The letter from the doctor sat on a stack of papers.
Pearl Gregory had received it weeks ago, reminding her it was time for her yearly mammogram. At the time, she pushed it aside, deciding that at age 75, she likely no longer needed to go through the preventative check. After all, for years she had done the checkup regularly, and never had any problems.
But for some reason, that paper caught Gregory’s eye again, and something motivated her to make that appointment. She will forever be thankful she did.
The mammogram revealed a small tumor on her breast, though thankfully it was a Stage 1 growth and could be treated easily. Gregory went through radiation, and takes regular medication to lower the likelihood that it will return. Three years after her diagnosis, she’s still cancer-free.
Still, she thinks back to her change of heart, and wonders what would have happened if she had waited for another year.
“That has taught me a lesson — I’ll forever have mammograms until God calls me home,” she said. “It was meant for me to call and schedule that appointment. Things happen for a reason, at the right time.”
The 78-year-old Greenwood resident has always been very vigilant about her health, particularly about getting a mammogram. She always made scheduling the appointment a priority.
But when she received her notice in 2018 reminding her it was time for the check-up, she didn’t.
“I said to myself, ‘Wow, I still have to have mammograms at 75? So I just laid the paper on the end table,” she said.
About a week went by with the notice sitting on the table. Gregory remembers clearly that one morning, she fixed herself a cup of coffee and went into her family room, sitting on the couch. As she turned on the television, she glanced over and caught sight of the reminder. She re-read the recommendation to schedule the mammogram, and decided she would schedule it after all. She called her doctor.
Shortly after the appointment, Gregory’s doctor called her indicating they needed to see her. That’s when they told her it was breast cancer.
Because her cancer was in Stage 1, she did not need to do chemotherapy. Her treatment plan called for 20 treatments of radiation. She would travel every weekday for treatment at Franciscan Health Indianapolis, a routine that lasted four weeks.
The radiation did kill off the cancer cells, though she still experiences lingering pain from the treatment due to scar tissue.
“Though the radiation is geared for one specific area, it has a tendency to spread to other tissue,” she said. “But I can deal with that.”
She continues to see her doctor every year for monitoring and check-ups, but thus far, the cancer has not returned. To help prevent a recurrence, her doctor prescribed her a medication called anastrozole, which decreases the amount of estrogen the body makes and can impact the development of breast cancer. She takes the medicine every day, and will for the next two years.
The side effects of the drug can be unpleasant — often, Gregory feels as if she’s overheating.
“But you know what? I’ll deal with that. I have a fan,” she said.
Gregory wants her experience to be a warning for those who disregard annual mammograms and other important preventative check-ups. She understands how lucky she was, and knows her situation could have turned out much worse if she didn’t change her mind.
“It taught me a lesson: When you’re supposed to do things for your health, don’t think twice about it,” she said. “Do what you’re supposed to do. There’s a reason they want you to do it.”
THE GREGORY FILE
Name: Pearl Gregory
Age: 78
Diagnosis: Stage 1 breast cancer
Treatment: 20 sessions of radiation treatment
What has cancer taught you?
When you’re supposed to do things for your health, don’t think twice about it. Do what you’re supposed to do. There’s a reason they want you to do it.
How has cancer changed you?
It made me a whole lot smarter. They say that when you quit learning, you die, and I learn something new all the time. Just when you think you know it all, you find out you don’t.
What would you tell someone just diagnosed?
Make sure you follow your doctor’s directions. Everything that they want you to do, please do. They are the experts at this, we are not. It doesn’t matter how old you are, keep having those mammograms.
BRAVE HEARTS
Be sure to grab a copy of Thursday’s paper for more Brave Hearts stories, saluting the fighters, survivors and caregivers in the battle against cancer.
