COVID Nearly Took My Life, Then Came Cancer: How I Fought Back!

Linda (seated on couch, second from left) with her family. (Photo courtesy of Linda) In November 2020, Linda felt a small lump in her breast. Little did she know that this pea-sized lump would become part of a story that involved not just breast cancer, but also a battle with COVID-19, immense family support, and unwavering faith.  In light of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Linda’s journey stands as a powerful testimony to resilience, advocacy, and the importance of clinical trials for women of color. This article revisits Linda’s courageous battle, and her efforts to navigate the medical system while keeping her faith. Discovering the Lump: A Journey Begins Linda first discovered a lump in her breast in November 2020. Despite the alarming find, life’s demands didn’t stop. She scheduled a mammogram, but before she could attend, she contracted COVID-19.  “My husband was an essential worker, and he came home one day and told me he had been exposed,” Linda recalls. As her symptoms worsened, her daughter, a CNA at the time, noticed subtle but concerning changes in her mother’s behavior. Linda’s fever escalated, and before long, she was intubated and unconscious for nearly a month. “I was in a sleep...