My name is Stephanie Deronette. I am a 34 year old wife and proud mom. In May of 2022, I received the worst news I'd ever imagined - I was diagnosed with Invasive Ductal Carcinoma Stage 1 Grade 3 breast cancer. Statistics indicate that breast cancer, especially IDC is very common and that 1 in 8 women are diagnosed. However, this reality was always so hard for me to understand because here I was 34 years old and other than a close former colleague who had Breast Cancer over 20 years ago, I had no experience with anyone having cancer around me - Not at work, not at school and not in my family. In fact, I come from a relatively large family and there is no history of cancer in the family, and my husband, who is the 10th child out of 12 with tons of extended family, also had no history of cancer in his family. So when I surveyed my surroundings, I felt so isolated. 

As a 34 year old Breast Cancer patient, I am often reminded of how young I am to have this diagnosis, which  feels like a blow to an open wound. My treatment entails a lumpectomy, chemo therapy, radiation and hormone therapy. While, there is no such thing as a good time for a cancer diagnosis, as a young mother to smaller children, there seemed to be so many more hurdles. One unique challenge to treatment, which I felt was often overlooked is how much  treatment and recovery is intertwined with childcare. Juggling my treatment schedule around my work schedule is challenging but when you add in the schedules of 3 smaller children that have various drop offs and pick up schedules, their medical  appointments, trying to determine whether you should schedule chemo treatment (that will eventually make you sick)  later in the week versus earlier in the week so not to disturb your children's school routines just felt impossible at times. Every appointment required soliciting as much help as  possible, day, evenings and weekends because smaller children are entirely dependent on their caretakers. This, in addition to surging financial costs associated with every decision has caused so much distress.

It became very difficult for me to keep a positive mindset or celebrate wins in this process. However, as I am nearing  the next phase of my treatment (radiation), I am focused on changing my mindset. I often felt resentment when people said "at least you it caught early" since my treatment was so aggressive but now I am grateful because I realize that sometimes treatment is not always an option.  Despite the challenges of having smaller children, I am grateful that they may not remember much of this and that their innocence and laughter help get me through these tough times. I am grateful for the love of my support system, my husband who always made me feel like the most beautiful woman every single day, my mother who provided unwavering support and kept our ship afloat, my best friend who always knew the right thing to say, and my friends and family who checked on me regularly. I am grateful for the medical team and staff at Dana Farber who is committed to seeing me through the other side of this awful situation.  I am grateful to be living in this time where medicine has evolved so much, that in my lifetime,  I will see so much more advancements in medicine which is dedicated to preventing deaths from cancer. I am grateful for organizations like the Carin Maclean Foundation who understands this struggle and has provided support to so many.

Although, I struggle with the thought of Hormone therapy, I still count my blessings for this medicine that will save my life.

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Stephanie Deronette

"Where there is a Will there is a Way"