At simply 27 years outdated, Clarina Jean-Pierre confronted a life-altering analysis that nobody in her household had skilled earlier than – breast most cancers. She observed a rash on her breast and, decided to take cost of her well being, pushed for additional checks.
“Finally [I was] seemed within the face by the first and informed, ‘Look, you’re overexaggerating your well being, Clarina,’” Jean-Pierre recalled in a report revealed by WPBF Information earlier this month.
These extra checks proved essential, as she was recognized with stage one breast most cancers. Newly engaged with a younger daughter, Jean-Pierre opted for a single mastectomy and oral remedy, selecting the trail that gave her the most effective likelihood at life.
“I imagine that if I did a lumpectomy, what was I going to have left,” she mentioned. “I’d as nicely let [the doctor] take it.”
Jean-Pierre was on the highway to restoration, able to embrace life as soon as extra. Nonetheless, a post-reconstruction check-up delivered a surprising blow – stage 4, grade B breast most cancers had returned.
This time, the illness had additionally unfold to her proper lung. Jean-Pierre confronted chemotherapy infusions within the very room the place she had just lately began working at Baptist Well being’s Most cancers Heart in Boca Raton.
“Earlier than I clocked out, I bear in mind particularly going into one in all our little non-public rooms and going to further clear it with sandy garments, as a result of that was the place I used to be going to take a seat after I got here within the subsequent morning at 8 a.m.,” she remembered.
By way of grueling rounds of chemotherapy, Jean-Pierre’s husband turned her unwavering assist, staying on the cellphone along with her all through her restoration at dwelling.
“Some days I might get up and I might really feel like I don’t even have chemo,” she mentioned. “Then the very subsequent day I might get up and I might really feel like I can’t even get my head off the pillow.”
Jean-Pierre and her medical group intently monitored her progress, making certain that her remedy was efficient with out pointless prolongation.
“After we went in and we did my PET scan after the third chemo, there was no plenty, nowhere, not in my breast, not in my lung,” Jean-Pierre mentioned. Clear scans arrived in February 2023.
Although the chemotherapy left its mark, Jean-Pierre emerged as a two-time breast most cancers survivor with a profound mission. She is decided to encourage others, making a group known as ‘Surviving for Brown Women’ to assist girls on their most cancers journey.
However her most necessary message is evident: by no means hesitate to hunt medical assist for those who suspect one thing is incorrect along with your well being. Advocate for your self, as Jean-Pierre has accomplished, as a result of, as she says, “I’m uninterested in dropping sisters to this illness.” She’s going to proceed to battle and advocate for most cancers, cherishing the second likelihood at life she’s been given.
