Cancer Stories
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Jamie Bernard was 32 when she was diagnosed with Stage II breast cancer in 2015. She was both an MD Anderson employee and a patient, giving her a view of cancer care from two sides.
Jamie underwent a mastectomy and received chemotherapy. After treatment, a colleague encouraged her to use her experience to help others. She joined MD Anderson's Patient and Family Advisor Program, where hearing from other patients and caregivers broadened her perspective on how cancer affects an entire family.
She also became involved with the Cancer in the Workplace Employee Network, which offers support and resources for employees who are patients or caregivers. Jamie credited her own friends and colleagues with helping her through treatment. Friends accompanied her to appointments, took notes and asked questions she might otherwise have missed.
Her experience shaped the kind of support she wanted to provide. She emphasized the importance of making space for caregivers as well as patients and encouraged people facing cancer to build a support team around them.
This is a lay summary of an account first published by MD Anderson. Read the original in full
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These are lay summaries of published cancer stories, for information only. No two cancers behave the same way, and nothing here predicts your own diagnosis or replaces advice from your oncology team. Read the full disclaimer