physician weighing heavily in her mind.