Dorothy: [00:00:00] Imagine being in your doctor’s office and you’ve had your surgery and now they’re about to take the drains out, only everything stops because they found out that your Medicaid is not active. Medicaid is one of the biggest blessings and challenges for uninsured people. Listen today to Courtney talk about what could happen if your Medicare lapses and you’re in the middle of treatment because of something beyond your control.
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Let’s Talk About Your Breast, a different kind of podcast presented to you by The Rose a breast center of excellence and a Texas treasure. You’re [00:01:00] gonna hear frank discussions about tough topics, and you’re gonna learn why knowing about your breast could save your life.
I was so stunned when you, uh, were at the Junior League with us during our State of the Rose, you were our guest. And we ask you to do your testimony. Do your story, talk about your story. Here is a, a mixed audience. Black, Spanish, white people, you know, and you said something that was so profound. You were talking about going the first time when you noticed the lump in your breast. Now, how old was your child at that point? You were nursing, right?
Courtney: I was nursing my daughter. She was about 15 or 16 months.
Dorothy: Okay.
Courtney: Um, and she, um, she, she would nurse on me like crazy. So I knew what a clogged milk duck felt like because I’ve had them before. And I would let her nurse wherever [00:02:00] it was to work it out. And it would take maybe an hour. Like for it to be gone. And so, when I felt this lump, I, literally, like I told y’all before, I was getting ready to go to a party. I stopped in my tracks, went to, I tried to see my midwives, because I trusted them so much, but they were really busy. So they sent me down to the, um, the women’s clinic. Went down to the women’s clinic, um, it was about 4:30, so they were getting ready to close at 5, but they did walk ins. And I told them My doctor, like what was going on with me, she gave me a quick little exam and then she was like, why would you think that’s a lump?
I was like, because it feels like a lump. And she was like, but you jump straight to like cancer. And I was like, I don’t know. I just, I’m scared because it’s my breasts. And she was like, “Pft,” it’s like literally the laugh. And she was like, it’s a clogged up. And I was like, okay. I was like, well, I tried to like work it out.
And she was like, does breast cancer run in your family? I was like, no, ma’am. And she was like, it’s, it’s, it’s a clogged up, wrote me off like nothing. And so that [00:03:00] doctor was a white doctor and I’m a black woman. And I just felt like if my skin color was different, she would have ran every test possible just to make me feel comfortable.
But she didn’t. She laughed at me and made me feel so uncomfortable and so stupid that I didn’t even think about it anymore until it came up again. But I think that, um, when I tell my story and I say that part sometimes I’m like, I’m about to tell this to a white person but I’m just gonna say it, you know, because at the end of the day it I was that’s what it was That’s what I went through. That’s what I felt.
Dorothy: And how old were you?
Courtney: I was maybe 34.
Dorothy: Okay. So Courtney a lot of doctors would go down that route. I mean wouldn’t matter. But the fact that you didn’t feel heard—
Courtney: I did not.
Dorothy: That was what stunned me so much at the, uh, event we had that was featuring you because you said, this is what happens to us. So many times we’re not able to see [00:04:00] a doctor who is the same color as we are. And we immediately wonder if we’ve gotten the same care.
Courtney: The same care. Exactly. And I do feel like most doctors would have gone down that route, but she stopped that. Um, does anyone in your family have breast cancer? She didn’t say cancer because my grandfather or my mom, my maternal grandfather had prostate cancer and prostate cancer and breast cancer in the same family. So maybe just, maybe if she had asked that, then, okay, that will warrant, let’s just get you an ultrasound or let’s just get you, you know, like, let’s just see.
Dorothy: Your young mother, your nursing, you found a lump, you’re hysterical. Let’s say, let’s say, you know, so perhaps, but it really doesn’t matter because it was what you felt.
Courtney: Yes. And I just, I, I didn’t feel heard. And I think that that’s so important. And I say that about having, um, a doctor who was maybe African American [00:05:00] or a person of color, just because we connect, because we don’t feel heard all the time. Um, and I know that for a fact, because even one of my mom friends, I’ve met so many women.
Um, she told me that, like, she kind of went through the same thing. And hers was a clogged up, but she had X, Y, and Z tests done and she’s a white woman. And so she was like, wow, and her husband’s a doctor. And so when I was telling my story at the school, she was like, Oh really? Because when I was pregnant with such and such, they made me go through this, this, this, and that. And I’m just like, Nope, that didn’t happen to me.
Dorothy: That didn’t happen to you.
Courtney: And this is something I didn’t tell you. I have so many things I just start to remember. Um, It was my right breast and so when I was pregnant with Amour, I was like having leakage, Amour, my daughter. Oh your daughter, okay. Before the, before the cancer.
Dorothy: Before the cancer came along.
Courtney: Even before I felt the lump.
Dorothy: I just want to make sure everybody understands.
Courtney: Yeah, I’m sorry. Even before I felt the lump when I was pregnant with my daughter Amour, um, my right breast was like leaking and we were like really scared about it because I was like, [00:06:00] why? And it was leaking like a, um. I thought blood, but they said it was like a rusty, like, pre milk. And I’m like, all right. But they sent me to a breast specialist while I was pregnant and she checked it out and she’s like, Oh, this happens sometimes in first pregnancies, but it’s the same breast that the lump was in. It’s the same breast that the cancer was in.
So my body had been trying to tell me something. And I think maybe the first time it was because I was pregnant and the type of cancer that I had, um, invasive ductal carcinoma it runs off of, um, the hormones, the pregnancy hormones. It makes it grow faster. And so it might’ve been there when I was pregnant with Amore and I just didn’t know.
Dorothy: But the important thing was your body was trying to tell you.
Courtney: My body was trying to tell me.
Dorothy: And, and this is your pre cancer time.
Courtney: Yes.
Dorothy: So, maybe you weren’t as demanding, can we use that term, as you are now, and you wouldn’t have pushed it.
Courtney: I wouldn’t.
Dorothy: And, and, you know, that’s not, [00:07:00] it has really nothing to do with what color we are. We as women, often say, well, the doctor told me this. No matter that intuitively, we know there’s got to be something else going on. So, you know, I think that’s another big, big message for our listeners. You know, there’s, there’s other doctors, there’s other opinions. We’ve, we’re gonna have to be real clear on, uh, what we’re asking, why we’re asking. And, you know, I, I love it when you say, it is your life. It is your body. Nobody else is gonna say, oh, well take me instead.
Courtney: No, no.
Dorothy: You have to stand up for yourself. And so how can doctors be more conscious? I mean, every doctor worries about this. Believe me, Courtney, they, they would never want to misdiagnose anyone. But how can, [00:08:00] can we be more, and I’m saying even as a healthcare provider, recognize that these differences are very important to that patient.
Courtney: Honestly, to me, I just feel like just run the tests. The.
Dorothy: Do the Standard.
Courtney: Best case scenario, you get paid and the test is, you’re fine. Worst case scenario, you still get paid and you diagnose the person and you maybe save a life.
Dorothy: And so the listening is so—
Courtney: So important. Like just hear me.
Dorothy: Cuz I feel like, yeah. Hear you.
Courtney: Yeah. Don’t, don’t, don’t make me feel so small and like, like, I don’t know what I’m talking about. Already, I’m at a doctor’s office and you know way more than me. Like, you know terms and things that I don’t know. So I’m already a little bit intimidated. But if I’m telling you what’s going on with my body, something that I felt in my body, just run the test. Hear me out. Tell me my options. Say, it could be a [00:09:00] clogged duct, but if you feel like it’s really a lump, let’s just run this test to be sure. It’s not going to hurt. It does not hurt. It helps more than anything.
Dorothy: And you would have fought whoever to get that if you had known.
Courtney: Definitely.
Dorothy: Oh, you would have gone. So many doctors go, the insurance isn’t going to pay for it, the patient, you know, may not be able to pay for it. Should we really order it? Well, I think that’s an important message to the healthcare community. No matter what, run the test.
Courtney: Because if I go to the emergency room and I don’t have insurance, they got to take care of me anyway, you know. It may even if I didn’t have it if I didn’t have the insurance if I didn’t have the funds and you just have to like I have to like eat this bill and pay it monthly It’s saving my life. I will pay two dollars a day the rest of my life to save my life, you know.
Dorothy: And I think I think we all feel that way We all know that that there’s times when we’re responsible too.
Courtney: Mm hmm.
Dorothy: But it’s a different kind of [00:10:00] responsibility When you don’t have that extra person being your champion back there who says yes, we’re gonna get down to this. You know, in medicine they call it a definitive diagnosis. And no matter what we call it, it means that at the end of the day, you feel like, and you know, you’ve had everything there is to have, if there’s still something there, well, we, we tried to look for it, you know, and you can go on. But when a patient feels like, I wasn’t heard, then in the back of your mind, there had to be, and especially when it came back. Then you were going —
Courtney: Yes. I cried immediately. I was in, I was in the shower and I was like, this is bad. And I, even before I said anything, I tried to nurse, cause my daughter, she was still nursing cause I was trying to go until she made two. And. She was excited because we had went from like only at night to that day. I was like, okay, let’s just try. And it didn’t go away. And I was like, this is something. [00:11:00] I’m not going crazy. And it’s scary. So I cried immediately because I was like, something is wrong and I’m pregnant. And isn’t my baby going to be okay? And he is fine.
Dorothy: Oh, that’s, yeah, that’s the other part of your story. I mean, you’ve had so many miracles. It’s, it’s just,
Courtney: I’m grateful for the miracles.
Dorothy: You are, but you deserved everyone. And you, earned it in a very hard and difficult way in, in some aspects, but imagine how many women your story has impacted. You know what? You may have given them the courage to say, no, just run the test. Love it. Thank you, Courtney.
Courtney: Happy to be here.
Post-Credits: Thank you for joining us today on Let’s Talk About Your Breasts. This podcast is produced by Speke Podcasting and brought to you by The Rose. Visit therose.org to learn more about our organization. Subscribe to our podcast, share episodes with friends and join the [00:12:00] conversation on social media using #LetsTalkAboutOurBreasts. We welcome your feedback and suggestions. Consider supporting The Rose. Your gift can make the difference to a person in need. And remember, self care is not selfish. It’s essential.
