Brenda Kelly shares her breast cancer survivor story, advocates for living in the moment
Aside from her annual appointments, Brenda Kelly isn’t the type of person who goes to the doctor unless she really needs to.
So, when she went in for a third time because antibiotics weren’t working for her sickness, her primary care practitioner knew something was up.
It was hard for Kelly, who lives in Powellville, to put her arm down, and her primary care practitioner suggested a diagnostic breast exam. After a mammogram and ultrasound, she found out she had Stage 1A breast cancer in February 2025.
Kelly ended up having a personal connection to her first two caregivers. She’d requested to see Carrie Hager, DNP, CRNP, FNP-BC, as she’d worked with Hager’s husband, and later, she realized she also had a connection to her surgeon, David Sechler, MD, FACS.
She appreciated both of them and said she couldn’t ask for anyone kinder or who could explain things better.
“They laid it out in my terms so I could understand it,” Kelly said.
She didn’t get treatment immediately because the cancer was not aggressive, she was about to go out of state and she wanted to be able to tell her family together. After her surgery May 6 at TidalHealth Peninsula Regional, she had 16 rounds of radiation at the TidalHealth Richard A. Henson Cancer Institute in Ocean Pines. She started that July 4, and rang the bell July 29.
She had great experiences with John Mansueti, MD, and Justin Kucinski, DO, too, and they were also able to explain things in a way that non-medical professionals can understand.
“They are the most understanding people; very soft-spoken, very gentle,” she said.
Kelly had been on a regular schedule of getting mammograms and even had a BRCA test done in 2018. It came back negative, so she thought she wouldn’t get breast cancer. Unfortunately, having a negative BRCA test doesn’t mean that someone won’t get breast cancer at all — it just means that the person won’t get breast cancer as a result of having a mutation in that gene.
She encouraged others to advocate for themselves.
“For your own health, push to get whatever it is you need done to make sure that everything is OK,” she said.
She also encourages people to enjoy the present moment instead of waiting for someday in the future. For example, she recently brought out the fine china from 35 years ago for Christmas. Or, go on the trip you've been putting off.
“Don’t wait for that special occasion,” she said.
Breast Cancer Awareness Month
If you're a woman age 40 or older or at higher risk, are you up to date on your mammograms? Ask your primary care practitioner about getting a mammogram, find a screening location near you, or set up an appointment with TidalHealth Mobile Mammography. Members of the community can also support the Sheila Zimmer Breast Screenings Fund here. The fund helps remove financial barriers to care by providing breast screenings and support up to diagnosis for patients who are uninsured or underinsured.
