Special to Care magazine®
A mother of three, a major in the South Carolina National Guard and a registered nurse working on Beaufort Memorial Hospital’s oncology floor, Constance (Connie) Pope had life figured out. Then, in late 2019, she started feeling a pain in her chest and abdomen.
At first, she and her primary care doctor thought it was a gastrointestinal issue. But by early 2020 she noticed a lump had appeared on her chest.
Beyond the battlefield
Rewind 15 years: Connie was a specialist in the Florida National Guard escorting convoys though the Iraqi desert in a U.S. Army gun truck. She joined the Guard while at Florida A&M University out of a sincere sense of duty, and the experience gave her “a mindset of service”that she said she’s carried with her ever since.
She returned home to Beaufort in 2013, ready for her next challenge: becoming a nurse. She began classes at Trident Technical College in Charleston while working as a certified nursing assistant on Beaufort Memorial’s oncology floor.
“Oncology has always been close to my heart,” Connie said. “There’s just something about the patients. You feel good about the work that you do.”
After graduating from nursing school in 2015, she stayed with the Beaufort Memorial oncology team as a registered nurse, becoming the floor’s clinical coordinator in 2019.
But just as she was settling in, she was to become a cancer patient herself.
An overwhelming diagnosis
After noticing the lump in March of 2020, she was referred to the Beaufort Memorial Breast Health Center, part of the nationally accredited Keyserling Cancer Center.
“The doctor told me that it looked like breast cancer and that I’d need to do a biopsy the next day,” Connie said. “I didn’t even know what to do with that information. I was 37 years old at the time and I stayed fit for the Guard. Why would I have breast cancer?”
When her diagnosis came a week later, Dr. Jonathan Briggs, a board-certified radiation oncologist at the Keyserling Cancer Center, said he found that “it was an aggressive type of cancer.” He explained that she would need “neoadjuvant chemo” – chemotherapy given before surgery – along with postoperative radiation therapy to further decrease the risk of recurrence.
She received that overwhelming news while at her annual training with the Guard, where she felt it was her duty to be.
“They sent me home,” Connie said. “They told me that I needed to focus on taking care of myself.”
In the trenches of recovery
Connie’s diagnosis was a surprise to her as well as her family and friends; she and her husband Jeremy – whom she married three months before her diagnosis – encouraged them to keep a positive attitude.
That encouragement was something Connie needed, too, she said.
“My mother and I prayed together, and she helped with practical things, like taking my children to appointments, church and preparing meals,” Connie recalled. “I had a huge group of family and close friends that went grocery shopping, sent meals, dropped off care packages and offered to help with chores.”
Even Connie’s three daughters, Aleeyah, Iyana and Niquava, recognized their mom’s recovery needs and helped around the house.
Connie worked in her clinical position throughout her chemotherapy. With the support of her family, combined with the compassion of her colleagues in the Guard, on the oncology floor and in the Keyserling Cancer Center, Connie let go of taking care of others for a while nearing the end of chemo and focused instead on overcoming cancer herself.
“Connie is a joy to work with,” said Chimene Heyward, BMH breast care navigator and Connie’s colleague at the time. “She learned about her diagnosis, educated herself about her treatments and made the best decisions for herself. She is truly an inspiration.”
Connie remembered a Breast Health Center radiology technician who held her hand as she underwent one of her first diagnostic biopsies, putting her at ease through what can be a traumatic treatment process.
“She was so supportive, and I remember her rubbing my arm as they did the ultrasound,” shesaid. “Every time I go there, I feel a genuine compassion from the staff.”
In the end, Connie felt reassured that she was getting the best care possible.
“They didn’t assume that because I’m a nurse I’d know everything,” she said. “No matter who you are, you don’t know what exactly you’re walking into when you find out you have cancer. The staff here were amazingly calm, competent and compassionate. The doctors were willing to explain the science of each treatment and made me feel able to just lean on them.”
Mission: remission
Dr. Briggs said Connie showed a “complete response” following treatment and “continues to undergo routine follow-up visits with her doctors and has regular blood work and a yearly mammogram.”
Connie said her daughters still ask if she’ll have any more surgeries.
“They got to see me at my weakest and my strongest, and I can only be grateful,” she said. “Overall, my circle not only eased my daily burdens but also strengthened our bond during a challenging time.”
As of May, Connie has been cancer-free for four years. She completed a master’s program to become a nurse practitioner in June and is now seeing patients at Beaufort-Jasper-Hampton Comprehensive Health Services Inc., specializing in adult medicine.
Editor’s note: For nearly four decades, October has been recognized as Breast Cancer Awareness Month, devoted to celebrating survivors and educating everyone about breast cancer and the importance of early detection and access to timely, quality care. To learn more about breast cancer signs and symptoms, visit BeaufortMemorial.org/Cancer. To schedule a screening mammogram in Beaufort, Okatie or Hilton Head Island, visit BeaufortMemorial.org/MammoAppointment or call (843) 522-5105.
