'Just keep going'

Tanya Pierre, of Millbury, Massachusetts, has just come through the most challenging year of her life. At 39, she was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma, the most common form of breast cancer. Since then, she has undergone four surgeries at UMass Memorial Medical Center.

With her cancer now in remission, Tanya is deeply grateful for the exceptional care she received and the availability of effective treatments. Aware that certain types of cancer still lack viable treatment options, she urges support of innovative research—the very kind advanced at UMass Chan Medical School through the UMass Cancer Walk on Sept. 28 at Polar Park.

Tanya recalls one of her earliest symptoms: an intense burning sensation in her breasts that radiated to her back, which she initially dismissed as heartburn. She emphasizes the importance of recognizing this lesser-known warning sign, with her advocacy for early detection shaped by both her own experience and her mother’s previous fight against cancer.

A more prominent symptom—a tiny lump discovered during her monthly breast self-exam—soon followed. Despite her heightened cancer awareness, nothing could prepare Tanya for her eventual diagnosis, which felt like “being punched in the gut.”

“When you first hear or see those words [i.e., cancer], you immediately wonder if you’re going to die,” said Tanya. “Crazy thoughts go through your head, like you’re lost in a really bad dream.”

Tanya felt a degree of relief after learning more about her prognosis—inductive ductal carcinoma is slow-progressing and considered treatable—quickly followed by fierce determination to attack the cancer through surgery.

This clinical approach included two lumpectomies, a bilateral mastectomy and reconstructive surgery, performed by Tanya’s “amazing surgeons:” breast surgeon Kate H. Dinh, MD, MS, assistant professor in the Department of Surgery/Division of Surgical Oncology, and plastic surgeon Mustafa Akyurek, MD, PhD, associate professor of surgery.

The journey has been relatively short but intense, marked by four surgeries in just six months.

“If I said recovery from all this was easy, I'd be lying,” said Tanya. “But I believe, as they say, that life is 10 percent what happens to us and 90 percent how we react to it. No matter what situation you're in, you need to just keep going.”

Through the support of family and friends, and her own perseverance, Tanya is doing just that.

A certified fitness instructor, competitive bodybuilder and mom of two, her life is starting to get back to normal, with a return to work and gradual easing into her own fitness routine. She’s excited to participate in her first UMass Cancer Walk on Sept. 28, and in keeping with the superhero theme, is getting her Wonder Woman costume ready to go.

Who is Tanya’s own superhero? “My husband,” she said. “He’s been right by my side through it all, stepping right in to take care of everything while I’ve been recovering. It’s really been an extra load on him.”

As she hits the three-mile course on walk day, Tanya’s thoughts will be with patients facing cancer types for which few treatments exist.

“We need more research, especially to benefit people diagnosed with rare cancers that have few or no treatment options,” she said. “No one should ever hear the words, ‘There's nothing we can do for you.’”

Given proposed cuts to National Institutes of Health research funding, raising maximum support through the UMass Cancer Walk is more crucial now than ever.

“We can raise the money to get effective cancer treatments to more people and give everyone the chance to live longer,” said Tanya. “Let's do the very best we can.”