Young woman’s cancer brings life into focus

Grand Saline resident Chelsea Shaver was 26-years-old when she was diagnosed with breast cancer but she had found the lump “so many months before that,” she admits.

Instead of getting medical care, “I did my research on Google and things like that but never brought it up to my doctor,” Shaver said. “I waited longer than I probably should have to get it tested.”

She and her two daughters – ages 3 and 7 – were living in Dallas at the time. Her parents live in Fruitvale. Since her diagnosis, she has found it easier to be near family.

While several family members have had cancer, Shaver isn’t sure about her genetic link to breast cancer.

“There is cancer in our family but none that we know of that has been breast cancer,” she said. “My mom’s sister had a lump but we don't know if that was benign or not. And my mom's aunt also died from cancer. We believe that that might have been pancreatic cancer, but aren’t certain.”

Since her own diagnosis, Shaver said she understands the need to know your family medical history. “I don't think people give much credit to family history but I think it's important for people to know that if you have any kind of family history of illness or disease to discuss that with your family doctor,” she said.  

Shaver said when she first felt the lump in her breast, she immediately thought ‘cancer!’ “But after doing research on the Internet and taking into consideration my age, all of the signs pointed to the lump being a cyst or something of that nature,” she said. “I think the statistics is something like 90 percent of lumps found in the breast are benign. So I did not worry about it. It wasn't until months later when it grew bigger that I became concerned.”

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