By Courtney McDermott
Special to The Island News
Valentine’s Day in 2021 was no ordinary occasion for Tiera White. Just weeks away from her wedding, the 32-year-old Beaufort resident was relaxing at home when she felt the side of her breast and discovered a lump.
Most women her age would likely brush it off or assume it’s something benign and make a note to call their doctor about it later. Most women her age would not expect a small lump in their breast to be anything more than a cyst.
Tiera was not like most women her age. She was the daughter of a breast cancer survivor. In fact, her mother faced her own diagnosis in 2018, and Tiera was by her side throughout her treatment and recovery.
So, when Tiera discovered the lump her first phone call was to her mother.
“My mom immediately told me to call my OBGYN,” Tiera said. “I was so nervous. I had a vague thought that it could be something serious, but I also thought that I was too young to have breast cancer.”
Her doctor thought so, too. But Tiera’s lump wasn’t budging, and those vague thoughts soon turned to fear. She went back to her doctor who referred her to Deanna Mansker, MD, a board-certified surgeon with Beaufort Memorial Surgical Specialists and the hospital’s Breast Health Center.
In the meantime, she was busily preparing for her March 6 wedding to her fiancé, Donald, and looking forward to their bright future together.
Three days after their nuptials, Tiera had a mammogram and biopsy. Days later, while Tiera was working – she is a clinical coordinator and laboratory technician at Winning Orthodontic Smiles in Beaufort – she received a call from Dr. Mansker confirming what she had feared most: breast cancer.
“It was like a flashback to my mom’s experience,” she recalled. “I had the same type of cancer in the exact same place, and I knew that my life was about to be turned upside down.”
Tiera was diagnosed with triple-negative invasive ductal carcinoma, an aggressive form of breast cancer that is commonly found in younger women (younger than 40). According to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF), this type of cancer disproportionately affects Black and Hispanic women. Since it often occurs before women have their first mammogram, regular clinical breast exams and monthly self-exams are critical to early detection.
Because of her age and the aggressive nature of the tumor, Tiera’s treatment was scheduled to begin as soon as possible.
She was referred to the cancer experts at the MUSC-affiliated Beaufort Memorial Keyserling Cancer Center in Beaufort. The team who set about creating a treatment plan included three board-certified physicians, her surgeon Dr. Mansker, medical oncologist Mark Newberry, MD, and radiation oncologist, Jonathan Briggs, MD, who all worked closely with Breast Care Navigator Erin Bulatao-Hollifield and oncology Nurse Practitioners Katy Jones and Susanne Baisch.
“I had this vision of getting married and eventually starting a family, but I had to take care of the cancer,” she said.
Tiera considered freezing her eggs in the event that her cancer treatment would make it difficult to become pregnant later, but time was not on her side.
“I called fertility clinics to discuss my options, but all of the available appointments were too far out, and I could not risk the likelihood that the cancer would spread,” she said.
On March 31, mere weeks after her wedding and cancer diagnosis, a port was placed in Tiera’s chest so she could begin a rigorous 19-week course of intravenous chemotherapy on April 15. Two weeks after completing chemo she underwent a lumpectomy to remove the shrunken tumor.
To ensure that all traces of the tumor were neutralized, she began six weeks of daily radiation therapy sessions directly targeting the tumor site. Finally, on Jan. 11, 2022, she rang the bell signifying that she had completed her last and final treatment.
Tiera says that her mother and husband were her biggest supporters throughout it all.
“The fact that my mom had gone through the same treatment before me was a big help,” she said. “She helped me understand what was coming and how I might feel, and she also gave me hope because she survived.”
Tiera continued to work during her treatment, a decision she believes helped her stay positive, hopeful and active.
“The doctors told me that I needed to stay active both physically and mentally,” she said. “I found that I was able to do both through my work and my family.”
She credits her boss and co-workers for supporting her and providing the flexibility she needed to attend doctors’ appointments and treatments throughout the nine-month journey.
“I love my work and the people I work with,” she said. “I feel like I help change lives everyday by giving people the confidence to smile.”
Today, Tiera is grateful to be on the other side of her diagnosis.
“I truly feel blessed to be where I am today,” the now 34-year-old said. “Going through what I did made me understand that I am stronger than I thought I was, and I have a whole new perspective on life and what matters most.”
Her advice to others: “Don’t be afraid to check your breasts regularly, no matter how old you are” she said. “It is better to detect it earlier than to find it later. That’s how I survived.”
To learn more about breast health, visit BeaufortMemorial.org/BreastHealth. To schedule a screening mammogram at the Breast Health Centers in Beaufort or Okatie, submit an appointment request at BeaufortMemorial.org/MammoAppointment or call 843-522-5015.
