Shirlette Judon’s breast cancer journey began a decade before most women start screening mammograms.

The Tupelo woman was diagnosed in 2007 at the age of 31.

“I found a lump,” said Shirlette, who was an elementary school academic interventionist. “It was just as we were going back to school.”

It would have been easy to put off with everything that must be done before students return, but Shirlette didn’t let herself procrastinate. Shirlette was 24 years old when she lost her maternal aunt to breast cancer, and her paternal grandmother was a breast cancer survivor.

Her doctor sent her to the North Mississippi Medical Center Breast Care Center in Tupelo. She had a diagnostic mammogram and an ultrasound-guided biopsy the same day.

“They saw what I felt,” Shirlette remembered.

As she waited for the biopsy results, she prayed. “Lord, whatever it is, I give it to you.”

She remembers her doctor cried as he gave Shirlette the results.

“You are already a survivor,” the doctor told her. “You handled the news better than I did.”

Shirlette’s cancer was diagnosed at Stage 1 with a single lymph node testing positive. Surgeon Jimmy Hamilton, MD, performed a mastectomy at NMMC-Tupelo. Because her tumor was considered large for Stage 1 and because of her age, the medical team recommended chemotherapy for Shirlette.

Two years after her diagnosis, she had a scare with a suspicious area on her remaining breast. It was ultimately ruled benign, but she opted to remove that breast as well.

“I did not want to go through that again,” Shirlette said.

Sixteen years later, she remains healthy and grateful.

“My family, my friends and my faith have gotten me through,” said Shirlette, who left teaching in 2019 to work with the Mississippi Department of Human Services. “I’m blessed.”

During her cancer treatment, she leaned hard on a fellow teacher who was a breast cancer survivor.

“She was my lifeline,” Shirlette said.

Shirlette tries to pay that support forward by participating in the Sister Circle support group hosted by Wear it Well. The group meets at 6 p.m. the last Thursday of the month at the Wear it Well office, 311 Government St. in Tupelo.

Her advice to other women is to pay attention to their own health needs.

“Just know your body,” Shirlette said. “If something is not right, get checked.”