lock out cancer women's campaign- tawyna jacob's journey
Written by Julianna Bonnett
At 27 years old, Ambassador Tawnya Jacob received her first tattoo with the word Fearless and the breast cancer symbol tied to it in honour of her best friend who passed away from Metastatic Breast Cancer in 2017.
On January 2020, she randomly asked her husband to check her chest for anything abnormal. Within seconds of palpating, her husband found a small peanut-sized lump in her right breast and told her to keep an eye on it. For two months, Jacob continued to check on it while she waited for her scheduled physical that kept being rescheduled due to Covid-19.
“Finally came March, after growing more concerned and impatient for my rescheduled physical, I asked my boss for the afternoon off on March 12, and decided to take matters into my own hands,” she explains.” I went to a walk-in clinic and advised the nurse I found a lump and requested a breast exam. I did not know it then, but March 12 would be my last day worked. The week after that Thursday, we were laid off and placed in lockdown. The following week I was referred to an imaging clinic for an ultrasound. The next week I was sent for a biopsy at the Breast Health Center at our local hospital.”
On March 31 of 2020, Jacob received a call from her family doctor and was diagnosed with stage one cancer.
“Being diagnosed with breast cancer so young was a real shock, not to mention during a worldwide pandemic. Shortly after my diagnosis, I had my blood taken to test my genes for mutations of other cancers and diseases,” she shares. “We discovered I was BRCA1 positive. This leads me susceptible to breast and ovarian cancer from the BRCA1 cells that are found in my DNA. This means my breast cancer was passed hereditarily.”
Due to the pandemic, inconvenience, and the stress of everything, Jacob decided to forgo fertility treatments, before she underwent 16 rounds of aggressive chemotherapy. On September 30, she received a bilateral double mastectomy with reconstruction. Today she is cancer free, but will continue to receive hormone therapy for the next five years to ensure there is no reoccurrence of cancer.
“I can’t help but wonder what my future would have looked like had I not gone to that walk-in clinic. What if I elected to wait until I felt "safe" from the pandemic,” she questions. “I don’t think my story would have had a happy ending if it were not for the actions I took to advocate and speak up for myself. “
Jacob explained that cancer does not discriminate.
“All the health care professionals, who examined my tumor, verified that I was lucky to have found it as early as I did. As a young woman, my breast tissue is dense, and it wouldn't have been easy to locate and distinguish without my previous knowledge and experience with breast cancer with my best friend,” she states. “I am so grateful for my life and health and hope that in the process of sharing my story that I can help someone; anyone to remember my story and take your life and health seriously. Be your own advocate, ask questions and bring attention to things that concern you, it's your body and life, you have every right.”
When asked what empowers her daily, Jacob shares her freedom empowers her.
“My ability to think and do for myself as well as for others. I feel empowered when I am making a choice or taking a stand for what I believe in,” she says. “I feel empowered when I take responsibility for my life, my actions and my decisions. Remembering that this life is mine and I have every right to claim it, protect it, and value it.”
For more information and to donate to Lock Out Cancer,
visit www.LockOutCancer.com
At 27 years old, Ambassador Tawnya Jacob received her first tattoo with the word Fearless and the breast cancer symbol tied to it in honour of her best friend who passed away from Metastatic Breast Cancer in 2017.
On January 2020, she randomly asked her husband to check her chest for anything abnormal. Within seconds of palpating, her husband found a small peanut-sized lump in her right breast and told her to keep an eye on it. For two months, Jacob continued to check on it while she waited for her scheduled physical that kept being rescheduled due to Covid-19.
“Finally came March, after growing more concerned and impatient for my rescheduled physical, I asked my boss for the afternoon off on March 12, and decided to take matters into my own hands,” she explains.” I went to a walk-in clinic and advised the nurse I found a lump and requested a breast exam. I did not know it then, but March 12 would be my last day worked. The week after that Thursday, we were laid off and placed in lockdown. The following week I was referred to an imaging clinic for an ultrasound. The next week I was sent for a biopsy at the Breast Health Center at our local hospital.”
On March 31 of 2020, Jacob received a call from her family doctor and was diagnosed with stage one cancer.
“Being diagnosed with breast cancer so young was a real shock, not to mention during a worldwide pandemic. Shortly after my diagnosis, I had my blood taken to test my genes for mutations of other cancers and diseases,” she shares. “We discovered I was BRCA1 positive. This leads me susceptible to breast and ovarian cancer from the BRCA1 cells that are found in my DNA. This means my breast cancer was passed hereditarily.”
Due to the pandemic, inconvenience, and the stress of everything, Jacob decided to forgo fertility treatments, before she underwent 16 rounds of aggressive chemotherapy. On September 30, she received a bilateral double mastectomy with reconstruction. Today she is cancer free, but will continue to receive hormone therapy for the next five years to ensure there is no reoccurrence of cancer.
“I can’t help but wonder what my future would have looked like had I not gone to that walk-in clinic. What if I elected to wait until I felt "safe" from the pandemic,” she questions. “I don’t think my story would have had a happy ending if it were not for the actions I took to advocate and speak up for myself. “
Jacob explained that cancer does not discriminate.
“All the health care professionals, who examined my tumor, verified that I was lucky to have found it as early as I did. As a young woman, my breast tissue is dense, and it wouldn't have been easy to locate and distinguish without my previous knowledge and experience with breast cancer with my best friend,” she states. “I am so grateful for my life and health and hope that in the process of sharing my story that I can help someone; anyone to remember my story and take your life and health seriously. Be your own advocate, ask questions and bring attention to things that concern you, it's your body and life, you have every right.”
When asked what empowers her daily, Jacob shares her freedom empowers her.
“My ability to think and do for myself as well as for others. I feel empowered when I am making a choice or taking a stand for what I believe in,” she says. “I feel empowered when I take responsibility for my life, my actions and my decisions. Remembering that this life is mine and I have every right to claim it, protect it, and value it.”
For more information and to donate to Lock Out Cancer,
visit www.LockOutCancer.com
