LIFE STORIES
Therese Curry, USA
Triumph Over Struggle
Therese shares her experience with breast cancer and unwavering love and support of her family and medical staff to overcome the disease.
I had heard the numbers—one in eight women are diagnosed with breast cancer, but I never thought that six weeks after my wedding, I would become part of that statistic at age 31. Finding the lump in the shower was a total accident—at my age, I wasn’t even doing a breast exam! I went to a reputable breast doctor who told me I had nothing to worry about, and that the lump was a fibroadenoma (benign tumor common in women in their 30s). I could have listened to this doctor and went on my merry way; however, my gut was telling me I needed a second opinion.
The second doctor also thought the lump appeared to be a fibroadenoma but wanted to biopsy it just to make sure. A few days later, I got the call that I never expected – a call no one should ever have to receive: “You have breast cancer.”
I fell to the floor into my new husband’s arms, having zero idea what the future would hold. Even the doctor was shocked, so shocked that my DNA was tested to make sure the pathology report wasn’t an error. I was a newlywed with a lifetime ahead of me—this felt like such horrifying news. My biggest question was, “Now what?” I didn’t have a plan, I didn’t know what was going to happen, and I was terrified. That, for me, was the worst part.
I have no family history of breast cancer and tested negative for the BRCA gene. With the help of family and friends, we researched and met with the best doctors in New York. I am so fortunate to have found the lump on my own and caught the cancer early. “You saved your life, Therese,” was a phrase I heard over and over. Doctors are seeing breast cancer more and more in women and men in their 30s, and even in their 20s. The scary part is mammograms don’t start being covered by insurance companies until age 40 if there is no family history.
Before chemotherapy due to my age and my dream of being a mother I chose to go through fertility preservation. As a young newlywed having to postpone starting a family and the uncertainty of it all was one of the hardest parts of my journey. I had 6 sessions of intense chemotherapy over 18 weeks and had a double mastectomy. Through the Grace of God, my surgery pathology report showed no residual cancer. It didn’t spread to the lymph nodes, and I had a 100% success rate of treatment. I can now proudly say I am cured and cancer-free! I cannot express enough the gratitude I have for everyone who has been on this journey with me. Thank you for holding my hand throughout the nightmare.
I completed two years on an estrogen blocker medication Tamoxifen and with the support of my doctors and extensive research I took a break and got pregnant with my daughter Abigail Hope naturally. We followed the positive study that was run by Dr Ann Partridge at Dana Faber. The results were successful showing having a baby post-breast cancer does not increase your chances of reoccurrence.
I have found purpose in my pain, and it has been healing to be an advocate for early detection and supporting other young women going through breast cancer.
Life can change in an instant. We were on cloud nine as newlyweds and this hit us like a ton of bricks. But we were fortunate. If we can get through this, we can get through anything!
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