CityView Magazine

38 October 2023 A second chance Breast cancer survivor Toscha Ford is grateful for the love of family and support of health care professionals that sustained her and helped her find new purpose. BY JAMI MCL AUGHLIN | PHOTOGRAPHY BY RACHAEL SANTILL AN HEALTH Toscha Ford, a breast cancer survivor, is back in the classroom teaching full time and making travel plans. T oscha Ford knew something was wrong when she started having trouble sleeping on her right side. "I had a mammogram a year prior, and everything was fine. But then I felt a lump in my right breast. It was bigger than a golf ball, and I knew I had to get it checked out," says Ford. She went for a mammogram and a biopsy. A week later, her doctor called with the results. "It was the first day of school in August of 2021 when they called me to come in. My mom wanted to go; I told her no, but then changed my mind. I knew she wanted to be there," Ford says. "I immediately knew the news was not good. When my doctor came in, he said I had cancer. My first thought was, 'How?' I wanted to know how I had cancer since I had just had a successful mammogram," says Ford. She says he explained that it could happen in less than a year and lauded her for coming in when she did. A consultation with Elizabeth Sawyer, a general surgeon and breast oncology specialist, was scheduled. "Dr. Sawyer gave me the estimate for what stage I was in, which was Stage 2. It took a couple of weeks to get everything situated, but she put my mind at ease." Ford credits Erin Champion, a breast cancer navigator at Cape Fear Valley Health, for helping her better understand what she was about to go through.

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