Our very own Maria Mabe is CANCER-FREE!

Please read her story below on the power of early detection and the need for mammograms.

At age 49, in 2019, I had a mammogram, and two spots needed a biopsy. They came back as simple calcifications and were nothing to worry about. I had always been an “out of sight, out of mind” person when it came to my health; almost like if I didn’t think about it, then it wouldn’t happen. I was a healthy person other than high blood pressure. I only went to the doctor to have my blood pressure medications refilled. I managed to keep using the “I have no insurance” excuse to not get a mammogram for the next few years. Remember, in my mind, I had no reason for concern because I had felt no lumps, and I had already had benign biopsies.

Jump ahead to the fall of 2022 when a Wilburn Medical USA customer and friend spoke to us about her breast cancer journey. What she said hit me hard, and I knew I needed to get another mammogram, but I kept pushing it out of my mind. A few months after this, in February of 2023, I knew my doctor would insist, so I made a mammogram appointment for the week after my physical. My husband, family, and doctor were shocked but proud of me for finally going. The radiologist found a spot he was unsure about, so I had a biopsy. Everyone, including the doctor who performed the biopsy, felt confident and reassured me it was nothing, but I was scared out of my mind. I contacted my pastor, as well as many other people, to please pray specifically for these results. The day after the biopsy, I got a phone call saying the dreaded words that I had cancer. My world flipped upside down, and I completely fell apart. My work family rallied around me and prayed for healing.

My husband, children, and friends also immediately began praying. The next few days were full of questions, confusion, fear, and prayer. I met my medical team, and my tumor was only .5 cm. We scheduled a lumpectomy. I got myself together and have never felt closer to God. I was ready to fight! I had surgery, and a few weeks later, I began my twenty visits for radiation treatment. I worked every day and left in time to make my radiation appointments late in the afternoon. Radiation is by far the worst physical pain I’ve ever felt. Radiation destroyed my skin for quite a while, and I was miserable. I prayed through the pain, hoping to see God’s purpose. Both my oncologist and surgeon told me that early detection had saved my life. Waiting to find a lump would have been too late without early detection. I knew God had guided me to go to the doctor when I did. I was so thankful.

However, I started feeling a hard lump in the same breast a few months after radiation. I thought it was scar tissue. My medical doctor said the same thing at my annual physical, and she said not to worry. It was now time for my first post-cancer mammogram, and I was nervous. I needed biopsies on two spots in the same breast. I asked if they were where I had felt the lump, and it was. I think, somehow, I knew the outcome because I wasn’t shocked when the biopsies resulted in cancer again.

My family, friends, work family, and I immediately began to pray again for healing. I elected to have a mastectomy without reconstruction because of the risks involved. The pathologist did several extra tests on the tissue in my breast to be sure there was no invasive cancer. Praise God there was no invasive cancer, and I was able to put this behind me. It turns out that this cancer was from the spots that were only calcifications five years earlier. These cells were aggressive enough to survive the radiation.

Please remember that just because something was not a problem years ago doesn’t mean you shouldn’t check on it. I am proof that early detection is vital, and God directs us; we just have to listen. I pray that at least one person who reads this message will get that lifesaving scan. Please don’t let finances or fear hold you back. Remember, knowledge is power, and you can’t fight something you don’t know you have.