*This is the final in a series of articles on breast cancer survivors in recognition of October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Heather Bryant, 47, is a wife, mother to three kids, daughter, teacher’s assistant to Pre-K special needs children, and a breast cancer patient nearing the end of her treatments.
Bryant found something in her left breast in August 2023 that she said “did not feel quite right.” She had her annual mammogram in February of the same year, which showed no indications of any abnormalities. After her discovery, Bryant emailed her OB/GYN and received a call from her physician the next day to come in for an exam, including a second mammogram. It revealed that something was there. She was referred to a specialist.
Two days after that visit Bryant saw a surgeon who performed a biopsy. The resulting pathology report the following week revealed an aggressive form of breast cancer. She also had genetic testing and was told that her cancer was not genetic. This was extremely good news for Bryant as she was adopted as a child and has no medical history on her birth parents. Bryant was diagnosed as triple negative between Stage 2 and 3.
“My husband and I both cried when they told us it was cancer. And he’s not one to cry. I cried for days on end. It bothered me because I didn’t have my mama here with me. She died in July 2021. So it was a challenge when I was diagnosed,” Bryant explained.
But there was good news – the cancer was contained in the left breast. It had not spread to lymph nodes or any other location in her body. Not long after, Bryant established a relationship with her oncologist, whose treatment plan included chemotherapy and then surgery. She was thankful that radiation was not on the horizon.
Bryant had two stages of chemotherapy. The first including several weeks of a six- hour long stay per treatment. The second half of the first stage included the infamous Red Devil, nicknamed because of its bright red color. According to www.cancercenter.com, “Doxorubicin is sometimes called the ‘red devil chemo’ both because of its distinctive color and because it may cause serious side effects. Chemotherapy is widely known to cause difficult side effects in most cancer patients, including hair loss, an increased risk of infection, nausea and vomiting.”
Bryant was diagnosed on August 10, 2023, her mother-in-law’s birthday, she said. Chemo treatments began in October 2023. Bryant began losing her hair by the second treatment. She went to her stylist and had her head shaved rather than have her long locks continue to fall out. They both cried.
Once the first stage of chemotherapy was complete, it was time to meet with her surgeon, who recommended a double mastectomy. Bryant agreed saying, “If I just had one removed, what if it comes up in the other one?” She took off ten days for the bilateral mastectomy and the beginning stages of reconstruction.
Bryant has only missed small amounts of time from work here and there for surgery and appointments. She was able to work her job at Mendenhall Elementary School while taking chemo, albeit she was tired most of the time. She added, “It was not easy.” Bryant has been at Mendenhall for eight years.
Bryant had to have two port placement surgeries, as the first one broke down and could not be repaired. In addition, following her mastectomy her upper left arm swelled to twice its size, causing severe pain. She went to the emergency room at St. Dominic’s Hospital in Jackson, where they found a large blood clot in her arm after performing a Doppler ultrasound. Bryant was put on blood thinner to dissolve the clot and continues to take it. “It has worn me out. I’m still tired.”
Her family has been her biggest support during this journey, Bryant calling her husband her number one cheerleader. Bryant’s father has also been a stalwart for her, encouraging her every step of the way. “My church family has been there for me. My work family has been there for me,” she added.
The treatments were scheduled to be complete by this past August but there has been one setback after another; however, Bryant has continued to persevere. “Nothing works the way I want it to; I guess God had another plan.”
Her hair is returning but Bryant misses her long hair. Right now it is growing back in a very curly salt and pepper. “The thing is, my husband is older than me and he doesn’t have nearly as much gray as I have!” At the time of this writing Bryant still had two more rounds of autoimmune therapy to complete the total of nine required.
With the setbacks Bryant has been asked how she keeps moving forward. “I know I got my kids. I know they need me; my husband needs me.”
Bryant is ready to ring the bell and life get back to normal for herself and her family. “God is still watching out for me because I’m not through. If I wouldn’t have found it, I wouldn’t be here talking about it now.”
