CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Just a little over a year ago, 28-year-old Madison Nodine said her life was completely normal while working as a second grade teacher and living in Charlotte. That is until she found something odd, while completing a self breast exam.
She says she felt a lump and decided to go to her gynecologist. Her doctor told her she was too young to worry becuase it was probably a cyst.
“I had felt it for like over a year, but it had started to grow in size and that’s why a year later I went back and said hey I”m still concerned,” she said.
Her doctor sent her for a mammogram. It's a procedure not usually given to women in their 20’s, just to be cautious.
“When I got my mammogram and ultrasound that’s the first time anyone showed concern,” Nodine said. “They were like ‘Oh wait, something looks funny.”
And after a biopsy, again just to be cautious, Nodine received the unbelievable news. It revealed she had stage three metastatic breast cancer.
“It started out as Ductile DCIS or something, I don’t know how long it’s been there, but it’s been there for a long time,” Nodine said. “But, whatever I am is HER2 positive which is the fastest most rapid growing breast cancer, but also one of the most easily treatable.”
Because of her age, Nodine admits at first she really didn’t think it was possible.
“I felt like I was invincible. And the doctor even told my mom when I got my biopsy. Look, it’s happening younger and younger. She's like I just diagnosed an 11 year old last week," she said.
Still, Nodine says the diagnosis seemed promising, until reality set in. While Nodine admits it may seem trivial, she says the fear of the unknown is what scared her the most, along with concerns about her hair.
“I will be doing chemo, this is cancer, cancer like what you see in the movies and that’s when it hit me," she said. “This would be like an identity for me and that was hard to grasp and then chemo itself. Am I going to feel horrible for months? Like I’m going to put something in my veins that’s going to make me sicker."
Now, just 10 months after her diagnosis, she’s completed chemo, had surgery, is cancer free, and even got to keep some of her hair. She hopes by spreading her story, it will help other young women pay attention.
“Just put a day in your calendar, every 12th of the month I’m going to give myself a self exam," she advises. “I know it’s weird to stare in the mirror. It’s worth it. It’s worth your time. And if anything feels weird go to the doctor, express your concerns and check into it enough, do something.”
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October 13, 2020 at 05:46PM
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