At the ripe old age of 32, while living your life, climbing the corporate ladder, and making plans for the future, the last thing you expect to hear is a cancer diagnosis – especially for the very rare and aggressive triple-negative breast cancer – which accounts for 10 percent of all breast cancers.
Triple-negative breast cancer is cancer that tests negative for estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors, and excess HER2 protein, making it harder to treat.
But that is exactly the diagnosis Coconut Creek resident and advertising and marketing professional Jessica Duemig, now 35, heard after discovering a lump in her breast.
To make sense of her experience, she put pen to paper (or keys to keyboard) and wrote a book about her experiences, titled, “WARRIOR,” which she self-published and is available on Amazon.
“It was total happenstance,” remembers Duemig about the night that changed her life. “I am a side sleeper and felt something in my breast that woke me up.”
Thinking nothing of it, Duemig ignored it for a couple of weeks until a month later the lump woke her up again and she decided to visit her doctor.
Her diagnosis was confirmed on Feb. 1, 2017. Three weeks later she underwent a bi-lateral mastectomy as a precaution, followed by immediate partial reconstruction, then endured chemotherapy for almost five months. Luckily, the cancer had not progressed to her lymph nodes. Six weeks after she finished chemo, she had the full reconstruction.
Duemig had her treatment at the Miami Cancer Institute, part of Baptist Health and the Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) Cancer Alliance.
With no family history of breast cancer, no BRACA 1 or 2 gene, Duemig says there was “no logical reason” to suspect she would have breast cancer at such a young age. She notes that typically mammograms are not even recommended for women under the age of 40.
“I could have been sitting there for eight years before I found this,” she says ruefully.
During those trying months, Duemig founded a community of family and friends on Facebook where she created Livestream videos of her daily struggles as a way to stay connected and keep her friends and family in the loop.
She used these videos as fodder for her book.
On her LinkedIn profile, she says: “This book is a testament to the process, from detection, through diagnosis into treatment and ultimately recovery. It’s emotional and funny and real – and it’s my story.”
“My hope is that this book can be the support warriors need and that reading it will unlock the “F*ck this” attitude it will take to come out on top,” she says.
Lindsay Oerter, a teacher from Royal Palm Beach, and her mom, Karen Boland, of Loxahatchee and herself a breast cancer survivor, were two of the viewers who tuned in regularly to support Duemig.
“I always knew she was a tough girl and someone who gets things done,” says Oerter, who is a friend from Wellington High School. “I had no doubt in my mind that Jess would get through this. That’s her.”
With no family history on her mother’s side, Boland, who retired after 23 years at Publix, and fought breast cancer along with two of her sisters, was told she inherited the predisposition from her father’s side of the family, something she did not realize was possible.
On a trip to Connecticut to visit her mom, Boland read a preliminary version of Duemig’s book.
“Jess’s writing style keeps you interested and engaged,” Boland says. “I would recommend it for a family member or anyone going through something similar.”
Writing the book was therapeutic for Duemig, during her nine-month journey.
“I wrote the guidebook I wished I had,” she says. “What to expect and what’s normal, both from the physical and emotional standpoints.”
What advice does she have for other women going through a similar experience?
“If you feel something is wrong, get it checked out,” she says. “It’s better to be proven wrong than to let something linger.”
“And,” she says, “whatever your feelings are, just know they are normal.”
Now, three years later, Duemig received her diagnosis of ‘cured’ last Feb. 29. (According to Duemig, with Triple Negative Breast Cancer a cured designation is given after three years, and not five as in other types of cancer.)
“As bad as it was, this could have been so much worse,” says Duemig. “I went into it with a “f*ck this” attitude – mind over matter. The minute you lay down and give in – it will win.”
Duemig didn’t hold back in her writing, putting a realistic/optimistic spin on the book.
“I had to look at all the good things that can come from this experience,” says Duemig. “I know myself better. I have the ability to make hard decisions.”
“Harness that power,” she says. “If you can beat cancer, what can’t you do?”
“WARRIOR” is available on Amazon and other online booksellers.
By Jan Engoren