The two have a long history of breast cancer in their family and are both survivors themselves. I was diagnosed 22 years ago, Rhoades said. I decided right then and there to have a double mastectomy because I asked the doctor how long would it be before I was diagnosed with cancer in the other breast, and he said probably about 5 years because I had so much cancer history in our family.
Rhoades recovered and has been healthy ever since. However, her daughter was diagnosed with breast cancer about 18 years later. She was in her 40 s at the time. Honestly, in my mind it wasn t a question of if I would be diagnosed with breast cancer, it was more a question of when, Scantling said. I always did my annual mammogram, and it was at my annual mammogram about four and a half years ago that they found a lump in my breast. It was pretty devastating, and I know it was heartbreaking for mom.