If you’re talking to Valerie McCartt about her breast cancer diagnosis and treatment, don’t call it a “journey.”
She doesn’t use that word.
“A journey sounds fun. Breast cancer can feel more like a nightmare when you’re in it.”
It was a nightmare she never thought she’d have to navigate, but McCartt says she knows her diagnosis would have been much more serious had she not gotten her annual screening.
“I went in for my routine mammogram. I didn’t think anything of it. I do it every year, think everything’s going to be fine… and then I noticed a follow-up diagnostic mammogram on my portal, so I asked my husband to go along with me.”
After the diagnostic mammogram and a biopsy, Valerie was diagnosed with stage I triple-negative breast cancer. She had two surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation. She says she was completely shocked by it all.
“You hear the words ‘this is curable,’ but it’s still scary to think about the what ifs all along the way. I’ve never really been chronically ill, so to go from that to laying on the couch and not being able to get up, that was really hard. Thoughts go through your head like, ‘everybody knows somebody with breast cancer, but I don’t want to be the one that everybody knows!’ I don’t even have breast cancer in my family.”
Valerie had a 7 percent risk of developing breast cancer. She credits her mammogram with saving her life.
“A mammogram made the difference. I had no pain, no lumps, no nothing. I go every year and it was routine for me to go… Had I not gotten that mammogram, I wouldn’t have known.”
As a boss with staff who relied on her, Valerie worked through treatment. She says she is grateful for how understanding and accommodating her office was after her diagnosis.
“I was very open about my diagnosis at work. I’m a manager, so I let them know what was going on and they were all amazing. They took care of things at work, but on top of that, they called and texted. They sent me a whole package of purple stuff because that’s my favorite color.”
In addition to the care and kindness she felt from her co-workers, her husband, friends and family, Valerie says she made time to experience other “bright spots” along the way (some journeys that are fun).
“My husband and I ride motorcycles, so there were some days that I felt OK enough to ride. Even just a short ride around the neighborhood felt good.”
With chemo and radiation in the rear view mirror, Valerie is sharing her voice, encouraging other women to get their mammograms on the calendar.
“It’s a scary thing to think about, but 100% you need to schedule that mammogram. It will detect things that you cannot.”
Newly diagnosed? She has a message for you, too.
“No matter how independent and strong you are, you’ve got to let other people help you. It was really hard for me to let others do things for me, but you have to. Don’t be afraid to ask for things. You cannot do it alone.”
