Top left: Suze enjoying views and relaxation after entering remission; top right: Suze, her mother (Olga Morales) and her sister (Meredith Knobler Kennedy); bottom left: Suze recovering after chemotherapy; and bottom right: Suze undergoing chemotherapy treatment for her triple negative breast cancer.
accompanies a breast cancer diagnosis. Unfortunately, Suze recalled a different experience. She remembered her medical team’s poor bedside manner when she was finally admitted for a scan. “The ultrasound technician asked if breast cancer ran in my family, and that sent me into a panic attack,” Suze explained. “She stepped out and brought the radiologist back in with her. This woman said they didn’t like what they saw and that it wasn’t shaped right. And then she apologized! As if I was already dead.” “I looked at her and said, ‘Oh, don’t you I’m-sorry me.’ I’m going to fight this. I’m going to beat it. And I’m going to be OK.” After these preliminary ultrasound results, Suze went to San Diego, California, for further testing. She, her sister and their mom were getting their nails done at a salon when the doctor called with her test results. “They said, ‘I’m sorry, but you have cancer,’ and I just started screaming and crying in that salon,” Suze said. “I gave the phone to my mom who quickly passed it to my sister. Once I calmed down, I was able to get back on the phone and ask questions.” From that point on, Suze began fighting her way through her breast cancer journey. “Once I was established with my medical team in San Diego, I learned that I didn’t have the ‘garden variety’ breast cancer my previous doctor said I did,” Suze said. “It was confirmed. I had triple negative breast cancer. It was new and more aggressive, and there aren’t a lot of treatments for it that result in long-term success or remission.” “My doctor told me it was treatable, but that I needed to get ready to run a marathon,” Suze continued. “I looked him right in the eyes and said, ‘I have my bossy gloves and my ass-kicking boots on. Let’s go.” She stayed in San Diego with her sister to undergo treatment, which in her case included chemotherapy, a lumpectomy
On average, a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer every 2 minutes in the United States.
1 in 3 of all new cancers among women each year is breast cancer.
One night while lying in bed on her side and watching television, Suze felt a lump in her right breast.
Roughly 15% of women diagnosed have a family history of breast cancer.
She immediately called her doctor.
However, the next available appointment was over a month away. Suze did not accept this. “I was calling my doctors and nurses crying, saying that my mother had breast cancer and I needed to be seen sooner,” Suze recalled. “They finally got me in, but it wasn’t without a lot of work on my part. I always tell people you have to be your own medical advocate. Don’t be embarrassed! Feel your body and check for things like this. Do it in the shower, when you’re changing clothes, when you’re watching TV like I was. Don’t put it off or ignore it. Self- detection is key to detecting this early.” Many women have caring and supportive medical personnel ushering them through the concerning and complicated process that
There are currently more than 4 million breast cancer survivors living in the U.S.
4 https://medcitynews.com/2024/10/navigating-the-breast-cancer- screening-debate-the-role-of-ai-and-precision-medicine/
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