Lowcountry breast cancer survivor shares her story and her message to women

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) – October is breast cancer awareness month and because of this, one Lowcountry survivor is encouraging women to stay on top of their scans and examinations.

October is all about recognizing women who have fought, are fighting or have lost their fight to the cancer that affects so many women across the world.

The most recent breast cancer statistics from the American Cancer Society show that 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in their lifetime.

Of those, 1 in 43 will die from the disease, the American Cancer Society reports. This is why it is so important to catch the disease early so that it can be treated early and improve survival rates.

MaeElla Graves is a very recent breast cancer survivor.

At the age of 66, she was diagnosed with stage one triple negative breast cancer nearly a year ago, Oct. 26, 2023. Graves was diagnosed at her regular, annual mammogram. She had no symptoms, no feeling of a lump and no family history. This completely unexpected diagnosis changed her life entirely.

“That was hard. Getting me to pull myself up and say ‘I’ve got to fight.’ And I really had to fight because I wanted to just get on my couch and just lay there,” Graves said.

While she wanted to give up, she is so thankful she didn’t. Four rounds of chemo, 16 rounds of radiation, four rounds of boosters and one surgery later, Graves is cancer-free and in remission as of June and is working to get back to normalcy.

“When you get this diagnosis, the first thing that you are thinking is that ‘I’m not going to live. This is the end,’ and that’s not true. That is not true,” she said.

What got her through it all was her support system. She said she made it through thanks to her husband, her know-how and the support she had at Trident Medical Center through groups and her medical team.

“I just tried to be there and support her as much as I could and try to ease the pain. I probably cried more than she did because I just – I didn’t know how it would be without her,” Roger David Graves, MaeElla Graves’ husband said.

Graves said her husband cared for her every need, going to appointments with her, cooking for her and showing her all the love and support she needed to fight.

Now, Graves looks forward to her support group through Trident Medical Center.

Trident Medical Center is the only hospital in the Lowcountry with an in-person breast cancer support group.

These support groups include patients who are currently undergoing treatment to survivors of 20 years. It gives these women an opportunity to connect and relate to one another as they all understand what the other is going through. Trident Medical started these support groups a little over two years ago and has seen the way they can impact the women who attend.

“What I have learned is what I think my patients have learned. Which is they are invincible. They can go through anything and everything,” Ellie Rogers, a physician’s assistant at Trident Cancer Center said.

Rogers runs the patient support groups. Part of her role is working to help her patients understand the process of what radiation oncology is, how it works and what it means for them. She sees them during their treatment to help manage their side effects as well as after treatment to make sure that they are continuing to get better and doing all the things they are supposed to.

“What I tell patients is, when you get cancer, your job is to get through treatment and it is a full-time job. You have to go to appointments, you have to take all this medicine, you have to manage all this stuff. Your world’s been turned upside down, and now you have to do all this stuff. And then you get through and you’re like, ‘Yeah, last day.’ And then it’s like, OK, now you have a new job. Now your new job is to be a survivor. Part of my job is to help you through that path,” Rogers said.

Rogers believes that the support group is good for this part of the treatment process, as the patients can connect with others who understand their struggles.

“It’s someone that has been in your shoes. As much as your family loves and supports you, they have not been in your shoes. So, it’s good to be able to have what I call free conversation. Talk about things you never think you would ever talk about in a public setting,” Rogers said. “They learn from each other and they really love each other like truly love each other and I love them too.”

With this group, breast cancer patients can find the support they need to keep pushing through, just like Graves did.

Graves has been so touched by connecting with other survivors. She said she hopes that by sharing her personal story, she can help encourage women to stay on top of their annual mammograms, scans and self-breast examinations. She hopes that by sharing her story she can help another woman catch the disease early and she can save them.

Graves said she cannot overstate the importance of these scans, as, without her annual mammogram, she would never have known she had breast cancer. Because of it, she was able to catch it early, get treated and she can now live a happy and healthy life.

“If I can get that one person to go in this month of October and get that mammogram it would be great,” she said.

Every Wednesday in October, Trident Breast Center is hosting extended Mammogram hours to create more opportunities for people to get those scans.

The event is known as “Mammograms and Mocktails” and will be held from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. every Wednesday at Trident Breast Center in North Charleston. They will also have a “Mammograms and Mocktails” event at the Moncks Corner Medical Center Oct. 23 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. as well as a “Jammies and Mammies” event Oct. 19 from 9 a.m. to noon at the Summerville Breast Center.

To register for any of these events and get a mammogram scheduled, call 877-357-0156.

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