Hilary will never forget the shock of finding a lump in her breast, just days after her 30th birthday. Soon after, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a left mastectomy. The hardest part came after surgery, as she waited in fear to learn whether she would also need chemotherapy.
No one prepares you for the shock of getting cancer as a young person, but for me, it’s hugely comforting that there is ongoing progress in cancer research. I like to dream of a future where no one else needs to suffer what my fellow cancer survivors and I have suffered.
Her answer came from research. Biomarker testing, made possible by years of scientific progress, showed that chemotherapy would not benefit her type of cancer. That result spared her from the harsh side effects of chemo and gave her a strong hope of one day becoming a mother. “I don’t think I would be where I am today without it,” Hilary says. Today, Hilary has finished her hormone therapy and is embracing her life as a PhD student at Johns Hopkins. After years of teaching preschool and caring for infants and toddlers, she is pursuing her passion for education research and has taught graduate-level education courses. She remains grateful for the science that guided her treatment and for the future that cancer research helped protect.