Breast cancer patient encourages women to get check-ups

After a routine rest stop at an area Huddle House, Elise “Frog” Austin, 41, of Bethune saw the headline “Updated mammogram guidelines cause confusion” and had to get a copy of the paper. She read the story about the updated mammogram guidelines and had to tell her story.

“Don’t wait. Do it and do it now,” Austin said. She said she wants to make sure women age 40 get an annual mammogram and all other women do monthly self breast exams, contrary to the newest government guidelines.

“If I had waited any longer, I wouldn’t be telling my story,” Austin said. “I want people to be aware of this.“

In May, Austin found a dime-sized lump in her right breast during a monthly self-breast exam, but she waited several months to get her mammogram. Her biological mother had cysts appear in her breasts, but they were always benign, so she wasn’t worried.

“I thought this would be the same with me, but it wasn’t,” Austin said.

On Nov. 12, after a mammogram and needle biopsy of the lump, she was given a 13-page diagnosis. She has an invasive adenocarcinoma, stage 3 breast cancer. Over the summer, the cancer had grown rapidly from a dime-sized knot to one around 2 centimeters in diameter that had spread to the lymph node under her right arm.

“Cancer’s not a death sentence; it’s a detour,” Austin said.

She will have a double masectomy after around 13 weeks of chemotherapy because she’s a good candidate to have the cancer appear in her other breast. She had a Port-A-Cath device implanted before Thanksgiving. The device will allow doctors to administer her chemotherapy without sticking IVs in her arms. She has gone through body scans, ultrasounds, a CT, echocardiogram among other tests.

“It’s not as scary as it seems,” Austin said. “The only thing that hurt was the biopsy.”

Austin started her chemotherapy Tuesday at the Cancer Clinic at the Women’s Pavilion at McLeod Regional Medical Center in Florence. She will have to drive the 72 miles from her home in Camden three to four days a week for treatment.

At first, she said she was misdiagnosed with migraines and post-traumatic stress disorder because she lost her only daughter eight years ago to a drunk driver.

“I’ve already had my sad story. If I survived that, I can survive this,” Austin said.

She has fatigue, migraines, tenderness and burning in her breast. She lost her job as a bartender in September because her symptoms became so severe that she had to take more and more time off work.

Her “Blue Angel,” Dale Howle, a cancer survivor and surgical nurse at Carolina Pines, talked with Austin and helped her receive the diagnosis.

“She told me to keep my head up because I can beat this,” Austin said.

“The road ahead is going to be hard,” Austin said, but she has a strong support system to help her, including her boyfriend George Kelly, her family and a buddy list of friends that have offered to drive her to her treatments. She has four step-grandchildren and said she is living for them.

Saturday, Shooters in Camden held a benefit for her. Friends are also scheduling different benefits, barbecues and fundraisers to help her financially throughout her treatment.

She also wants to thank her gynocologist Dr. Toya J. Danzey, her surgical team from Carolina Pines including Dr. Jason R. Dameron, her oncologist Dr. Jamie Smith and all the nurses and staff at Carolina Pines and Hartsville Surgical Center.

“The knowledge of what I went through is why I’m here,” Austin said. “Breasts are material things. You don’t have to have your breasts. You can love with your heart. You can worship God with you heart.”

Two weeks ago, Austin donated 13.5 inches of her signature curly hair to Locks of Love, which turns the hair into wigs for children with cancer.

“I’d rather it be used,” Austin said. “It’d be more tragic to have it fall out.”

Austin wants to see something good come out of her fight. So far, six of her girlfriends made their appointments for mammograms since her diagnosis, and that’s what Austin wants all to take away from her story.

“Do your self-breast exams. Save up that money for a mammogram. Borrow it, whatever you have to do,” Austin said. “Get that mammogram.”

She said she waited to get her finances in order, but there is help out there for the uninsured.

“There is help out there for people,” Austin said. One of her doctors accepted a down payment upfront and payments for some services.

Programs like the Best Chance Network, Free Medical Clinic and Medicaid can also help pay for needed procedures. The Best Chance Network provides free breast and cervical cancer screening for medically underserved women in South Carolina ages 40 to 64 who meet certain income requirements.

For information about the Best Chance Network, call the American Cancer Society at (800) 227-2345 and ask about the Best Chance Network.

Austin lived in Hartsville for many years and used to run Hobbes Bar & Grill. She was born in Tampa, Fla., but was raised in Bethune, where she went to school.

If you want to help Austin, you can donate to the Elisa “Frog” Austin Cancer Fund at Heritage Community Bank in Hartsville.