This National Cancer Survivors Month, we honor the journeys of those who’ve faced cancer with courage and resilience – like one of our very own team members. Heather first arrived at UT Medical Center as a patient in 2021 after a workplace injury led to the loss of her leg. But what stayed with her the most about the experience wasn’t the pain or the fear. It was the teamwork she observed.
“Tiffany, one of the fabulous nurses on 4 West, brought me out of the dark place I was in,” Heather said. “She continued to check on me even after I left.” In fact, Heather was so impressed by the care she received that she applied for a job here as soon as she was able to work again and was hired later that same year. With nearly three decades of health care experience, Heather now serves as a Health Unit Coordinator, bringing firsthand empathy and strength to her work each day.
Then, one weekend in May 2024, Heather saw a flyer for a free women’s health cancer screening on the UT Medical Center main campus. “I live about an hour away and I stay busy on the weekends, but something told me to go,” she said. That choice may have saved her life.
The screening revealed a lump so deep against her chest wall it never would have been caught through self-exam. She was quickly connected to Dr. Jillian Lloyd, a special in surgical oncology with UT Medical Center’s Cancer Institute, who helped her understand her options, including chemotherapy and radiation. Dr. Lloyd ultimately supported Heather’s decision to undergo a double mastectomy.
“The team moved like lightning,” she said. “They didn’t waste a second.”
As she recovered, Heather leaned on her colleagues, including nurse friends who’d been through breast cancer themselves, and the same spirit of compassion that brought her to UT Medical Center in the first place.
Now, with one more reconstructive surgery ahead and a renewed sense of purpose, Heather looks forward to time with her grandchildren, time outdoors, and time simply being alive.
“I’ve lost a leg, I’ve lost my breasts, but I haven’t lost myself,” she said. “People see me running around the unit and don’t even realize I have a prosthetic. I want them to see there’s still plenty of life to be lived.”
Heather said that she feels blessed when she wakes up every day and wants to remind all women who are reading this: get your mammogram. To make an appointment, call 865-305-6970 and ask for the University Breast Center services’ locations most convenient for you.