Despite Being ‘Too Young’ For Breast Cancer, She Was Diagnosed At 26
When you receive unexpected, life-altering news, the most powerful thing you can do amid the uncertainty is advocate for yourself — and remember that you are stronger than you know. […] The post Despite Being ‘Too Young’ For Breast Cancer, She Was Diagnosed At 26 appeared first on Essence.
Black News 
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready… When you receive unexpected, life-altering news, the most powerful thing you can do amid the uncertainty is advocate for yourself — and remember that you are stronger than you know. LaShae D. Rolle, MDH, CPH, had to learn this firsthand at just 26 years old. In October 2023, while she was studying for her PHD in, of all things, cancer prevention, Rolle was diagnosed with multicentric The subject before her mastectomy – LaShae Rolle
Has your experience changed your perspective on how to advocate for your body and the healthcare industry?
Let me tell you, I’ve made sure I advocate 24/7 because if someone tells me, “Oh, this is rare! This might not happen,” I don’t even listen to you. I’m going to go with whatever I think is right because right after my mastectomy, I had a blood clot in my lung. I went to the ER, and the doctor was like, “This is not a surgery where you can get blood clots. So we don’t need to do a CT scan.” I said, “No, let’s do that CT because I learned my lesson from before, and a blood clot in your lung could be life-threatening.” So when it comes to my health, I’m not even messing with it. I talk to my doctors, advocate for myself, and make sure that I’m okay with the plan. Just because somebody says something is rare doesn’t mean it’s impossible.
What was the biggest lesson you learned about your body during treatment?
I learned that you have to listen to your body. Number one, I learned you need to get to know your body and know what your normal is so that you can act on it. Number two, I learned that you have to really just advocate for yourself. Nobody’s going to care about you more than yourself.
What is a significant milestone you are working on as a cancer survivor?
Well, a big milestone I hope to achieve is for cancer survivors and patients to know right out the gate that they can exercise before, during, and after treatment. That can be a part of your regimen, and you can do anything. The number one thing to know is that you’re strong after cancer, no matter what. The fact that you went through it, you’re here today, you’re living, you can breathe. You are stronger after cancer.
What advice do you have for other women about getting tested for early detection?
Well, the first thing I’ll say is if I had been tested at the recommended time, I wouldn’t have been tested because I would have been dead. Straight up. So, I think you should do what’s best for you in any situation. If you get your cancer detected earlier in life, then you have a better chance of beating it, because if you look at early breast cancer, the rates for five-year survival are in the 90 percentiles. But then, when you move into stage four, the rate drops dramatically to less than 50%. So, you really want to try to catch it early and get some treatment, because the treatments are much better nowadays. Just listen to your body, get to know yourself, talk to your doctor, and don’t worry about what others say you don’t need. It’s better to “waste people’s time” than regret it later.
TOPICS: Breast Cancer breast cancer awareness month health and wellnessThe post Despite Being ‘Too Young’ For Breast Cancer, She Was Diagnosed At 26 appeared first on Essence.
