Breast Cancer Awareness Month: The power of early detection
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — As part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we sat down with a survivor to hear her story and a specialist who has advice that could save your life—or the life of someone you know.
Triple negative breast cancer survivor Maritza Little recalls the day she received her diagnosis. “You know the day they say you have cancer you’re just like… no, that can’t be. That’s something that doesn’t happen to me.”
Maritza went in for her usual mammogram and wellness check screening about a year ago. “I went to my usual wellness; we scheduled our mammogram that we do every single year, and that’s how they found it.”
After receiving the diagnosis, Maritza underwent intense chemotherapy, hoping to stop the cancer from spreading. “After 12 weeks of chemo… and another 12 to go… I didn’t know if I could continue,” she reflects.
However, she found comfort in putting her trust in the professionals. “Be positive about the whole thing because at times, yes, you want to give up, but knowing that they are here for you—just follow their lead and do the very best that you can.”
Maritza persevered. “So I am cancer-free. Which for triple negative breast cancer, that’s phenomenal.”
Her oncologist at Novant Health’s Zimmer Cancer Institute, Dr. Ankur Singh, emphasizes the importance of annual mammograms in catching cancer early.
“The majority of them say it was because of the screening mammogram, and it’s so critical because if we catch cancer early, we can cure it. If we let it sit and be idle for too long and it spreads too far, we are talking more like a palliative situation and not a cure.”
Maritza is now receiving treatments as part of her remission recovery every three weeks and hopes to soon be given the all-clear.
“They say this triple negative cancer could come back within two years, but if it’s after the two years I’m clear, and that’s like, whoa, that is beyond phenomenal.”
To find out more about when you should start screening, contact your primary care physician or reach out to Novant’s Oncology Department here.
