Winning the Breast Cancer Fight

Duke Associate Professor of Surgery and Population Health Sciences Dr. Jennifer Plichta, a breast surgeon and breast cancer researcher, said that early detection is a vital piece of successful treatment.

This year, the United States Preventative Services Task Force updated its screening guidelines, recommending that women at average risk get screened every other year from age 40 to 74.

“Our goal is to detect cancer as early as possible so we can do as little as possible to get our patients back to focusing on what matters most to them,” Plichta said. “Getting mammograms is part of that. If you want to detect things early, then we’ve got to do imaging.”

As we mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, a time to promote screening and prevention of the disease, breast cancer survivors, like Harris, share their stories.

According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, when caught in its earliest stages, before it has spread, the 5-year relative survival rate for breast cancer is 99%.

Her doctor gave her two options: surgery to remove one breast followed by chemotherapy, radiation and years of medication, or a double mastectomy that would wipe out the cancer in one procedure.

“That wasn’t a hard decision,” said Harris, who had the bilateral mastectomy in February 2023.

There were plenty of dark moments that winter. Despite the assurances from her Duke doctors that her cancer could be treated, it was hard to keep her mind at ease.

But during that time, there were also bright spots she still cherishes.

During treatment, Harris’ daughter, Kayla, came to live with her in Durham to look after her. Her fellow congregants at Destiny International Ministries surrounded her with prayer and encouragement.

And her Duke colleagues brought her meals and donated time off through the Kiel Program.

And the message she received from her surgeon, Dr. Gregory Georgiade, on her Duke MyChart a few days after her mastectomy still leaves her overjoyed.

Telling her that the procedure was a success and that she needs no more treatment, Georgiade said of her cancer: “it’s all gone.”

“After you go through something traumatic like that, your whole world changes,” said Harris, who is now powered by a mindset of joyful gratitude. “You see things differently, you see people differently. You’re not sweating the little stuff anymore. Life just isn’t taken for granted.”

Dean, the Business Manager at Duke Lemur Center, had not had her annual mammogram since 2019, letting appointments lapse during the pandemic.

Her doctor quickly progressed her from a mammogram to an ultrasound, where she did some self-diagnosis.

“I've seen enough ultrasounds with lemurs, and I've had two kids that I could see it,” said Dean, 59. “I could see that it had jagged edges, and I could see that it looked relatively large, so I knew that it was not something to wait around with.”

What she saw was diagnosed as Stage 2 triple-negative breast cancer. The American Cancer Society says it is “an aggressive type of invasive breast cancer” that grows and spreads quickly.

She needed 12 weeks of chemotherapy, surgery, then oral chemotherapy medication and radiation. The lengthy and arduous treatment was made easier when a Lemur Center co-worker sometimes accompanied her to appointments, others made meals for her on treatment days and everyone distracted her from falling down rabbit holes as she continued to work.

“I was around other people and I didn't have the opportunity to go home and wallow in, ‘Oh my gosh, what's going to happen to me?’” Dean said. “I got through it by laughing and having a positive outlook – and not letting it rule your life, as best as possible.”

Dean also credits her Duke Health physicians, who could easily confer and communicate, as they laid out the treatment plan and told her to take everything one step at a time.