Cathy Sweeney’s Story

Meet Cathy Sweeney, a breast cancer survivor.

Talk about your breast cancer journey.

Cathy’s journey began in May of 2011. She’s been having mammograms performed here for several years. She had a mammogram done, and they noticed something. They wanted to know if she had any discharge from the ducts and she said, “No, the only time I had that was when I was pregnant with my son, which was 37 years ago.” They did the ultrasound, the needle localization, and then Dr. Haines performed surgery. They found the cancer, so Dr. Haines did the surgery again. The tumor was the size of the tip of an ink pen. It was very small, but they noticed it.

What were the next steps in your care?

Dr. Haines called while Cathy was driving into Belleville. He said it was cancer and told her to meet him the next day at Memorial. He said he’d probably do a lumpectomy, which he did. She didn’t need a mastectomy because the tumor wasn’t that large. Dr. Haines also removed five lymph nodes. After another meeting with him, they sent her to Dr. Popovic.

What treatments did you have after your surgery?

She had four chemotherapy treatments at the Cancer Treatment Center in Swansea. After the chemotherapy treatment, she would get a Neulasta shot and then have an appointment with Dr. Popovic. Following her chemotherapy course, Cathy had 33 radiation treatments with Dr. Laduzinsky.

Talk about the coordination of care among your doctors.

She said she thinks they work very well together. They help each other out. Because Dr. Popovic would ask her a question and then went to Dr. Laduzinsky‘s office to set up the radiation treatments for her. She thinks all the staff is wonderful.

Why would you recommend the Breast Health Center?

For her, it is convenient. The nurses and workers there are very nice and take their time. She does still get scared when she goes in for a mammogram, but she said, “They help you through it.”