Amy Donnelly worked at a cancer center for 5 years. Then she became a patient.

“Be strong.”

Those are two words on a painting that Amy Donnelly of Homer Glen tucked inside the binder of her breast cancer treatment plan.

Donnelly said her then 11-year-old daughter created the painting the night Donnelly told her four daughters she had breast cancer.

Donnelly, a Jazzercise practitioner for 15 years and certified instructor, as well as a wellness proponent, had considered herself strong, fit and safe from breast cancer. So why get a mammogram?

But when she heard that diagnosis, Donnelly, who also is a registered medical technologist at the UChicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center at Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox, said it was a “life flashing before your eyes” type of moment.

“I didn’t see that coming at all,” Donnelly said. “It’s very scary [to hear] and stops you in your tracks. And then you have to learn how to go through the process of healing yourself and maintaining your perspective.”

Not the typical presentation

Donnelly never considered breast cancer in March 2020 when a lymph node swelled her armpit after a viral infection. But when the tenderness disappeared and the swelling did not, Donnelly made an appointment with her gynecologist – a challenge, she said, because the pandemic was “shutting things down.”

“I wanted to be safe, and I had not yet had a mammogram,” said Donnelly, who was 45 at the time of the swelling. “[Breast cancer] wasn’t in my family history and I felt in great health. I did not have that on my radar.”

She said the gynecologist ordered a bilateral diagnostic mammogram at Silver Cross. That led to an ultrasound-guided biopsy. On June 2, Donnelly saw Dr. Jennifer Tseng, a breast surgeon at the cancer center, and was diagnosed with stage 2 invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast with lymph node involvement.

Tseng’s office helped Donnelly schedule an appointment with Dr. Rebecca Garza, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon at the cancer center. Donnelly also saw Dr. Andrea Amico, an oncologist at the same cancer center, for her treatments.

Donnelly’s four daughters are 20, 19, 16 and 12 years old, so it was important for Donnelly to be tested for the the BRCA1 and BRCA2 inheritable genetic mutations. Mutations can increase the risk of certain cancers, including breast cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute.

To Donnelly’s relief, she did not have the mutations.

A treatment plan she believed in

Donnelly said Amico recommended four rounds of one chemotherapy drug and then four rounds of a second over a course of four months. Donnelly also saw a licensed dietitian nutritionist in Downers Grove for herbal supplements, which her providers assured her were safe to take with her chemotherapy.

She also worked out a nutrition and exercise program for herself.

Donnelly said she’d learned from other cancer survivors that it was important for patients to surround themselves with people who supported them and to “develop a plan you believe it and that you can put 110% into.” So she followed their example and did the same.

“They were determined to make the best of whatever hand they were dealt with and worked hard at it,” Donnelly said. “Whether it was through exercise or improved dieting or all of the above, they just never lost hope.”

Donnelly had her first chemotherapy on June 25, 2020, but her husband was allowed to accompany her only to her first treatment due to the COVID-19 restrictions that were in place.

But whether Donnelly was having treatments (and some of those chemotherapy rounds were five hours long) or surgery, she never felt alone.

“The health care workers that I came across every step of the way had stepped up their game because of COVID,” Donnelly said. “I understand they were doing their job. But they had empathy for patients going through things on their own, and I think they just picked up the slack.”

Donnelly had hoped to continue working at Silver Cross through treatment, but her white blood cell count dipped and her treatments drained her energy. So although Donnelly took time off work, she set a goal: Teach one virtual Jazzercise class during each chemotherapy cycle.

Her students, Donnelly said, were “incredibly supportive” of her.

“I was bald and teaching,” Donnelly said. “So they definitely knew what was going on.”

Victory - and a message

Donnelly rang the bell that signals the end of treatments on Oct. 2, 2020. She had a bilateral mastectomy and underwent an initial reconstructive surgery Dec. 11. Because of COVID-19 restrictions, Donnelly went through the surgery alone.

But, again, Donnelly didn’t feel alone because she had her faith and great care from the nurses, she said.

“Working with a team made me feel like I was never alone,” Donnelly said.

After surgery, Donnelly had mild lymphedema, or the build-up of lymphatic system fluid in soft tissue. Massage, stretching exercises and wearing a compression sleeve successfully treated the condition.

She began 25 radiation treatments through radiation oncologist Dr. Anne McCall in January 2021 and the technicians let Donnelly pick her background music, she said.

Donnelly rang a second bell in March 2021. In May, Donnelly received her breast implants. She currently takes medication to lower her estrogen levels, as well as natural supplements the dietitian in Downers Grove recommends, she said.

She also has a message for women: Don’t put off that mammogram. Don’t rely on lack of family history or monthly breast exams for screening. The American Cancer Society said that 1 in 8 women will develop breast cancer. Donnelly said her tumor was against her chest wall, which a breast exam cannot detect.

“There’s not always a lump you can feel,” Donnelly said.