A local healthcare expert is sharing her experience of how self-detection helped save her life as part of October’s breast cancer awareness month. Early detection, according to Erin Gronenthal, a family nurse practitioner for Banner Health in Larimer County, has saved her life.
In February 2020, Gronenthal first felt something wasn’t right.
“My breasts were itching as I sat in bed with my hubby. I felt a lump when I went to scratch it “explained Gronenthal.
The following day, she reported to work at Banner Health and spoke with several of her coworkers about what she had discovered. She was given the go-ahead to get an ultrasound and mammogram to confirm or refute her fears.
An ultrasound was used to find the malignancy, according to Gronenthal. “I was given a stage 2 triple negative breast cancer diagnosis. I was stunned. I never in a million years imagined that I would be the one to receive a breast cancer diagnosis.”
She was treated by oncologists at the Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center at the Banner Gateway Medical Center. She endured radiation therapy, oral chemotherapy, a hysterectomy, a mastectomy, and months of chemotherapy.
Gronenthal acknowledged the effort involved but expressed gratitude for her continued life.
“When I was 37 years old, they warned me that if I waited until I was 40, I wouldn’t be alive to share my tale. Gronenthal replied, “That is tough, especially having a few kids at home. It is difficult to consider. I consider it a blessing that I was able to complete my therapy and am currently cancer-free. I’m excited and hopeful about the future because of that.”
