From staff reports
“Here we go again.”
That’s what Marj Shymske thought when she was diagnosed with breast cancer last October.
The New York native had just celebrated five years of being endometrial cancer-free, a huge recovery milestone, just to be hit with the news.
Like clockwork
Marj, 66, moved to Dataw Island from Chicago with her husband Greg 11 years ago. They love it here, spending lots of time playing golf, playing tennis and enjoying the Lowcountry sunshine.
After she turned 40, Marj was “religious” about her annual mammograms. Last May, her screening showed a small spot. She underwent an ultrasound during that same appointment. The subsequent biopsy came back negative.
“They told me to come back in the fall – thank the Lord,” Marj said. The mammogram showed the same spot, as did the ultrasound, and she underwent another biopsy.
Three days later, she learned that she had breast cancer.
“I thought, ‘I’m going to die, and I’m too young,” Marj said. “I had already had my cancer – why me?”
A care connection
Marj’s gynecologist, Dr. Eve Ashby with Lowcountry Medical Group Specialty Care, was invested in her care following the breast cancer diagnosis – the same way she was when Marj was diagnosed six years ago with endometrial cancer after a “wonky” result on a pap test.
“She saved my life,” Marj said. “All the tests were coming back negative, but not that pap.”
Dr. Ashby’s determination and compassion drove Marj’s decision to once again seek care right here at home.
“I had so much faith in her that it was only natural to me that I would seek care locally,” she said. “It never occurred to me otherwise.”
A well-oiled machine
Marj had countless questions, and when she met with her care team initially, they made her feel at ease.
Breast oncology surgeon Dr. Tara Grahovac, radiation oncologist Dr. Jonathan Briggs and Dr. J. Eric Turner, Marj’s medical oncologist, worked with the rest of the Breast Health Center team as a “well-oiled machine.”
With the world of Google at her fingertips, the information available about Marj’s diagnosis was overwhelming.
“You want to Google all the time,” she admitted. “But you have to be your own advocate. You have to dig deep; I had to take control of what I thought was the best information and go to the people I trusted.”
Marj underwent a lumpectomy, a five-day radiation treatment and started on anastrozole, which is used to treat all stages of hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer in post-menopausal women. She considers herself now “cancer-free.”
Pledge the Pink
In Chicago, years before she’d receive her own diagnosis, Marj was no stranger to breast cancer support events, having walked in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure twice.
In 2019, Marj found herself involved through connections at her Lowcountry home on Dataw Island with “Pledge the Pink,” an event born in 2011 dedicated to funding breast cancer screening, treatment, outreach and research.
Now, she’s the committee chair for the event’s Day 1 walk on Dataw kicking off the event, which is scheduled for Oct. 16-19.
This year, she has her own experience as a survivor to draw from, continuing to put that passion into play while coordinating pink-clad volunteers for the uplifting event.
She said she feels lucky to be here when she received her diagnosis and is grateful to her care team for their compassion and support as she received treatment locally during her journey.
“Breast cancer – any kind of cancer – is not a death sentence,” Marj said. “I’m a cancer survivor. I’m so thankful and grateful that we caught this, and I’ve had the very best care. I’m very blessed.”
