New Tess Talk 🚨 ~ The Breast Cancer Conversation I Needed to Hear

Here's the email from Kelley that sparked the conversation:

Rod / Tessa / Teresa,

Super loyal listener, since I moved to TX in 2008! I'm going to apologize for the long read, but I promise it is worth it. 

I love what y'all do for breast cancer awareness and supporting the super important research going on. I thought we as a society, discussed it enough but I think the under 40 crowd doesn't realize how common it has become in really young women. I, unfortunately, am part of that emerging statistic. I'm a 36 year old mom of 3 and found a lump several weeks ago that felt nothing like all of the education describes and I had no other symptoms that would raise a significant concern. Honestly, had it not been for my boyfriend I probably would have blown it off. You look online and it says only roughly 10-15% of all lumps are cancer especially under 40 so it gives a false sense of security... Long story short, I did get it check and before I could blink I was being fast tracked into MD Anderson for scans, tests, and now will start a very aggressive treatment plan on 10/17 (I know, happy BC awareness month to me) because I have stage 3 triple positive invasive ductal carcinoma. By the time I discovered it, the cancer had spread into the local lymph nodes. I am so thankful to be so close to MDA, I am lucky the type I have has many well proven treatment options, and I am lucky that I have medical insurance because holy crap cancer is expensive. However, a routine mammogram most likely would have detected my cancer in earlier stages that required a lot less aggressive treatment and a smaller risk of metastasis. I now have about 18 months of chemo, surgeries, radiation, reconstruction, etc. and then I will be on therapies for hormone suppression for the rest of my life. 

I am not sure if this will get to you guys, but if so, I'd love for it to make the 20s and 30s crowd more aware that it is possible to get breast cancer this young and it is becoming much more common. Younger women tend to have their cancer diagnosed at later stages because mammograms don't start until 40 and we aren't conditioned to check as vigorously as needed. Anything that feels out of place, any swelling, any strange arm / armpit / finger pain, any skin changes - just go get checked out. If it feels off to you, advocate for yourself! 

Please feel free to share this story on air (maybe without my name please lol). Happy to provide as many additional details as needed if that helps! 

Thanks for listening!

Kelley