Shirley Gaudio Breast Cancer Survivor
Shirley Gaudio decided to finish her bachelor's degree in business administration with a specialization in human resources "late in life." She took courses through Capella University and promised herself when she finished her and her husband would fly to Minneapolis so she could walk across the stage to accept her degree.
The morning of their flight home to Jacksonville, Shirley discovered a lump in her breast making for an extremely long flight. Shirley recalled thinking, "the plane couldn't fly fast enough." When she arrived home she called her gynecologist, Dr. Christian, who saw her immediately and sent her for a biopsy. A few days later she learned she had breast cancer.
"I was shocked as I didn't know anyone with breast cancer," explained Shirley. "It doesn’t run in my family and none of my friends had it so I knew nothing about it. I was scared because I didn’t know what to do or expect."
After receiving her diagnosis, Shirley’s gynecologist referred her to the specialists at the Multidisciplinary Breast Cancer Clinic at Baptist Beaches to discuss her treatment options and care plan. The clinic's team meets together with a patient to review his or her case eliminating the need and inconvenience of multiple appointments with each specialist. The team includes medical oncologists, radiation oncologists and a breast care coordinator.
"I didn’t know the hospital had a Breast Cancer Clinic or a breast care coordinator who is there to walk you through every step of the process," Shirley said. "My breast care coordinator was a Godsend. She took care of making all the necessary appointments in preparation for my surgery so I didn’t have to do a thing, she sat with my husband during the surgery, she went to doctor appointments with me, helped develop a list of questions so I wouldn’t forget to ask them and even sat with me during my chemotherapy."
After enduring several months of chemotherapy and radiation, Shirley is now a three-year breast cancer survivor and is busy volunteering her time to help other breast cancer patients through their journeys.
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