Breast Cancer Survivor Stories: Angie Gilmer

Angie Gilmer says it takes a small army to get each patient through breast cancer.  She remembers when she was first diagnosed with the disease the tremendous outpouring of support, not only from friends, but also from strangers. 

“This disease doesn’t just affect the patient,” said Angie.  “It’s the entire family, and that includes relatives and friends.  Cancer patients have one job, and that’s to get better.  We do that much easier when we focus on that.  All our other needs were met by other people.  They took my children where they needed to be.  They fed us.  The meals that came.  It was truly unbelievable.”

On Sunday, October 25 an army of thousands will descend upon Memorial Park in Kingsport, TN for the Susan G. Komen Race For The Cure.  Nearly five years after being diagnosed with cancer, Angie Gilmer will walk the 5 kilometer course, and in so doing, take another step on her journey to fight this disease. 

“Komen is the organization who unites us,” said this youth ministry director and mother of three.  “We have strength in numbers.  Together we will find a cure.  My story is a story of hope and I hope it encourages others to fight the battle.”

She admits that her battle did not really start until a friend who was going through chemotherapy herself, told her to wake up and realize she had cancer.

“She said I can either crawl in a ditch and throw water balloons at it, or I can come at it with everything I had.  That’s when I understood.  That’s when I put on my battle armor and began my fight.”

Angie’s message is a message of self-examination and early detection.  Since she was diagnosed, she has lost friends to the disease, and she’s had others who were treated and survived with only minimally invasive surgery.  The difference, she preaches, is early detection.

“Some people are afraid of finding out. You cannot wait.  You cannot give cancer time.”

In her case, cancer had more time than it should have.  She initially became concerned when she discovered a small lump “about the size of a kernel of popcorn” under her arm on her rib cage.  The doctors dismissed it because of the location and because of her age.  She continued to check it, and over the next few months, it became sore, and continued to grow.  11 months later, it had grown to the size of an almond and was extremely painful. 

She went back to the doctor and was diagnosed, just one day prior to her 39th birthday, with ductal carcinoma, the most common form of breast cancer - so named because it can hide in the milk ducts of the breast.  Because of the length of time to make the diagnosis, she had to go through two rounds of chemotherapy before surgery.  She decided to have a bi-lateral mastectomy… a very difficult decision she admits, but one she felt she needed to do.  She reasoned if it could hide in one breast, it could hide in another. 

“Self-examination is the key,” Angie emphasized.  “Women need to know what a change in their breast feels like.  I remember the key chains that were passed out at the race last year which showed tumor sizes.  Most tumors are about the size of a half dollar before they are detected, so it can be a very large tumor before you feel it in the breast tissue.”

Despite her difficult journey, Angie remains upbeat and determined to spread her message.  Cancer is not a journey she would wish on anyone, but for the things she’s learned and the truth she understands today, she says she would not trade her journey.

“You don’t choose to get cancer, but you do choose how you respond.  Cancer is a disease that takes.  It will rob you of everything that you will give it.  Do NOT let it take anymore than it must have.  I will not let it rob me of my spirit.”

“You can get bitter or get better.  I choose to get better.”