(WJBF) – In recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, survivors are telling their stories in hopes of helping others.
“I am 39-years-old, I am a stay at home mom, and I’m a breast cancer survivor.”
Rachel Chastain found her first breast lump when she was 26 years old.
“I went and had it imaged, that image led to it being biopsied and then the results came back that it was non-cancerous. So that breast lump was tagged in my right breast, that way for all future imaging, doctors would know this has been imaged and that it isn’t cancerous. Fast forward to when the pandemic hit and I started having pain in my right breast again so I went in for a mammogram. I came out and was told I had no signs of cancer, and then when I went in for my ultrasound, immediately following the mammogram the ultrasound tech found my cancerous lump within a few swipes.”
Hearing the news, Rachel had a lot going through her mind.
“At first you’re thinking no, this can’t be right, and you’re thinking all about it in real time so it’s just going very fast in your head,” she said.
Once she had her diagnosis, she took the next steps.
“I met with Dr. Cooper at Piedmont and we went over my possible treatment options. So I asked Dr. Cooper ‘If I was your daughter what would you tell me to do?’ and he said I would tell you to have the double mastectomy and that’s all it took, and that was my decision.”
Rachel received support from her doctors and her family.
“Technically, I am three years out from being deemed cancer free, my double mastectomy came back with clear margins. So every year, I celebrate my cancerversary with a donation drop-off to the ladies at the breast health center at Piedmont.”
It’s important for Rachel to give back, and now she has another message of hope as well.
“If you are in the AYA community, which is under 39, you are still considered to be in a child bearing age, so if you are diagnosed with breast cancer and if you go through the Piedmont breast health center, they are going to refer you to do fertility preservation. We actually did fertility preservation and now we have a 7-month-old daughter because of that. I just want to say thank you to everyone. Thank you to my doctors, my family. You have made this journey for me bearable and exciting and promising and have given my life hope.”
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