Two women in Phoenix are bringing a deeply personal understanding to the battle against breast cancer, a fight that is all too familiar to those in the state, which reports more than 5,000 new cases annually, according to azfamily.com. Robin Chesbro, not only a valley mother and grandmother but also a scuba instructor and author, faced her third battle with the ailment leading up to the 2024 holidays; while Maureen Hamel-Schwartz, a dedicated physician assistant at Optum, found her own diagnosis in 2023, transforming her from a caregiver to a patient.
Chesbro, who underwent a double mastectomy determined to secure a full life ahead with her loved ones, represents the harsh statistic of recurring diagnoses despite her negative tests for the BRCA gene and 71 other cancer types; conversely, Hamel-Schwartz, with no known risk factors, was blindsided by a stage three cancer diagnosis she wishes could have been detected sooner, had she not let routine self-exams and mammograms slip due to life's busyness, according to both FOX 10 Phoenix and azfamily.com.
Following her surgery, Chesbro rebounded to an active life of golf and pickleball only ten months post-op, per an interview with FOX 10 Phoenix, while Hamel-Schwartz, through chemo, surgery, and radiation, felt an urgency to pivot her mindset from patient back to provider, to focus on cancer treatment from a place of empathy, having shared in the very journey of those she treats, she told azfamily.com.
Chesbro's doctors at Banner M.D. Anderson is pushing for regular self-exams and annual screenings, and Hamel-Schwartz is echoing the sentiment by urging others to never skip those crucial mammogram appointments as recommended by the American Cancer Society, as reported by FOX 10 Phoenix and azfamily.com.
