Getting diagnosed with breast cancer at a young age with two kids at home is the last thing you’d ever imagine, but for 33-year-old Pamplico resident Lauren Kennedy, the unthinkable diagnosis became her reality. On April 7, Kennedy was diagnosed with breast cancer at MUSC Health Florence Medical Center after she discovered a lump in her breast. The hardest part of her diagnosis wasn’t the cancer itself but how it began weaving itself into her family’s everyday life.
“The thing that punched me in the gut after I got diagnosed was when I took my son to the doctor for his yearly checkup, they had to put in his chart that his mom has cancer,” said Kennedy. “And for some reason, it just knocked the wind out of me.”
Kennedy was referred to general surgeon Amy Murrell, M.D., director of the MUSC Health Comprehensive Breast Program, Pee Dee Division, who guided her through the evaluation and diagnosis of her breast cancer. Kennedy’s case was reviewed by the breast tumor board, and neoadjuvant chemotherapy was recommended. She then began her treatments at the MUSC Hollings Cancer Network Infusion Center in Florence. It’s a place that some may find overwhelming once starting their cancer journeys, but to Kennedy, it has become a home away from home.
“I feel like I'm in really good hands at the infusion center,” she said. “Every single person there is just so kind and so compassionate. They don't make it feel scary. It's not at all like I imagined.”
Kennedy ran into a new patient at the center. “I said, ‘Oh my gosh, you're gonna love it.’ She looked at me, confused, and I was like, ‘I don't mean the cancer part, but if you have to have cancer and have to get treatment, that is where I would want to be – hands down,’” she said.
Along with her positive experience at the infusion center, Kennedy said Murrell has helped her both physically and emotionally throughout her journey. She said Murrell isn’t just a medical professional but also a shoulder to lean on.
“She's the perfect combination of seriousness and getting down to business – but also compassionate,” she said. “She has given me a hug at the end of every appointment, and obviously, that first day I saw her, it was like I'd been hit by a tornado. She just has a way of making me feel like it's going to be okay.”
For Murrell, offering compassionate treatment locally is the absolute standard of care at MUSC Health. She believes that everyone in the area deserves to receive the same high-quality cancer care close to home as they would anywhere else.
“Lauren is getting the same state-of-the-art care in Florence that she would receive at MUSC in Charleston or if she were at another major breast center elsewhere,” said Murrell. “Patients want to receive their care closer to home if possible. Lauren has a family, so while she's going through this cancer treatment, she is still living her life. She is taking care of her children and her family, and everything else. So, it's important to be able to offer great care close to home. I think MUSC certainly has prioritized that.”
Once Kennedy is finished with her chemotherapy treatments, Murrell will be performing a bilateral mastectomy on her in October. She will also undergo reconstruction during the same operation. This combination procedure will help her to return to her normal life as soon as possible.
Murrell said Kennedy’s story and her upbeat attitude are truly inspiring. “I feel so blessed, and I've always been a positive person, but I feel like I'm even more positive now because I don't want my children to see me scared,” she said. “I don't want my parents to worry about me either. I just appreciate everything a little bit more, and I don't sweat the small stuff anymore."
