In October 2024, 43-year-old Caryn Bartley found a lump in her breast while showering. With a family history of breast cancer—her mother passed from the disease—she wasted no time contacting her primary care provider.
Initially, her doctor wasn’t overly concerned, but referred her for imaging out of caution. “It took over a month to get the mammogram,” Bartley recalls. When she finally did, the results revealed not one, but two tumors. A biopsy confirmed what she feared: breast cancer.
Bartley was referred to Karen Karsif, MD, at WMCHealth’s Good Samaritan Hospital, a name she’d heard recommended by fellow teachers and breast cancer survivors. “The second I walked in, I knew I was in the right place,” she says.
Originally believed to be estrogen-positive, Bartley’s cancer was later found to be triple negative—an aggressive type requiring chemotherapy. Within an hour of her diagnosis update, Dr. Karsif had Bartley meet with Good Samaritan Hospital’s oncologist Bilal Farooqi, MD. “It was a one-stop shop,” Bartley says. “He met with me during his lunch break. That kind of responsiveness changes everything.”
Since then, Bartley has undergone a lumpectomy, started chemotherapy and navigated complications like lymphedema. She drives from Newburgh to Good Samaritan Hospital three to five times a week for treatments, physical therapy and appointments. “I used to work 60 hours a week and have a thriving social life,” she says. “Now, this is my full-time job.”
Despite the physical and emotional toll, Bartley shares her journey daily on TikTok (@this_girl_is_fighting) and Instagram (@Missbcoffee), posting “Battle Day” updates to track symptoms, celebrate wins and encourage others. One of her unexpected comforts? Coke slushies from QuickChek—so effective for chemo nausea that the company sent her a care package after she tagged them in a video.
Bartley says she wouldn’t be able to do any of this without the support around her. Her best friend Rachel has given up more than a week of vacation time to sit beside her at every chemo session. She has a large and loving family, including nine siblings, and students and colleagues at the private middle school where she’s both a teacher and the Assistant Principal. They’ve rallied around her with pink-out days, a hat-themed assembly and endless encouragement.
“I always tell people: this is my now, not my forever,” Bartley says. “You don’t feel brave when you’re doing it. You’re just showing up. But that’s the thing—walking into chemo knowing it’s going to make you feel worse, and doing it anyway—that’s real courage.”
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