Veteran Leans on Family, Faith in Breast Cancer Journey
For Air Force veteran Ashleigh Pharr, breast cancer wasn’t on the radar.
The 37-year-old single mom was busy raising two young children and serving as the Lee County veterans services officer. With no family history or other factors that put her at high risk for breast cancer, she wasn’t due to start annual mammograms for another three years.
The Fulton native wasn’t worried when she found a lump in December 2023, just before her annual exam.
“I didn’t believe it was going to be a big deal,” Ashleigh said.
The lump turned out to be Stage 2 breast cancer, and Ashleigh began her breast cancer journey, supported by her faith, family, friends and the team at North Mississippi Health Services Cancer Care.
“You don’t feel like you’re fighting alone,” Ashleigh said. “I do have an amazing support system.”
Ashleigh’s Cancer Care support system kicked in before she even had her first visit with her oncology and breast surgery teams. Just after her biopsy, a winter storm shut down north Mississippi for a week and a half. She was snowbound at home in Tupelo, trying to entertain two children and a kitten as she tried to make sense of her biopsy report.
“I’m googling between making muffins,” Ashleigh remembered. “I went through all the stages of grief during ice week; I’m praying, ‘Just let me get my children raised.’”
Clinics were closed, but Ashleigh received phone calls from the breast cancer team including surgeon Dr. Danny Sanders, oncologist Dr. Usman Khan and nurse practitioner Mylie Beane.
“I didn’t get to see a doctor that first week, but I felt like I was moving forward,” Ashleigh said. “I knew they were there for me.”
Ashleigh’s tumor, an invasive ductal carcinoma, was triple positive, showing receptors for estrogen, progesterone and HER-2. That gave the Cancer Care team a road map for treating her cancer. As part of her treatment, she will receive immunotherapy with Herceptin and take hormone blockers for several years.
Because of her age and the stage of her tumor, her multidisciplinary team recommended an aggressive approach. From February to May, Ashleigh had chemotherapy. In July, she had a double mastectomy and reconstruction performed by Dr. Sanders and plastic surgeon Dr. Bob Buckley. This fall, she is receiving radiation treatment guided by radiation oncologist Dr. Russell Roberts.
“Cancer is a club no one wants to join,” Ashleigh said. “But you walk in for chemotherapy, and everybody knows your name and asks about the kids.”
Ashleigh leaned on oncology nurse navigator Alison Christopher to understand her medical journey. When her dryer broke, she was able to access assistance through the Cancer Patient Fund, administered by the Health Care Foundation of North Mississippi. Ashleigh also met with palliative care physician Dr. Lindsey Hinton for additional symptom management and support.
“They’re there for you on the hard days, and there to help you celebrate,” Ashleigh said.
As Ashleigh continues her journey, she grateful for the decision to come home to north Mississippi in 2020 after 9 ½ years with the Air Force, stationed in Germany and Alaska. Her children are growing up surrounded by family. She has been supported by family and lifelong friends as she has moved through cancer treatment. She has a community that has embraced her.
And she didn’t have to leave home again to get the care she needed to fight breast cancer.
“This is where you want to be,” Ashleigh said. “When cancer is so scary and sad, you have nice, caring, good people surrounding you.”
Ashleigh didn’t have to leave home to get the care she needed to fight breast cancer
