Cancer survivor Nita Carroll wins physical, emotional battle

After a hard-fought battle, a healthy and happy Nita Carroll sits at her desk at Learning Way Elementary. (T-G Photo by Sadie Fowler) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

Not Nita Carroll. She had way too much to live for.

"The night I found out I had breast cancer was the worst night of my life," said Nita, a mother, daughter, sister, wife and elementary school teacher.

Soon, though, Nita shifted into survival mode, and knew she would do whatever it took to save her own life.

"All I could think about was getting back to 'me', to my life before cancer," she said. "You hear every day of someone being diagnosed. Now it was me."

Nita's journey through a hard fight with breast cancer began three years ago. She and her husband, Mike, were planning their annual trip to the Tennessee-Vanderbilt women's basketball game in Nashville. On the way, they were to stop at her doctor's office in Murfreesboro for Nita's yearly gynecological appointment.

Suddenly, one of Mike's close friends passed away, altering the couple's plans, including the doctor's appointment.

Fortunate change

It sounds strange at first, but Nita said rescheduling her appointment for the next month was the first thing that went "right" with her cancer diagnosis.

"When I went a month later they saw a little bitty tiny something and they might not have been able to see it if I had gone a month earlier," Nita said. "I would have had to wait another year before going back in."

October is breast cancer awareness month, and early prevention is key at surviving a diagnosis.

As soon as she knew doctors had seen something, even though at the time they weren't certain in was cancer, Nita began aggressively seeking answers. She learned quickly doctors wanted her to have a biopsy done, which she did. And then she waited.

"I was freaking out," she said. "Part of me was saying, 'Nita, don't get excited,' but not knowing ... that was the worst part of it all ... worse than treatment, worse than the sickness, worse than all of it."

Adding to that stress, this particular time in Nita's life was stressful enough -- without cancer. Her father was sick and her uncle was dying of lung cancer.

She anxiously waited to hear something back from her doctor and when her patience, or lack there of, got the best of her, she took the day off and drove to Murfreesboro, figuring as soon as the doctor returned her call she would be close to the office to go into his office to make a plan.

Correct instinct

He finally called back and told her he wanted to do another biopsy. Nita wasn't happy with this. She felt as if doctors should just go in and take the lump out. The doctor consulted with other physicians, and all decided that, indeed, they should go ahead and take the lump out.

The cancer hadn't spread to Nita's other breast, so with the lump removed, along with chemotherapy and radiation, doctors assured Nita she would be in the clear.

"Something just told me 'don't do that,'" Nita said.

Nita, following gut instinct -- the second thing she says she did "right" -- wanted a double mastectomy. She wanted her life back and she didn't want to take any chances with this scary disease. She feared it would come back or show up later in one or both of her breasts.

"I had just turned 50," said Nita, explaining survivor mode really kicked in at this point. "I was scared the lumpectomy, chemo and radiation wouldn't do it ... To me, that (having her breasts removed) is what I had to do to get my life back to normal. I was like a horse with blinders on."

Her surgeon did not want to do this, so Nita switched surgeons in order to have the mastectomy.

"If I had been younger I might have been more concerned about saving my breasts, but ... maybe not." She was after all, willing to do whatever it took.

Right move

Nita's new doctor, Dr. Mainwering, had a reputation for treating cancer very aggressively, which is why Nita chose him.

In all, she had 13 surgeries, including the double mastectomy. She also underwent 16 weeks of chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

"I did good with the treatments," she said. "As it got closer to the end it got worse, but my body held up well. I never needed fluids or a blood transfusion or anything like that."

About a month or two following the mastectomy, Nita had a memorable visit with her doctor. He showed her the pathology report, which described what was found in tissue removed during her mastectomy.

While initially, following her biopsy, Nita was told the cancer had not spread (and that the lumpectomy and chemotherapy and radiation would be sufficient), the pathology report showed tiny cells that could potentially be cancerous in other areas of her breasts. This means that in the time she had the biopsy to the time she had the mastectomy, the cancerous cells had spread. Her gut instinct, the one that told her to have her breasts removed, was right on the money.

"My doctor said, 'I don't know how you did it, but you made the right decision,'" Nita said. "Man, all the mistakes I have made in my life and this particular time, when it really mattered, I made the right choice. I was very happy."

Free of cancer

Still, Nita wondered if the cancer had spread to other organs in her body. Her insurance has allowed her to have several scans to put her fears to rest. Today, she is cancer free.

Nita had also worried that the cancer she had could potentially be hereditary, and that her daughters would be at risk. She put this fear to rest by having tests done in Nashville, which showed the type of breast cancer she had was not hereditary.

Nita's cancer treatments ended in October 2006 and by January, she was back at school teaching, then at Eakin Elementary (she now teaches at Learning Way). In addition to her supportive family, getting back to work was a huge part of her emotional healing process.

"I went back to work, short hair and all, and I was having hot flashes," she laughed. "I couldn't wear a hat because I would sweat to death ... But if you feel bad, get around a bunch of 5-year-olds. My kids were great."

About a week after returning to school, Nita joined a Relay For Life team, along with a group of teachers in Bedford County, for her first time. The annual event, an all-night relay held around the country, benefits the American Cancer Society. She has also been involved with several fundraisers at school that benefit cancer victims.

Through her hard-fought battle, Nita regained her life, and her advice to other cancer victims is quite simple:

"Find out as much as you can about it and do what is suggested -- and go with your gut," she said. "Talk to others who've gone through cancer.

"Take care of yourself and go to your checkups because early prevention is key ... There is not a woman in this world that should die because of breast cancer."