Being in business isn’t easy. Being a woman in business can be even more challenging. Now, imagine you are a woman in business who has been handed a breast cancer diagnosis. If you are a wife, mother and in business, it presents a trifecta test of determination.
If you’ve been there, you know. I’ve been there. I was on television less than six months after a double mastectomy, chemotherapy, and reconstructive surgery. Now I write, but the experiences I endured are shared by many women – one in eight will be diagnosed in their lifetime, and even some men. Yes, breast cancer is most often found in women, but men can get breast cancer too. About 1 out of every 100 breast cancers diagnosed in the United States is found in a man.
When we caught up with Dr. Sarah Cely from Savannah River Dermatology this week, it was her first day back at work from reconstructive surgery.
“It was good being back in my routine, but I was fortunate to ease back into the day-to-day because we have a great staff who is like family,” she explained.
Like most people in business, Cely follows a “to-do” list for work and life. She had scheduled a mammogram shortly after her 40th birthday, but before that had found a lump in her breast while in the shower.
“That mammogram in August 2021 saved my life,” she said. “Two weeks later, I had a double mastectomy and then went through four rounds of chemo and 33 radiation treatments. It was absolute hell, but God protected me, and I had a village of people from my husband, Jim, the COO of Duckworth Development, to my children, and co-workers who supported me. They each provided some shining moments during my journey.”
April Sather also chose to share her breast cancer experience in hopes of providing encouragement and “using it for good.”
Like Cely, Sather detected something in her breast while showering that didn’t feel right. With a family history of the disease – her mother died at 29 years old – she immediately scheduled a mammogram, which confirmed her breast cancer diagnosis.
“I ended up having a double lumpectomy and doctors removed one lymph node. That was followed by four weeks of radiation and now I’m on Tamoxifen,” Sather said.
You’ve probably listened to her on WAFJ 88.3’s morning show. Miraculously, she only missed one week of not being on-air during her treatments!
“I rest in my faith and trust God, but I’ve also become super conscious of getting enough rest, eating healthy, and taking the best care of myself,” she said.
Sather has also enjoyed an amazing support system from her family, co-workers, and hundreds of listeners who prayed for and offered encouragement. (I was able to provide a little of that by sharing my journey with them and a ray of hope as a 25-year survivor.)
There’s a way you can support Cely and Sather in their mission for better breast care health in the CSRA. Both will have teams participating in tomorrow’s annual Miracle Mile Walk. The event raises money for Piedmont Augusta’s Randy W. Cooper, M.D. Center for Breast Health Services and the Women’s Wellness on Wheels mobile unit by providing screenings regardless of ability to pay.
For more information on the event or to donate, click on the links to April’s Army or Derm Divas.
Editor’s Note:
Mitzi Oxford is a veteran broadcaster and features writer who also worked at the same television station in Columbus, Georgia as Augusta’s Brad Means!
If you have a South Carolina story idea for Mitzi, please email her at mitzioxfordcreative@gmail.com.
