A tragic lesson in the importance of early breast cancer detection, along with the persistence of some members of Adena Health’s cancer care team, have made a critical difference in the life Lisa Ehman-Chapman now lives. 

Lisa was not one to get regular breast cancer screenings. That all changed about six years ago when her sister was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer, which later would claim her life. As a result, Lisa got her first screening, which came back negative, but failed to follow up with annual screenings. 

That is until January of 2023 when she signed up to have a screening done by the Adena Health mobile mammography unit during a visit to her workplace. A staff member from the unit made sure she kept the appointment when she got busy. The screening detected something requiring follow-up, and health system staff ensured she got a biopsy that revealed pre-cancerous cells that led to discovery during a second biopsy of Stage 1A breast cancer, ductal carcinoma in situ and invasive carcinoma. 

Lisa underwent a 15-treatment regimen of radiation therapy and is now on a hormone-blocking medication she will be taking for five years. She praised the entire treatment team, singling out Adena Cancer Center physicians Jeffrey Rose, MD, and Greg Thompson, MD, and the nurse navigator program. 

“They always start our conversations asking me to tell them what I know about what’s going on,” she said. “They don’t talk over me and always make me feel understood and not rushed. Likewise, the staff itself was great about following up with me over and over again, and that first screening on the mammography unit was so convenient because I didn’t have to leave work for very long to get that important screening.” 

All of that combined to bring a real team feeling to her battle that has helped her work through it. 

“Really, I never have felt like I’m alone in this fight,” she said.