Melissa Blackwell - “I’ve Been Given The Gift of Peace”

Melissa Blackwell, Mebane, NC

While at work in a health care facility in January 2006, Melissa Blackwell of Mebane, N.C. found an unexpected discovery – a lump the size of a half-dollar on her breast.

Blackwell immediately asked one of the health care providers in the facility to check the mass and then asked for a mammogram. The mammogram confirmed what she had suspected; Blackwell had breast cancer.

“I was walking around feeling wonderful and then within 48 hours I knew I had cancer,” she said.

The provider recommended that Blackwell see oncologist Lisa Carey at Lineberger. Blackwell received two rounds of chemotherapy, and the mass shrank to the size of a pinhead. She then continued treatment with a lumpectomy. A lumpectomy is a procedure where a surgeon removes the cancerous mass from the breast, unlike a mastectomy, where the whole breast is removed.

A follow-up appointment revealed that cancerous cells still existed and additional surgery would be needed to clean the margins of remaining cancerous cells.

Following the surgery, Blackwell received 39 radiation treatments. “I tried to be really positive throughout the treatment,” she said.

Blackwell said that her two daughters, ages 9 and 11, helped to keep her going during the treatments. She even continued to work throughout the chemotherapy. “It was real hard, but you know, it’s doable,” she said.

Blackwell’s cancer remained resistant. In early February of 2007 she discovered another mass in the same breast. Three months later, a biopsy revealed that Blackwell had cancer again.

While performing preparation tests for a mastectomy in July 2007, Blackwell’s doctor discovered another new mass of lymph nodes. Now Blackwell and her doctors must determine which mass needs the most immediate attention and what to do next.

Blackwell said that the bonds she has shared with people who work at Lineberger have helped her as well. “It’s like a family. The patients at the cancer center are large in number, yet we are made to feel that we are receiving individual care and treatment,” she said.

Through a genetic study conducted at Lineberger, Blackwell was able to learn that she was not a genetic carrier of breast cancer. Blackwell said that it was a comfort to know that she would not pass the disease on to her daughters.

“It’s been a rough journey,” said Blackwell.  Her immediate family, friends and church have provided the support Blackwell needs by helping with her children and around the house. Her church also held a golf tournament as a fundraiser for Blackwell’s treatment.

Despite the challenges, Blackwell remains hopeful. She said, “I’m very spiritual and I do believe in the power of prayer and I think that’s what has gotten me through. …I’ve been given the gift of peace because I don’t worry about it.”

Blackwell said that advice she would give other women facing breast cancer would be to “deal with one thing at a time. Don’t try to forecast. Don’t try to look down the road six months. Just handle what you need to handle right now.”