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By Carey Reeder | Managing Editor

Every October, The Clanton Advertiser showcases a brave warrior in the local community who has looked breast cancer in the face and beat it. This year, Heather Baker shares her story about being diagnosed with the disease, her battle with it and ultimate defeat of it.

Throughout her adult years, Baker adhered to doctor’s advice for women to go get a yearly mammogram done to detect breast cancer. She was vigilant about going, got a mammogram each year and was up to date on everything at all times. In August of last year, it was time for Baker’s yearly mammogram again, and she went in like the years prior feeling normal and not concerned about anything. On Sept. 18, the doctors called her back and said they saw some things on her tests that did not look right. They said it was probably calcification, and that there was nothing to worry about for the still young and healthy Baker.

“I was 46 and healthy, never had any health issues and breast cancer had never run in my family at all, so I did not really think anything,” Baker said.

The doctors scheduled a second mammogram for Baker at the end of September, and the results came back with more questions. The staff suggested that Baker go to Brookwood Baptist Medical Center and the Breast Care Center of Birmingham to see Dr. April Maddux, a breast oncologist at the facility. She went, and Maddux said a biopsy was needed on Baker’s right breast.

On Oct. 23, Baker met with Maddux and the doctors to go over the results, and the bad news was broken. Baker was diagnosed with Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) in her right breast, a non-invasive, early-stage breast cancer, just a day before her and her son’s shared birthday. The doctors found two tumors in her breast, and discussions about treatment began immediately, starting with a double mastectomy.

“I panicked at that moment, I was crying and I did not know what to expect, I was just scared,” Baker said.

With life-changing decisions looming, Baker wanted to get a second opinion before making any final choices. She went to UAB Hospital on Nov. 1 and sat down with Dr. Catherine Parker along with radiologists and oncologists from the hospital, and the group went over all of Baker’s test results. After the discussion with the doctors, Baker felt more at peace in the face of uncertainty.

“We went through everything, and I felt so much more at ease with the way they explained everything,” Baker said.

UAB Hospital performed another biopsy on Baker’s breast, and the results came back exactly the same as the first one. More testing also revealed that she was not a carrier of the breast cancer gene, which changed the avenue of treatments available to her. The double mastectomy was still an option for Baker, but since it did not run in the Baker family, she was not a carrier and she was still young and healthy, a lumpectomy on her right breast was now an option.

A lumpectomy would remove the tumor and surrounding breast tissue as opposed to removing both breasts completely. If Baker chose this option, the procedure would come with 20 rounds of radiation treatments. If the double mastectomy was chosen, the radiation treatments would not be needed.

As a mother of four, and with her oldest son only a few weeks away from going to basic training for the Army, the options weighed heavily on Baker. She prayed about it and took all the advice from people that she could to make the right decision.

“I finally said ‘I have to do what I think God is telling me to do,’” Baker said.

Baker chose the lumpectomy on her right breast and the 20 rounds of radiation treatment. On Dec. 14 Baker went in for surgery to remove the tumors. In January of this year, the doctors called and said her margins were not clear, and they were still showing signs of cancer. She was set up for a revised surgery and went under the knife again on Jan. 26, and this time Baker’s margins were clear, she was cancer free and could begin the radiation treatments. Radiation began on March 28 at The Kirklin Clinic of UAB Hospital, and she finished them on April 18.

Baker is now in remission, and she met with Dr. Parker and the UAB staff on Sept. 9 for a checkup and her yearly mammogram. All results came back cancer free. Parker gave Baker a clean bill of health, and if Baker’s MRI and PET scan on Oct. 8 shows that her body is doing well following the radiation, she will be away from any and all cancer talk for six months until her next appointment.

“As long as that is good, I will be okay for six months,” Baker said. “Even though I had two tumors that were there, at least we found them early. I heard so many stories about people finding lump or knots, and I had no signs of anything. I was really good about getting lab work done, and the only thing that came back on my lab work was that my calcium was elevated, but no one seemed to be concerned about it. If I would have not gone every year (to get a mammogram), I could have missed it and it would have not been a good thing.”

Baker said she used prayer more than she ever has during her battle with breast cancer, and her family and kids kept her spirits high. She added that the best advice she could give those who are fighting cancer is to pray, and then pray some more, but also go with the decisions and choices of treatment that is best for you. Many women go through the battle and pick something different, and the choice has to be the decision that benefits them and their family the most.

“Do not give up, and I never gave up,” Baker said. “I kept fighting and I knew we were going to get through this, and even if I had to go back in for other surgeries I would have definitely done that. I like to encourage other women, and there are two or three close friends that are going through the same thing I went through, and I am always going to be there to support them. I will do whatever I can to help anybody (fighting cancer) in the community.”

Baker is a walking example of how important timely mammograms are for all women. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends that women between the ages of 40-74 are at an average risk of breast cancer, and a mammogram is needed every two years. Early detection of breast cancer, if in Baker’s case, can yield much better results for those affected by the disease.