Fighting the Good Fight

Posted October 14, 2011

Having to miss summer vacation last year for treatment, Donna Weeden with her two daughters showed their support by wearing pink while on vacation this year in Gulf Shores, AL.

MAMMOGRAMS SAVED Donna Weeden's life. Now this mother of two teenage girls is committed to helping other women overcome their fear of the unknown and get tested. 

Five minutes with Donna Weeden, and you’ll feel like you have a friend for life. She has the kind of warm, compassionate voice that makes you believe everything is going to be just fine. That’s what makes this two-time breast cancer survivor such an effective advocate for early detection.

“I want every woman to get a mammogram,” Donna says passionately. “It’s such a minor test when you’re dealing with your life. If you’re not going to do it for yourself, you need to do it for your family. I really believe that.” 

The first time Donna was diagnosed, she was 35. Because she had no family history of cancer, her doctor normally wouldn’t have done a baseline mammogram that early. But during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Donna kept hearing news stories about the importance of early detection, and since her insurance covered mammograms, she decided to get one. 

It revealed a small tumor. Donna’s doctor gave her the option of a mastectomy—the most common treatment at the time—or a lumpectomy.

“He gave me information to take home on a Friday afternoon and scheduled me for Monday surgery,” Donna remembers. “That was the hardest weekend I’ve ever had. All I could think about was getting this thing out of my body, so I was leaning toward a mastectomy. I didn’t want any down time because I had two girls, a four-year-old and a 10-month-old. But then I thought about how I would look to my young children.” 

Donna was still wrestling with her decision the morning her husband drove her from their home in Pinedale, Miss., to nearby Tupelo for surgery. In the end, she and her surgeon decided on a lumpectomy followed by radiation and chemotherapy. Ten years later, with no recurrence, her doctor dismissed her. 

But in 2010 another tumor appeared in the same breast—again, detected by a mammogram. “I have friends who aren’t having their mammograms, and it kills me,” Donna said. “You have no warning signs of these things. I’ve had it twice, and both times I had no symptoms at all.”

Because her second tumor was a type of cancer likely to return, Donna decided on a double mastectomy, followed by a daunting 40 weeks of chemotherapy.

“People always want to tell you their horror stories about chemo, but I tried not to think about that,” she said. “Since my first diagnosis, they’ve made amazing improvements in cancer drugs, especially anti-nausea medication. Yes, treatment days were draining, and there were times when my family knew I couldn’t do anything but lie on the couch. But I came through it with flying colors—and I’m getting my hair back! I’m so excited!”

Throughout her treatment, she said, she tried to keep family life as normal as possible. “We were very open with my daughters,” she remembers. “I tried to take the worry off of them. I told them, ‘God’s gonna get us through this, and I’m gonna be fine.’” 

Now, she says, she wants to make sure her daughters understand that they’re at a higher risk because of her history: “I keep reminding them how important it is to know your own body. You have to do those self-exams. My oldest daughter just turned 18 and my youngest is 15, but even at their ages, I want them to notice if anything is not normal. If your mother has had breast cancer, doctors recommend that you get a mammogram at least 10 years before the age at which your mother was first diagnosed. I was 35, so my girls should have mammograms at 25. I’m gonna stay on top of them to make sure that happens.”

Donna is a longtime participant in Relay for Life, a national program that celebrates cancer survivors and raises money for the American Cancer Society. Coworkers at the New Albany Regions branch where she is manager support her by entering a team in their Union County Relay, held at a local track.

“I’ve worked with Donna for probably 24 years, and she is just an amazing person,” says Colt Doom, Regions City President for Donna’s area. “She’s an inspiration to her customers, her coworkers, and really the whole community. Last year, Relay for Life featured a luminary service. All the Regions branches in northeast Mississippi—not just New Albany but this whole area—bought luminaries in her honor.”

Donna was thrilled to be named honorary chair of Union County’s 2011 Relay and to see her Regions team campsite for the event decorated in her honor. “The people I work with are like family,” Donna says. “I love what I do. I love taking care of my customers. I’ve been here 27 years.” Then she adds, with a chuckle, “I started when I was five.”

DONNA WEEDEN is an associate with Regions Bank.

Everyone has a story.