KFOR TV anchor Ali Meyer has revealed her journey after she was diagnosed with breast cancer last year in October after undergoing a screening test, mammogram, on Facebook Live.
She thought she was just performing a public service to encourage women who are above 40 to get screened, but six days later, she was diagnosed with the deadly disease.
Speaking to TODAY, Meyer said, “To say I was shocked does not begin to cut it.”
The 41-year-old was diagnosed with Stage 0 non-invasive ductal breast cancer, the early stage of cancer that can be cured, according to the American Cancer Society.
Receiving the diagnosis was a shock to her because she was relatively young, had no family history of breast cancer, led a healthy lifestyle, and had no breast lump.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says only 11 percent of all new breast cancer cases are diagnosed in women below 45.
Typically, doctors do not recommend a mammogram to patients who are below 40 unless they have a family history of breast cancer.
Women below 40 can reduce their risk of developing breast cancer via genetic testing, annual checkups, and an active lifestyle.
Talking about her diagnosis, Meyer said, “I was angry. What’s the point of living right and living healthy and clean eating and never smoking a cigarette, if you end up with something like this?”
“At 40, I had worked hard to be a healthy person and gotten through all the body-image hating stuff, and I loved my body and felt comfortable with who I was, so you just think, ‘What a terrible time to be hit with something like this in your life,” the anchor added.
Meyer shared her breast cancer journey in a first-person story for KFOR in which she said she underwent a mastectomy on her right breast to make sure the tumor is completely removed.
She said, “I went to doctor after doctor to find someone who would tell me I shouldn’t have a mastectomy. You’re telling me I have the very best cancer to have, Stage 0, non-invasive, but I have to cut off my entire breast? It was difficult for me to understand.”
“Even though surgery was my choice, it felt like forced mutilation,” she continued. “It felt like cancer was stealing part of my body away from me.”
“I realized it [mastectomy] was the best choice. They told me, ‘You can have immediate implant reconstruction, and you can keep your skin and your nipple,’” Meyer added. “Having no family history and having never looked into it in detail, I didn’t know what the options were.”
“I know now that had it gone a little further, had I waited another five years, those options may not have been open,” she added.
On October 9, Meyer had a mammogram, which revealed that she is cancer-free now.
“I was more emotional than I thought I’d be. I’d had the mastectomy on that one side, so you’re not supposed to be nervous, but I still was,” said Meyer.
She added, “The left tissue is still completely intact, so I was nervous they’d find something on that side, too. It’s this low-level anxiety that I’ll have for the rest of my life thinking, ‘When is it coming back? Is it coming back?’” Meyer concluded, “I hope women take away from my story to do it now. That way either you know you’re safe, or if you catch [the cancer] early, that’s a huge benefit.”
