Medically reviewed by Faith Selchick, DNP, APRN, AGPCNP-BC, AOCNP, OCN, CPHQ

A patient with breast cancer may never know the name of the pathologist who studied her biopsy. She may never meet the radiologist who first noticed something unusual on her mammogram. She may not hear the conversation between her surgeon and cancer doctor. She may never meet the pharmacist who checked her treatment plan before she received her first medicine. Many people may help care for her without ever meeting her.

But they will know her.

They will know her images, test results, health history, treatment plan, response to care and the details that make her cancer different from anyone else’s.

That is one of the remarkable things about breast cancer care today. Behind each patient is often a whole team. Every person on that team holds a different part of her story.

Breast cancer care is now more personal than ever. We know more about genes, risk, how tumors grow, imaging, surgery, medicines and radiation. These advances give patients more treatment choices. They also make cancer care more complex.

No single specialty has all the answers. A radiologist may find the unusual area. A pathologist helps explain what it is. A surgeon plans the best way to remove it. A medical oncologist studies how the cancer behaves and decides what treatment may help. A radiation oncologist decides if radiation should be part of the plan. Genetic testing may guide choices for the patient and sometimes her family. Nurses, patient navigators, pharmacists, social workers, technologists, therapists and many others help put the plan into action.

The strength comes not only from each person doing a job well. It comes from working together.

At WMCHealth, this teamwork supports our mission to provide high-quality, connected care for the communities we serve. Across our network, breast cancer care includes advanced imaging, 3D mammograms, breast MRI, image-guided biopsy, risk checks, breast surgery, cancer medicine, radiation and breast reconstruction. Specialists from different fields work together throughout a patient’s care.

These services may be separate, but cancer does not happen to a set of services. It happens to a person.

Each person comes to us with a different life and different needs. Connected care recognizes that. It brings experts together around the patient instead of making the patient manage separate parts of care. Patients should benefit from the strength of a health system without having to understand how complex it is.

At WMCHealth, that means linking care in local communities with the resources of an academic health network. As a patient’s needs change, the care and support around that patient can change too.

Sometimes this connection appears in small but important moments. It may be a question answered after a visit, a talk between specialists, information shared with the right person, or a concern reviewed again. Healthcare can be filled with specialists, tests, treatments, visits and technology. Through it all, we must never lose sight of the person at the center.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month is a time to encourage screening, honor survivors, remember those we have lost and raise awareness about a disease that affects many lives. It is also a time to think about what it means to care for someone after breast cancer becomes part of her life.

Cancer enters a life that is already full. Patients still have loved ones, daily duties and plans that never included cancer. They bring all of that with them when they walk through our doors.

For those of us who have spent our careers in cancer care, being welcomed into someone’s life at such a difficult time never feels routine. That trust is deeply humbling, no matter how many years we have done this work.

Perhaps that is what Breast Cancer Awareness Month should remind us of most.

Behind every advance, treatment, and service is a person trusting us with something that matters greatly.

At WMCHealth, we will never lose sight of that trust. It is why we bring together experts across specialties and communities while keeping each person at the center of care.

Because ultimately, that is what all of this expertise is for.

Learn more about our breast cancer services at WMCHealth.