2026 Komen Detroit Race for the Cure

Hello! Welcome to the Pink Pony Ribbon Club! Because I didn’t share my journey with very many people, I figured I’d start there. In November of 2025, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. My journey started right after I turned 40 in May of 2024. I have known many people who have had the misfortune of being diagnosed with breast cancer (and other types of cancer) and their message has always been the same: early detection is key. 

I was told to “start mammograms as soon as you turn 40, and get them every year.” That’s what I did. My first mammogram showed an abnormal mass. Over the course of the following months, I went through a series of diagnostic mammograms, ultrasounds, and a biopsy. And to my relief, the mass turned out to be a rare, but benign, tumor. It was recommended that I get it removed via lumpectomy. After that lumpectomy, it was smooth sailing until my next mammogram. Again, the mammogram showed some abnormal masses in my breast, but this time, after all the testing, the masses came back as atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH). Though ADH is considered benign, it is considered “pre-cancerous”, thus putting me in a high risk category for breast cancer. I was immediately referred to a wonderful cancer team and met with the same oncologist surgeon that removed my benign tumor the previous year. She explained that with ADH, she tends to play it very safe and ask for an MRI to make sure there weren't any traces of breast cancer or other ADH the mammogram did not pick up.

So off I went to get an MRI. Luckily, the cancer center that did my MRI has a radiologist on site to go over all imaging and meet with you during the same appointment. The radiologist came in and said that he saw a concerning pattern of scattered cells/masses come up on the MRI and wanted to do further testing/imaging. After some further imaging, we ended up doing an MRI guided biopsy on Halloween of 2025.

A week later, I was driving home from Costco when I got the phone call. I had ductal carcinoma in SITU (DCIS). 

It’s funny how when you’re waiting for test results, it seems as though time can’t move fast enough, but after you get your diagnosis and the oncology team springs into action…you wish time would slow down so you can wrap your head around what this means for you and your family. A couple days later I met with my oncologist, and my oncology nurse navigator. The oncologist said that it was the best case scenario for breast cancer. The DCIS was not invasive, meaning the cancer was still contained inside my milk ducts and had not spread to the surrounding tissue. Also, as an added bonus, the area of cancer was very small. She said had we not done the MRI the mammogram machines may have not caught it for another couple years. 

After discussing my options with my doctor and discussing what life/treatment after surgery would look like for me. I made the decision to get a double mastectomy. On December 12, 2025, I had the bilateral mastectomy and a couple weeks later the pathology came back that imaging and testing was correct, no cancer cells had invaded any of the breast tissue surrounding it.

The picture that you see on this page of me and the family is the first family photo we took after I was released from the hospital, after all four drainage tubes were removed, and after I was able to move around more easily. That photo served as a virtual “Happy Holidays!” card on my social media. At that point, not a lot of people knew of my diagnosis or my surgery, but Christmas 2025 will be one I will never forget.

That was a Christmas that was so fulfilling thanks to the family and friends that did know and were able to fly up or stop by to make sure my kids got all the love they needed and Jake got all the help he needed while I was healing. That was the Christmas I saw my kids mature and show me a strength I didn’t know they were capable of. That was the Christmas that meant more than all the other Christmases.

If you made this far in my story, thank you.  Annnnnd…if I could bother you for a little bit more of your time. Please, I urge you, schedule your preventative screenings. Are you due for a mammogram? Are you due for a colonoscopy? Are your friends and/or family? Make that appointment and urge others to do so too. If you have some change or dollars to spare, please consider donating it to support the Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. 

Are you local and want to join my team? We’d love to have you! Come walk with the Pink Ribbon Club around Detroit! However, this is your warning: there will be pink tutus for everyone. And I mean EVERYONE.

Much love and many thanks,

Jen