The room shrunk and all that existed in the world was this radiologist and the screen she remained hyper-focused on. There was near silence in the room as she examined the dense breast tissue from every conceivable angle. Next, she went over and around my fully inverted nipple and through every conceivable angle, and over all the flesh of my breast under my nipple as well. “I don’t like the density of this breast at all,” she finally revealed.

In December 2016, I was diagnosed with Stage III HER2-positive Invasive Ductal Carcinoma, two months after my 39th birthday. It was one of the scariest times of my life. It felt unreal at first and everything became a haze instantly. I never imagined I would hear those words and that they would be talking about me. The next thing I remember is the doctor telling me that they know exactly what to do, and that the survival rate was 88% and I should focus on that. To be honest, most of what she said that day sounded to me like jumbled up words. I allowed myself to cry on the day I was diagnosed but very early on, I decided to only focus on what life would be after cancer.

When I received the news that I had breast cancer, my world seemed to crumble before my eyes. Overwhelmed, vulnerable, and defenseless, I faced a daunting journey ahead. As a seasoned business owner, I had encountered my fair share of adversity, but nothing could prepare me for this level of fear. For the first time, I found myself fearing the unknown, dreading the loss of everything: my health, my quality of life, my business, and all my assets. How could I possibly endure this?

In August 2014 I found a lump in my left breast. This is unusual for inflammatory breast cancer (IBC), a rare and very aggressive cancer where cancer blocks the lymph vessels.

Every year clinicians, researchers, patient advocates and industry members head to Texas to share the latest breakthroughs in breast cancer research. It’s a key conference to learn about new treatments or new standards of care for breast cancer patients. Here’s some of the highlights that have the most impact on patient care today: