Two years ago, something told Denise Curtis Tucker she should check her breasts.

While she had never done so before, something prompted the 39-year-old from Michie, Tennessee, to perform her first breast self-exam.

“I texted my friend, Dr. Laura Marion, and told her, ‘I think I found something,’” Denise says. “I didn’t tell anyone else.”

After examining her, Dr. Marion referred her for her first mammogram at North Mississippi Medical Center’s Breast Care Center. The mammogram indeed showed a suspicious mass, and Denise was called back for a breast ultrasound and then a biopsy. Then came the diagnosis: breast cancer at age 37.

“My mother and my great-grandmother both had breast cancer,” Denise says. “I am the third generation.”

Dr. Marion referred Denise to Dr. Danny Sanders at NMMC’s Breast and General Surgery Clinic. Both Dr. Marion and Dr. Sanders recommended a double mastectomy – removal of both breasts—because the cancer carried a high risk of recurrence. “Dr. Sanders gave me some options, and we prayed about it,” she says. “We knew it might come back later on in life, so we decided to do a double mastectomy.”

Denise had surgery the week of Thanksgiving 2020. Dr. Sanders performed a nipple sparing mastectomy, a procedure that removes the entire breast through a small incision, saving the nipple, areolar complex and skin. Plastic surgeon Dr. Robert Buckley performed reconstructive breast surgery two months later.

“My scars are hidden underneath my breasts, so you can’t tell,” she says. “A lot of people don’t even know I had breast cancer.”

Now she takes a hormone pill and follows up with her doctors as scheduled. She’s thankful for a supportive family, good friends who came to her rescue and top-notch medical care. “My mother, Shirley Curtis, had breast cancer herself and helped me go through this. She was right by my side every step of the way. And my wonderful husband, Bobby, was a great nurse to me,” Denise says. “The Bible verse I had in my head as I went through my journey, and I now wear it around my neck, is Isaiah 41:10, which says, ‘So do not fear, for I am with you.’”

She also appreciates Dr. Sanders’ nurse of 18 years, Amanda Conlee, who checked on her regularly after surgery.

Although breast self-exam isn’t the most reliable method, for many women it is the first sign that’s something is wrong. “Don’t hesitate to check your breasts each month,” Denise urges. Like with her, it might just save your life.