Breast Cancer:

One Woman’s Story

By Brandy Titus

“Brandy, the doctor confirmed your biopsy results show breast cancer. We have you scheduled to meet with the surgeon on Thursday.”

“Excuse me?” My voice trembled through the phone line as I fought back the tears. “You mean this Thursday? I am sorry, but you just confirmed my results, and I need time to review my options.”

I ended the call and laid my head in my hands; I am 39 years old, and how could a simple skin change in my breast lead to this? That sunny day in February is when I realized cancer does not discriminate.

Prior to my diagnosis, I noticed a thickening of my skin on the lower part of my left breast accompanied by a dull ache. I told my husband something tells me I should be proactive and schedule a wellness check with my family doctor to be safe.

In late January, I met with my family doctor who did a breast exam and said I don’t see any concerns but because you won’t be 40 until August typically the insurance would not cover it. But given your family history of cancer, your insurance will cover, and I will make the referral now.  I replied, “I am not concerned about the cost; I am concerned about making sure I am protecting myself.”

Little did I know that I would be advocating for myself and having discussions with doctors who would soon become my care team to help cure the secret beneath my skin that would drastically change what life looked like at 39 years old.

I was diagnosed with ductal carcinoma, grade 3, her2 positive – meaning that the biopsy results were reflecting the cancer was confined to my milk duct glands but was a quicker grower accompanied by the her2 receptor which creates a protein that generates a more aggressive cancer cell.

I made a personal referral to the University of Michigan Breast Cancer Center that immediately put me in touch with Dr. Hughes and her team of oncologists who would become my care team and be by my side every step of the way.

I said, “Please give it to me straight, don’t hold back, I want your honest and professional opinion. Can this be cured? How bad is it and what do I need to do? I am a provider for members in my community as well, just in a different role—their finances. I give bad news too but in a different format. I have a loving husband and two beautiful children at home who I am not ready to say goodbye to; I am young and have a lot of life left to live. Tell me what I need to do and how do we streamline my treatments and prognosis.”

She looked at me and said, “Brandy, we will treat to cure this – I am so impressed you even noticed the change in your skin. We will start with our own set of tests to make sure the imaging matches up with the details we received from your primary provider, but, based on what I am seeing, your case is very early and I am not sure that you will even need chemo. We can treat with a surgery and radiation.”

At that point, neither of us knew that what was initially identified as stage 0 ductal carcinoma would be upgraded to stage 3 ductal carcinoma. This was found because I asked her, “Can you please double-check as close to my skin line to make sure we don’t miss what can become invasive breast cancer that is overlooked at the base of the skin?”

Sure enough, that was where the tumor had penetrated the tissue. By April, I would undergo two lumpectomies within three weeks of each other on my left breast to remove the calcifications containing the cancer cells and retrieval of nodes from my arm pit which tested positive as well.

It was weeks of what felt like trial and defeat; after long days of surgery, she would read my test results on her phone and call me from home to share with me the gut-wrenching news that would keep adding to my treatment plan.  Knowing that she cared enough for me—like I do for the clients I serve in my community—to call me after hours, preparing me for what would soon post to my portal to avoid me worrying at night meant the world to me.

That’s when I knew I had to remain positive and strong in my faith to beat this. It may be a long journey, but soon I will look back at the end of this journey and say I did it. So can you if you’re faced with the same lifechanging events.

I remember telling her after getting the last round of hard news before the treatment plan began, “When life gives you lemons; you make lemonade, right?”  The phone fell silent and then she said, “I will never forget your case. This one weighs on me; I have never felt so defeated and you continue to just handle the situation with grace. You remain humble and you’re one of the most beautiful patients I have ever met. We are going to treat you to cure the disease, and I will be here every step of the way with you.” Our next meeting would be a road map for a treatment plan that would include: six rounds of chemo, a third surgery, 30 rounds of radiation, and 17 rounds of targeted treatment for the her2 receptor.

That’s when I finally had my moment: the thought of losing my hair was traumatizing. If I could keep my hair, I could keep my journey a secret and nobody would know, and I could protect my kids from worrying.

It was the turning point for me that kept me awake at night—trying to find a way to tell my sweet boys that mom needs medicine to make me better. I found the courage to tell the boys by saying, “I have a secret to share with you” when it was just the three of us because I knew having a conversation as a family would be very emotional. I didn’t want them to see the raw emotions that Doug and I were having behind closed doors because we were scared. I said, “You know Mom has been going to the doctor a lot lately and I have some bad cells that need some medicine. It will make me lose my hair, I am going to be OK, you have nothing to worry about but if I don’t get the medicine, I could get sick.”

They both looked at me and said, “Does Dad know your secret? I said yes, he does, and he hugged me so much and told me it’s all going to be OK.” They both replied, “OK, Mom, if Dad knows then we are good, Mom.”

They went about their business playing and I walked out to the shop where my husband stood and I said, “I told the boys. I held it together, I did not say the word ‘cancer,’ I just described it as bad cells. They both agreed if you knew about my secret everything was OK and that they both loved me very much.”

We smiled at each other; the biggest weight of how we would tell them was lifted from our chests and I would begin my treatment plan losing my hair 14 days after my first chemo treatment.

The one thing I have learned is once you are told you have cancer; you’re not scared of it anymore and overall, it has not made me feel ill. The hardest thing I did find overwhelming was finding local resources to assist me with education like hair loss, diet, and comfort. But once I started sharing my story with my community of friends and clients, I found so much value in the friendships I have created over the years who have assisted me with their services locally and from a distance:

- Lisa Steward at Nutrition Extreme

- Dr Janelle at Hillsdale Family Chiropractor

- Micki McFarland at Mindful Healing Spa

- Kaidee Murray at Outer Limits Salon

- Rhonda Clendening; Natures Path Healing Arts Center

- Brittany Bowman, Backroads Lash & Nail Salon

I have made all these lovely women who offer services locally part of my self-care routine and it has helped so much along my journey from my diet, comfort, hair loss, sense of beauty, and redlight therapy options.

In addition, I located a team of ladies in Lansing at Another Look Hair Institute who specialize in chemo patients and hair loss; they helped me find the most beautiful wig made from human hair. I am not going to lie, it was expensive, but my hair has always been my signature and to see how that wig which hides the daily reminder of my illness brought a smile to my family was worth every penny.

I have carried out my diagnosis well and so have others, but it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t weigh heavy on us; let this be a reminder give yourself some grace and put yourself first because our families need us and we need each other. Often as women we feel like we can’t talk about it, but I have found talking about my diagnosis has touched a lot of younger women who have been hiding a lump or a tender spot on their breasts for months. In my professional circle there were four of us all diagnosed at the same time, three of us in the same breast, same hormone receptor, all under the age of 50. Breast cancer is on the rise in the younger women including the her2 receptor.

Let my journey encourage you to make the phone call and ask for help. My diagnosis was early, but it could have been much worse if I had waited just a few more months.

Sharing my journey with our community was very important to me because I am a familiar face who has helped many with their dreams of homeownership by providing mortgage options for you and your family. But the best part of my job is the friendships and relationships I have created with so many of you; I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for the friendships, prayers, meals, cards, flowers, and phone calls you have all provided during this journey my family and I are currently facing. Until we meet again at the baseball field, the bank, the grocery store, the closing table or in passing, please take the time to put yourself first because tomorrow is not promised.