Patient Stories

My name is Angel Adams, and I am a breast cancer survivor. At age 42, I found a lump during a self-exam. I have performed routine self-exams and have gone for yearly mammograms since I was 39 years old. I have no family history of breast cancer, and my genetic testing was negative.

My name is Lisa Hohl, and I am a breast cancer survivor. On Nov. 16, 2021, at 60 years old, I went for my annual mammogram. My last screening was in September 2020, and I was not concerned at the time as I’d had years of normal mammograms, no family history of breast cancer, and never felt any palpable lumps during intermittent breast self-exams.

Lesley Weihs is a poster child for the importance of the annual mammogram. She didn’t have a family history of breast cancer, hadn’t felt a lump she was just taking part in her routine screening, which uncovered her breast cancer.

Jill Stone was aware of her family history of breast cancer, so she had been getting routine mammograms since she was 35 years old. When one of those mammograms showed cancer, she took it in stride.

My name is SaCarrie Rogers, and I am an 8-year cancer survivor. I was diagnosed with Stage 1 cancer in my right breast in 2015. At the time, I was working for Bayhealth in General Surgery, so after I...

Mandi Lahman had always had her eyes open for cancer. At age 22, she had thyroid cancer, and later genetic testing among her and her family members revealed the presence of a CHEK2 mutation, which increases the risk of breast, colon and thyroid cancer. In fact, Lahman had inherited the mutation from both of her parents, and a genetic counselor told her that her risk of breast cancer was 80 percent.

Amy Harmon had been vigilant about her regular screenings, including mammography, and when she found a lump in her breast, she reported it to her primary care provider right away.

Cancer can seem like a long journey, but sometimes it feels like it’s in fast-forward. As someone who has worked in the field, including at the TidalHealth Breast Center, Samantha Fouts, ultrasound/vascular lab supervisor, knew speed was important, so she took it in stride.

In my heart, I wasn’t really surprised by my diagnosis. I had a different story than many.

Tammy Donohoe had seen her own mother go through some breast biopsies in the past, so when she had to have one after a routine mammogram screening, she tried to stay positive. But Donohoe wasn’t so lucky.