Angie Taylor turns to helping others make sure they getting screenings

The Diagnosis

Both of my grandmothers had breast cancer. My aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer in her late 30s and two cousins were diagnosed with breast cancer very young. I also have siblings who have

had pancreatic, stomach and prostate cancer. Because of

that, I started screenings at age 35. But I was about four months behind when I did a breast self-exam and found a lump. My diagnosis came a month after my 50th birthday. I had a triple-negative tumor in my right breast. After my diagnosis, I had genetic testing and found that I had a BRCA1 gene mutation.

Sharing the News

I’m a widower, and I moved to Lauderdale Lakes in 2015 to start the second chapter of my life. Unfortunately, my new life included cancer. I remember I was numb. I told my son Christian, my daughter

Alyssa and my sister I would be okay and I would beat this.

My daughter took it hard, but I reassured them that the doctor

had said it was small and that we had caught it early.

Getting Treatment

I remember meeting my oncologist Dr. Lauren Carcass. I felt such a sense of compassion and caring.

I had 10 million questions, and she took the time to answer them all. I had five months of chemotherapy. Because I was BRCA positive, I decided to remove both breasts. I had

a bilateral mastectomy and reconstructive surgery. I had an oophorectomy to remove both ovaries because of the high risk of ovarian cancer associated with the BRCA mutation.

How I Got Through

I gave myself permission to cry every day for eight minutes. I came up with the eight minutes because it was a short enough time to get it out but then pull it back together and

move forward. I developed friendships with other women. It opened my eyes that cancer knows no color, no age. It doesn’t discriminate. It helps

if you have a great sense of humor. And when I had

surgery, my dad and daughter flew here to take care of me. It was a blessing.

What I Learned

After meeting so many women with breast cancer, I wanted

to do something to help provide free mammograms to uninsured women. I started a nonprofit, ARTfull Angels. To date, I’ve helped 19 women. Out of the 19, four were diagnosed with breast cancer.

They are doing great.