Dexter Mom Continues Fight with Breast Cancer

Four years ago, Dexter resident Michelle Haywood was like any other mom, caring for two daughters, working a full-time job at the University of Michigan and enjoying life with her husband. In December 2007 that all changed when doctors diagnosed her with stage 2-B breast cancer.

The diagnosis was a shock for the 35-year-old lab technician.

“I freaked out when they told me,” she said. “I didn’t know what to expect. No one in my family has a history of cancer. I remember asking myself, ‘what did I do to deserve this?’”

Haywood said the diagnosis was pure coincidence after being admitted for treatment of two blood clots that developed in her lungs earlier that year.

“I was put on blood thinners in April 2007 and when I came back for a follow up, that’s when doctors discovered enlarged lymph nodes and a lump in my breast.”

A biopsy confirmed what doctors suspected and in January 2008 Haywood underwent a lumpectomy to remove 15 lymph nodes in her breast. In June, doctors informed her that they would have to perform a complete mastectomy following eight rounds of chemotherapy.

“I was scared,” she said. “I was a young, relatively healthy woman who was now trying to understand how to deal with cancer.”

However, six weeks after the mastectomy, doctors gave Haywood a clean bill of health.

“Things were looking up,” she said. “We bought a house in Dexter, I had breast reconstructive surgery and the family got on with our lives.”

But it was as if fate was playing a cruel trick. In 2009, after complaining of neck pain, doctors discovered a tumor had formed on Haywood’s clavicle. A biopsy revealed the cancer had returned and already spread to her bones.

“My whole world fell apart,” she said. “I started treatment soon after that, but the cancer continued to spread and is now in every bone in my body.”

In 2010 doctors diagnosed Haywood with stage 4 metastatic cancer.

“I was informed that I’m not going to get better and their goal now is to keep my quality of life up,” she said.

Learning to fight back

Despite dealing with pain “24 hours a day,” Haywood said she doesn’t let the cancer prevent her from living a normal life.

“You have to stay positive,” she said. “I have good days and bad days, but you can’t sit around feeling sorry for yourself."

Though she is no longer able to work, Haywood said she is still able to get out in the community and finds joy attending school events for her daughters. She also draws on support from family and friends and is currently undergoing an experimental cancer treatment at the University of Michigan.

“We won’t know if it did anything at least for a few more weeks, but there are some positive signs,” she said.

Since her diagnosis, Haywood said she has overcome many obstacles — the loss of a job, bankruptcy, losing her hair twice due to chemotherapy, and explaining cancer to her daughters.

“There’s some people who choose not to tell their kids and keep it in the dark, but I want to be honest with them and let them know what’s going on,” she said. “They know a lot more than anyone at their age should know about cancer. They’ve been a lot better since I was first diagnosed, but there are days when it’s harder than others."

On those days, she said she leans on her husband and a network of extended family members and friends for support.

"My husband's been great. He takes off of work to attend every appointment I have and this year he posed in the calendar benefitting the American Cancer Society," Haywood said.

Though she doesn't consider herself much of an advocate for breast cancer awareness, Haywood said since her diagnosis, she and her family have attended local fundraisers for the American Cancer Society, and her two sisters have been getting mammograms every year.

"I think everyone should get (a mammogram)," Haywood said. "I didn't think much of it and the one I happend to have saved my life."