Rochelle Holmes, Cheryl Sasser, Dena Kay Miller, Sandra Davidson, Lisa Rodebush, Iris Park, Sherry Pitts, Terri Fields, Melina Goatcher, Debbie Wycoff, Penny Marshall, Imogene Duvall and several others … what do all these women have in common? They all live in McIntosh County and they were all diagnosed with breast cancer. According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, an estimated 316,950 women and 2,800 men will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in 2025. One in eight women in the U.S. will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime. So many women in the county unfortunately already know these statistics because they have been diagnosed with breast cancer over the years and some just in the last month, like Checotah’s favorite former teacher, Imogene Duvall. Sadly some like Joyce Glover, have even lost their battle with breast cancer.
On March 5, 2024, Rochelle Holmes was diagnosed with breast cancer and finally a year later she looks back to reflect upon her journey and warns others to check their breast monthly for changes and to get their yearly mammograms.
“I felt the lump but I had two fluid filled cysts drained previously so I just thought I had another one, but it wasn’t fluid this time,” Rochelle said. “On my drive home as the reality of what the doctor had told me punched me in the gut, I pulled into the Braum’s parking lot and googled carcinoma. Then I drove straight back to work and sat in Cheryl’s office because she had been diagnosed with breast cancer 35 years ago and I was just trying to process everything. I couldn’t even go home. What was I going to do there that was any different at work? I had breast cancer and I had to come to grips with it.
“When I met back with my doctor the size of my tumor was too large to cut out so I began treatment May 20, 2024. First, I did chemo to shrink it, and then I had my surgery. After that was radiation and I finished up my last treatment on May 29, 2025. Now I’m fixing to have reconstructive surgery and I’m excited but nervous as well.”
Rochelle did a total of 17 treatments every three weeks; six of them were the ones that almost killed her with four different drugs. She had to get fluid bags regularly and even blood. She lost her hair too but never her will to fight.
“When I look back at pictures I still can’t believe that’s what I looked like a year ago. I rang three different bells – harsh chemo, which was my favorite because it meant I wasn’t going to be sick anymore. The second bell was for my radiation and the third was my final immunotherapy treatment. I was so glad I wasn’t going to be stuck with a needle anymore.
“I learned a lot about myself through this experience though. I learned that I was tougher than I thought and I could survive anything, but I couldn’t have done it without my people. My older sister, Robi, who lived in Seattle, came to live in a little apartment we built above our house and she kept me alive. She took me to appointments and she made me drink and eat even when I just couldn’t. My family even got me an encouraging blanket that I took into treatments each time and I could look down and read it to keep going. Even when I told my dad during my first treatments ‘I got this,’ he would call me and remind me what I said. ‘You got this’ and I did it – I crushed cancer!”
Rochelle says cancer has taught her one very important lesson that you just have to live so whether it’s a little thing or a big thing – just do it and live. When she had to sleep upright in a chair, her partner Morgan slept right beside her on the couch every night. Then he got up at 5 a.m. and went to work to keep them afloat. Her coworkers were also so understanding and if she could only work two hours during her treatments, then that’s what she did and they took up the slack.
“I now look at life differently and I’m grateful for everything. Cancer has a way of putting everything into perspective. I’m grateful for all the nurses who held my hands through it all, for my family that lived through it all with me and for my coworkers who are still encouraging me as I begin the last phase of this journey. I literally couldn’t have made it without them.”
There are many forms of breast cancer. An easily identifiable characteristic of breast cancer is the type of cell it’s formed in – whether ductal carcinoma that forms in the cells lining the milk ducts or Lobular carcinoma that’s formed in the milk-producing lobules. Another characteristic of breast cancer is whether it invades the surrounding tissue or stays where it originally formed. This is called noninvasive or invasive.
Symptoms of breast cancer can vary also. Symptoms can include: A lump or thickening of breast tissue you can feel with your fingers Breast swelling or significant changes in your breast shape or size Changes to the skin on your breast, such as redness, dimpling or irritation Nipples turning inward or nipple pain Nipple discharge other than breast milk It is estimated that there are four million breast cancer survivors in the U.S. and early detection literally can be the difference between life and death.
