It’s not only the medical treatments that are important during a breast cancer journey – having people to lean on is key, too, said Alison Cernava.
“I couldn’t have gotten through it without them,” Cernava said of her coworkers, friends and family.
It was a tough and unexpected journey for Cernava, an administrative assistant at TidalHealth Peninsula Regional, but she said staying positive is also important, even though not every day will be great. She’s now almost four years out from her breast cancer diagnosis.
Cernava found out she was pregnant on her 40th birthday, so she didn’t have her first mammogram right away. She had a miscarriage and decided to get her mammogram not too long after delivering her daughter — she’d just heard about someone else’s diagnosis. Cernava had no family history of breast cancer.
After she had the mammogram, she got a call back to come in for additional testing.
She was diagnosed with stage two invasive ductal carcinoma on Nov. 1, 2021, and 17 days later, she began chemotherapy. She also had a double mastectomy. When the tissue was tested after the mastectomy, Cernava was cancer-free.
Cernava felt comfortable and cared for at the TidalHealth Richard A. Henson Cancer Institute in Ocean Pines, and she praised her oncologist, Dr. Justin Kucinski, and her surgeon, Dr. David Sechler.
“I can’t say enough good about TidalHealth,” she said.
You can make a difference
Help save lives in our community by supporting the Sheila Zimmer Breast Screenings Fund. Created in memory of Sheila Zimmer, a Salisbury native who bravely battled breast cancer twice after a lifetime of giving back to others, this fund helps provide access to life-saving breast screenings and care up to diagnosis for patients in need. Through this effort, Sheila’s legacy of compassion and generosity will continue to touch lives.
Visit the TidalHealth Foundation page to support and help continue Sheila’s legacy.
