One in eight
In September 2020, she found a lump in her breast.
She was taking a shower like any other day. She wasn’t examining herself, she just felt it. She immediately burst into to tears because in some ways, this was the day she had been dreading since 1995.
Her mother died from breast cancer that year. She knew then that someday it would be her fate to hear the words, “you have cancer.” It was just a matter of when. The “when” was Dec. 4, 2020, when she received her diagnosis.
After more than a month of testing, waiting, more testing, more waiting, she sat in a closet-sized room with a radiologist. He said something along the lines of, “We are just going to get right to it. There is not an easy way to say this. You have invasive ductal carcinoma in your left breast and some pre-cancerous calcifications in your right breast.” The rest of the words were inaudible as a million thoughts raced through her mind.
I am “she” in this story. It’s my story. A story that I am alive to talk about. I am one of the lucky ones. The cancer was caught early. The words I will never forget hearing at my first appointment after diagnosis is, “This is curable.” Curable? Cancer? Those were two words that I had no idea could be used in a sentence together. They told me the road would be long. It included surgery and radiation treatments. The easiest road one could have with breast cancer. And at the end of it all I heard, “you are cancer free.”
When I found the lump in September, I told one of my closest friends, I don’t have insurance, I can’t afford a mammogram. I sentenced myself to the cancer, however it was going to turn out. She and her husband encouraged me over the next week or two to reach out for resources.
A group that I’m very familiar with, The Pink Pirates of Navarre, raises funds to help women get mammograms. I also knew that one of the organizations they donated their funds to was Baptist Healthcare Foundation’s Mammogram Fund. When my doctor asked me if I had a preference where I wanted to go for my mammogram, I said Baptist.
When they called to schedule my appointment for the mammogram, I told the scheduler about needing help to pay for the mammogram because I was uninsured. He told me about the foundation’s fund, scheduled my appointment, and the rest as they say is history.
Baptist Healthcare Foundation, Pink Pirates of Navarre and I all firmly believe in early detection. Remember the words…this is curable. But you have to find it early. There are many women like me who for whatever reason or life circumstance are uninsured. Ladies, there is hope. Reach out. Do not let finances, money or a lack of insurance be a death sentence. There is no excuse when you have organizations ready to help.
We need these mammograms to remain available for uninsured women. One in eight women will develop invasive breast cancer in their lifetime.*
Do you know eight women? Do you know 16 women? Give them the same fighting chance I had. If you are able, please donate to The Baptist Healthcare Foundation Mammogram Fund (https://www.baptisthealthcarefoundation.org/mammogram-appeal) or The Pink Pirates of Navarre (https://pinkpiratesofnavarre.com/).
You might just save a life, and the funds stay local, so it may be someone you know.
Gail Acosta