In the quiet lobby of a dentist office, Fadyia Lowe sits alone.

It is there in that lobby where Lowe receives a phone call that would end up changing the course of her entire life.

The diagnosis

At 42 years old, just one week prior to the phone call, Lowe went to her routine mammogram thinking it would be just like any other. Instead, it was the one that saved her life. 

Looking back, Lowe said she could feel that something was off, especially after noticing a concerning pain on the left side of her chest.

“I knew deep down in my gut that something was off,” Lowe said. “It was hard, but I did prepare myself for it to be cancer.”

A week after her mammogram, Lowe received a call while waiting for her daughter at the dentist’s office where she was told she had ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), a form of breast cancer.

Lowe said her first thought after receiving her diagnosis was of her three children.

“My heart sank and I was immediately in tears,” Lowe said. “But I feel like I knew I had breast cancer before I even went through the whole process.”

From that moment on, Lowe’s world completely changed. She knew she had to quickly make a decision about her treatment.

The treatment

When it came to deciding on what treatment to use, Lowe said she went to her support system, trusted doctors and other survivors for advice, and ultimately chose to have a bilateral mastectomy.

“It felt like a very extreme treatment plan,” Lowe said. “But I didn’t even think twice about it.”

For Lowe, the bilateral mastectomy was the hardest part of her journey with breast cancer, requiring multiple surgeries and over 50 doctor appointments.

“It’s been a real tough transition to basically having your breasts amputated and then having to deal with chronic pain and scar tissue,” Lowe said. “After having and nursing your three children to not having them anymore, that was a bizarre feeling.”

According to Lowe, although she struggled with body image issues following the treatment, she eventually discovered  confidence in ways she had not before.

“I had to pitch some wardrobe things I used to love,” Lowe said. “But there’s some things I feel even more confident in now.”

Although the cancer is now fully removed, treatment has not stopped for Lowe, who still has to regularly attend physical therapy, followup appointments and manual exams.

After being diagnosed with cancer, Lowe said she is now at risk for other cancers.

“Every time there is a new pain I think something is wrong with me,” Lowe said. “You’re constantly battling the worst case scenario.”

According to Lowe, she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder following her diagnosis, and is now learning to balance health anxiety and awareness.

For Lowe, this means taking advantage of mental health resources and being open to talking about her health journey.

Lowe said she values her health in a new way, and now prioritizes staying active and maintaining her mental and physical health.

“Mental health is huge in my life. All these resources and support have made a huge difference for me with post-cancer anxiety,” Lowe said. “It’s too much to bear on your own.”

The associate director of the University of Kentucky’s Violence Intervention and Prevention Center, Lowe said she has always been an advocate for violence and illness prevention.

“You think you do all of the right things, but that just goes to show that breast cancer doesn’t discriminate,” Lowe said. “I was only 42 when I was diagnosed, I’m 43 now and I did everything right.”

Lowe now advocates for women to get routine mammograms, crediting them as the reason she is still alive today.

“I’m a poster child for how a mammogram saved my life,” Lowe said. “I have been able to get several women to schedule a mammogram who had never had one before.”

Lowe said a mammogram was the only thing able to detect her breast cancer so early on.

“Had I not gone to the mammogram, I could be sitting here with breast cancer and not know,” Lowe said. “You don’t feel ill until it’s too late.”

A new perspective 

After battling breast cancer, Lowe said her priorities have become very clear: to really live through each day.

“It was a shift in everything that I invest my time in,” Lowe said. “All the work I do, all of the stuff I do with my family, it needs to be fulfilling and if it’s not, it’s not for me.”

According to Lowe, her experience with cancer taught her many lessons and has ultimately made her a better person.

“Life is so precious, and we are not guaranteed tomorrow,” Lowe said. “That means we have to live every single day as if it’s our last.”

Lowe hopes to leave a lasting legacy, known for fighting and advocating for hard topics like mental health and domestic abuse.

“I just want to keep fighting and advocating for what’s right,” Lowe said. “That was the biggest lesson for me, bringing a voice to very hard topics and to serve other survivors.”

Lowe now works as an ambassador for the breast cancer organization Susan G. Komen, where she said she gets to use her story to help other survivors and patients. She also continues to advocate for early breast cancer detection via mammograms through her work as an ambassador and by sharing her story.

Lowe said she hopes to be remembered as a fighter and someone who advocated for cancer survivors and what is right.

“I’m so grateful that I had an opportunity to fight this and move through it and all of the lessons I’ve learned,” Lowe said. “But also to be able to be there for survivors who feel like they’re alone and scared.”