I’ve been a clinical nurse at the Sandra and Malcolm Berman Comprehensive Breast Care Center at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center since 1997 and I began working with breast cancer patients in the early ’80s.

When I first started taking cancer’s journey with patients, serving as an advocate, educator and navigator, I wondered how I would handle a diagnosis of breast cancer. I sat in awe of these women because of how bravely they dealt with the daily experience of being a cancer patient. There are so many decisions to be made, so much information to be absorbed — lumpectomy, mastectomy, reconstruction, chemotherapy, radiation, hormonal therapy, side effects.