If you haven't had the opportunity to meet this incredible woman, Teresa of Brownsburg, then you are missing out. Behind her radiating energy is a caring mother, pastor's wife, dog lover and Eagle Creek hiking enthusiast.

Born and raised in Brownsburg, Indiana, Teresa and her husband Tim's love story began back in 1994, while she attended Brownsburg High School. This upcoming year, they will have been married for 30 years and have raised a daughter and a son.

Making Prevention a Priority

Now that she had reached her 40s, Teresa made a commitment to herself to put her wellness  higher on her priority list. "I knew I was at the age where I really needed to start paying more attention to preventative care and taking care of myself," she said. "As my kids get older, I know I want to be around for them for a long, long time."

Her first step was to visit her primary care provider, Dr. Haley Trambaugh, to review her preventative health checklist. One of her to-dos was to get her mammogram.

Looking back, Teresa never thought breast cancer would become a part of her story.

But right after her screening mammogram appointment, she received a call about having some additional testing. That began a chain of events that would lead to her diagnosis of triple-positive breast cancer.

Diagnosis

Teresa came in for additional scans, and that same day, had a biopsy performed. The results showed cancer cells. Within two days, Teresa had her first appointment with Dr. Monet Bowling, a breast surgical oncologist at Hendricks Regional Health Breast Center. 

Thinking about that day, Teresa most remembers how warmly her nurse, Pattie, greeted her, and the care and attention she received from Dr. Bowling. By drawing on a peice of paper, Dr. Bowling explained every detail of Teresa's diagnosis and the next steps.

Seeing Her as a Person... and a "Cool Chick!"

An important part of Teresa's recovery was having her support system by her side. By the end of Teresa's first appointment with Dr. Bowling, she was partnered with a nurse navigator, Millicent. "She told me she was going to be there with me through the entire journey, and she kept her word," said Teresa with emotion in her voce.

Her treatment journey included radiation treatments at the Hendricks Regional Health Cancer Center under the care of Dr. Stanley Givens. In addition, Teresa had chemotherapy treatments under the care of Dr. Sridhar Bolla of Hendricks Oncology and the team of the Hendricks Oncology Infusion Center. "I find comfort in goint to Hendricks. They are absolutely an amazing team who look at you as a person," Teresa said, smiling. "I have never once felt like a number ... I feel like they see me as Teresa, a mom, a wife, a sister, a friend and a cool chick!"

The Journey of Healing

Teresa's first step in her journey of healing was reassuring her family. "When I first learned about my cancer diagnosis, I talked to Tim and we collectivly decided to tell the kids," she said. "We assured them that my cancer was in the early stages, we weren't afraid, and mom was going to beat this."

As Teresa fought her cancer, she reflected on the support she received not just from her healthcare team, but from her community,. "When I got my diagnosis, I started a Facebook page called The Journey of Healing. I've viewed this entire experience as my journey of healing, no matter what we went through."

The Season of Survivorship

On Teresa's last day of radiation treatment, she thought, "Now what?"

"I look at my journey in seasons," Teresa said. "There was the season of chemo, the season of the double mastectomy, radiation, and then there's the season of survivorship." She found comfort in her treatments because they made her feel like she was actively fighting cancer.

"With every infusion, I was fighting cancer. When I went through radiation treatments, I was fighting cancer." Throughout her journey, Teresa always felt empowered. But once the cancer was gone, she wondered, what did she have to fight now?

"I thought I can do this," Teresa said. "But I can't do it alone." Millicent connected Teresa with a therapist through a partnership with Cancer Support Community which is a resource for all cancer patients ar Hendricks. "It helped me be able to talk through fears I was grappling with a move on in a healthy way."

"I'm learning what my new normal is. And I think that's part of my journey that I'm still on. And I don't know that I'll ever not be on it as life goes on," Teresa reflected. 

After her experience with cancer, Teresa has advice for others: "I would tell anyone hesitant to get a mamogram that ignorance is not bliss. Sometimes we avoid things because we don't want to know the answer, because we're afraid of wht that answer might mean," she said. "But what is you got the mammogram? And what if it revealed something that needed to be taken care of? Mammograms empower you to take the next step needed to improve your own health."