When Elaine Lewis went in for her routine mammogram in November 2022, she had no idea of what the next year had in store for her. That mammogram showed an area of concern, and she was asked to return for another mammogram and ultrasound.
A few days later, there was another phone call from the doctor. “There’s a spot the size of a BB, and we need to do a biopsy.”
Harvey Miller, MD, Chief Clinical Quality Director of the Breast Center at SGMC, told Elaine that he wanted to check that spot just to be sure. She was surprised, as she had not felt a lump or had any breast pain.
At her next appointment, Dr. Miller told her the dreaded words: breast cancer.
By this point, it was mid-December, and the holidays were right around the corner. Once she had the news, Elaine knew it was time to fight. She asked Dr. Miller, “What are we going to do?” Dr. Miller presented her with two options: wait, or go ahead and take care of it.
Elaine chose to tackle her breast cancer head on, just a few days before Christmas.
After telling her family and having conversations with her grandchildren, she began reaching out to friends and others in the community who had battled breast cancer. “I listened to those with positive testimony that encouraged me to overcome this battle,” she said. She also had many people praying for her.
Howard Bowers, MD, SGMC General Surgeon, performed the surgery to remove the cancerous spot from Elaine’s breast.
In January 2023, Elaine visited SGMC’s Pearlman Cancer Center to begin radiation therapy. She underwent 20 rounds of therapy: 5 days a week for a month.
“I had heard so many stories of how sick radiation made others, but I was one of the lucky ones,” she shared. “I had no problems and didn’t feel sick at all. Toward the end of treatment, I did have a little bit of burn, but that was my main side effect.”
During her many visits to the cancer center, she became close with the “dynamite” staff and care team. “I love each and every one of them,” she says. “They made my experience very comfortable and always gave me positive affirmation.”
Alongside the encouragement of the staff, Elaine says that family, faith, and prayer helped her to make it through. Now, she encourages all women to get their annual mammogram if they are eligible.
“We can endure that little bit of discomfort during a mammogram for the peace of mind it offers,” she says.
If a woman does end up in a similar position as her facing a cancer diagnosis, she offers some words of wisdom: “If you do hear that big C word, don’t let that word overtake you or put fear in you. I’m a person that believes that God is bigger than cancer.”