Receiving a cancer diagnosis can be the scariest moment of a person’s life. This article is part of a series that highlights how Oncology Nurse Navigators at the Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center guide patients through their cancer journey.

Breast cancer survivor Linda Ewing hyperventilated when she received word that something looked suspicious on her mammogram. 

The Houston interior designer was on a lunch break. She wanted to drop everything and rush back to Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center. “I really wanted to go but the radiologist said I had to make an appointment,” she said.

Linda could not bear the many unknowns that accompany the early steps of a breast cancer diagnosis.  

Enter Cathie Brown, an Oncology Nurse Navigator at the Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center (DLDCC) at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center. Cathie contacted Linda and arranged for her to see the radiologist the following week for an ultrasound and then a biopsy.  Linda was diagnosed with a hormone-positive breast cancer, ER/PR+.  

As a certified breast oncology nurse navigator, Cathie routinely intervenes to help patients obtain the information and appointments they need. She often reviews and interprets diagnostic reports for patients so they can better understand the medical references. 

“Cathie read my biopsy report and made me feel better about my future,” Linda recalled. “She's the one that made all the appointments happen. She was absolutely amazing, and she said, ‘you know what? We're going to take care of this. We're going to get you in.’”

Soon after diagnosis, Linda stayed a full day at DLDCC for three key appointments. She saw Breast Cancer Surgeon Alastair Thompson, Oncologist Charles Kent Osborne, and Plastic Surgeon Mauricio Maricevich.

During one of their first conversations, Dr. Thompson wrote the word, “mental” on a clipboard to emphasize a positive attitude and explained, “I know a lot of people go to a very dark place when they hear they have cancer,” he said. “You don't need to do that because we're going to take care of you.”

And they did. One month later, the surgical and oncology teams worked together to perform a lumpectomy and reconstructive surgery. Linda later underwent a week’s worth of targeted radiation.  

Cathie guided Linda every step of the way. "The greatest fear often comes from uncertainty,” Cathie said. “Patients come to us not knowing what is going to happen next and how to take the next step. But once they understand the process and what lies ahead, much of that fear starts to ease," Cathie said.

Linda is grateful for the support she received from Cathie and the entire team at DLDCC. She offers the following advice for breast cancer patients: “Contact your Navigator and let them walk you through the process. Listen to what they have to say. Let them give you your options first.”  As for her own Nurse Navigator, Cathie Brown, Linda said, “She’s my hero.”