COVID-19 was a rough time for everybody, but for Micki Pressley, circumstances made the time incredibly difficult.
During the outbreak of COVID-19, Pressley went in for her annual mammogram, where a mass was found. She had a biopsy, and it was proven to be stage zero breast cancer. Later, after more tests were done, it was elevated to stage one.
Pressley took the call from her doctor while alone, driving to work. She later went to a friend, whom she confided in about the diagnosis.
“I was diagnosed when COVID was still happening. I was driving to my office to pick up some work, and I took the call from my doctor while in the car, so I was by myself. Initially, I was extremely shocked, especially since I have no family history of breast cancer. I just did not think that I could have it. I worked for a Christian organization at the time, so prayer was important to me. There was one co-worker that I was hoping would be there, and it turned out she was. I went straight to her, and I just spilled my heart out to her,” Pressley said.
Pressley had to go through 12 rounds of chemotherapy and then for a year after had to go in for treatments. Pressley was most worried about missing her kid’s events, not wanting to miss a thing.
“After I finished chemo, I went in for another year every three weeks, having to get some more treatment. All things considered, you hear horror stories about chemo and thankfully my body took to it pretty well. I didn’t get sick that often; I may have gotten nauseated a couple of times when I first started. I have three kids, and I was so worried about missing their various activities, but I ended up not missing a thing, so my life kind of went on as normally as it possibly could,” Pressley said.
Pressley’s three children were there for her during her entire sickness, and Pressley’s faith has also been a huge aspect of her journey.
“My children have been my biggest supporters. I have amazing family and friends and just overall wonderful people that have supported me along my journey. My faith has always been a huge part of my life. I’m a widow, and so going through cancer as a widow, you look at life differently. You know how fast life can be taken away. When I got diagnosed with cancer, and had my three kids, it made me treasure life day by day like a gift,” Pressley said.
When Pressley first told her kids she had been diagnosed with cancer, they knew they had a tough mom: she was going to make it through the battle on the other side.
“My kids were initially shocked, but they knew that I was a strong person, strong in my faith. I kept a positive attitude and I kept telling them that I was going to be okay. I think the reassurance in me having a positive and strong attitude helped them along in the journey,” Pressley said.
Through the journey, Pressley learned that positivity is the most important thing when dealing with cancer. Being positive through this journey helped Pressley and everybody around her, especially her kids.
“There are challenging days, but attitude is everything. You have to be positive even on the days that are rougher. Have a positive attitude and be strong. Know that this story will end, and a new story will begin. Having a positive attitude was so important to me, and it was also important for my kids. I had to show them that, when life throws you lemons, you make lemonade,” Pressley said.
Throughout her entire journey, Pressley sticks to one particular piece of advice: get your annual mammogram.
“Early detection is so important. Do not put off mammograms. There is a reason for them. I truly speak from the heart because, like I said, I had no family history. I went in and had my mammogram thinking that everything was going to be normal. My mammogram saved my life,” Pressley said.