stories of survival

Nicole DeVaney

My name is Nicole DeVaney. I am 19 years old and I am a 4-year breast cancer survivor. A little before I turned 15 I discovered a lump in my left breast while I was taking a shower. At first I hesitated to tell my mom about the lump but my dear friend Keith talked me into telling her. I began to grow worried since it wasn’t going away, so I took Keith’s advice and told my mom.

The next day she made me an appointment to have the lump checked out. The doctors in Florence examined me and figured that since I was so young that it was just a cyst, but just in case they performed a biopsy and removed several cysts from my left breast. A week later my mom and I went back to the doctor to hear the results of the biopsy. As soon as my doctor walked into the room my mother could tell something was wrong but I didn‘t pay very much attention I was just ready to go home. Then my doctor told me that I had a rare form of breast cancer called Secretory Carcinoma. My mom started crying instantly and I went into shock, not knowing what to do or say. He then referred me to the Kirklin Clinic in Birmingham where I met my doctor to this day, Dr. Kirby Bland.

At my first appointment I didn’t know what to expect or what I could do. Even though I was not exactly in the position to have fun, I enjoyed meeting all the nurses, doctors and Dr. Bland’s students who followed him around who I nicknamed “the puppies“. Dr. Bland scheduled my surgery for 2 days later. I was nervous before the surgery, but afterward I was so drugged that I didn’t care much of what was going on around me except for the fact that I really wanted my strawberry lip-gloss.

I had 2 more surgeries after that, the last surgery I had every bit of my tumor and several lymph nodes under my left arm removed to make sure the cancer hadn’t spread. It didn’t, so that was wonderful news to everyone‘s ears. I still go to Dr. Bland once a year and am now 4 years cancer free.

I would like to thank everyone involved with helping me defeat breast cancer especially Dr. Bland, if it were not for him I don’t know where I would be today. Although breast cancer was an extremely scary experience for me, I have learned to appreciate life because you never know what will happen to you tomorrow.

All women and even men are at risk for breast cancer. If you see or feel something abnormal about your breast, you should have it check out. Although breast cancer is more common with women over the age of 40, you can definitely have breast cancer before then, because I was diagnosed two weeks after I turned 15 and although it is a very rare case, it can still happen.

I suggest everyone start doing breast self-examinations at least once a month and if you notice anything different about your breasts notify your doctor. It is always better to be safe than sorry. If it wasn’t for the prayers and support from my family, friends, and people from the community, I would have had a much harder time getting through this.

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stories of survival

Kathy Seale

In January of 2003, at age 48, I went for my routine check-up at the gynecologist. He palpated my breasts, told me to schedule a mammogram, and said everything looked good. I told him that my sister, maternal uncle and grandmother had been diagnosed with breast cancer, and I wondered if I should stop taking estrogen (prescribed because of my total hysterectomy at 35). He dismissed my concern and said the benefits outweighed the risks. I scheduled a mammogram, but canceled the appointment when ‘something came up.’
Read More of Kathy’s Story