Patient Stories

On April 2018, I was diagnosed with HER2+ breast cancer, after having a mammogram because of a nipple discharge. HER2+ (positive) breast cancer is when breast cancer cells have excessive amounts of a protein receptor called HER2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2). Normally, this protein helps breast cells grow, divide, and repair themselves. But sometimes, something goes wrong in the gene that controls the HER2 protein and the breast cells make too many of these receptors.

I was 35, and on an assignment for work when I developed a rosy color in my right breast. I was to worried and decided to have it checked out at my regular GYN appointment when I got home a few months later. My husband and I had been considering going back to the fertility specialist and trying IVF at the time, and I wanted to be sure I was good to go before we started. By then I was also experiencing some intermittent pain in the breast. My GYN begrudgingly sent me for an ultrasound and mammogram because of the pain. It took a month to get me on the schedule because of the holidays. When I went in for the ultrasound the tech was amazing! She was so nice, and immediately wanted to make sure I spoke with the radiologist (which my GYN hadn’t requested.) After the mammogram the radiologist came in to speak to me and explain the multiple spots she was concerned about. A week later I was in for my biopsies, and got the word a day or two later… it was breast cancer and it was already in some lymph nodes.

My name is Stephanie Weeks and I received a Breast Cancer Diagnosis when I was only 42 years Old. Triple Negative, Aggressive, Invasive, Stage 3 and it was in my Lymph!. It was like being in the ring with Rocky and taking blow after blow. For some of you reading this that have not been dealt the cancer card (and I hope you never do) you probably do not realize everything comes in steps. You do not get all this information at 1 time. Maybe it is good though because it gives you time to process at each step. For me, I was diagnosed, then the aggressive/invasive, then news of the triple negative, then the news of it spreading to the lymph (how many it spread to).

In April of 2015, I found myself alone and waiting in a sterile exam room for the results of a breast biopsy. I had found two lumps in my right breast, but the doctor assured me that a person of my age, and with no history of breast cancer in the family, the masses were not likely to be cancerous. When he came into the exam room he said, "Good news, the lumps were benign! You can go home now. Have a nice life!" This is the fantasy I often dream of still to this day; these were the words I yearned to hear. Sadly, that fantasy did not come true…

My story begins in the fall of 2012, when I was 37 years old. I was in my 15th year as a high school band director, had a 3 year old daughter, and was trying to get pregnant with our second child. I began having severe pain in my left breast and, after a month or so of waiting to see if it cleared up with my menstrual cycle, I discovered a hard knot. My OB/GYN ordered a mammogram which was inconclusive due to dense breast tissue (common for younger women). Thankfully, she was insistent that I get an ultrasound. It showed 2 masses in my left breast and swelling of my lymph nodes under that arm. After biopsies of all 3 areas, I got the dreaded call- all 3 were positive for breast cancer!

What’s my story?
That’s such an interesting question seeing as two years ago, I would have thought of it in such different ways. Once you hear the words, “You have cancer,” your story changes so much.

When it’s metastatic, your life is completely changed, and how you look at everything is different. You are different. And no one understands unless they’ve heard the same thing.

In 2020, just as Covid was at a high and people were locking themselves in their houses, I began having back issues.

My life prior to my diagnosis with HR+ breast cancer with bone metastasis became the first steps in a long and difficult life's journey. My education stressed communications and probably defines one of my strongest attributes. My ability to digest and incorporate hordes of information has helped me to both navigate the incredibly difficult terrain I found myself on and arrive at the help I needed using the quickest route possible. Not only medical but includes financial, professional, and personal. Ask me any question you want about my experience related to MBC and I am happy to share, even very intimate information if it can help someone else.