Whitney Brooks was 25 when she first felt a lump. Fear kept her from picking up the phone for two years. By the time she finally got checked, at 27, she was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer. Today she’s 34, the disease has progressed to Stage 4 and spread throughout her body, and in July she entered hospice with a 90-day prognosis. Her wife, Dana Foreman, was the one who finally urged her to make that appointment.
Brooks is sharing her story for a reason. About one in eight women will develop invasive breast cancer in their lifetime, and when it’s caught before it spreads, the five-year survival rate is nearly 100%. She says cancer doesn’t have an age or a number, and she’s right. Young women get breast cancer too, and feeling healthy is not the same as being screened.
Here on the Suncoast, screening is closer than most people realize. Sarasota Memorial, local imaging centers, and mobile mammography units that visit our beach communities all offer easy access. If you’ve been putting off a checkup, let this be the nudge. Who’s the person in your life who keeps you honest about your health? Tell us in the comments.
