The Story of a 35-Year Breast Cancer Survivor

5:59 PM, Oct 6, 2011   |    comments
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Greensboro, NC --  Today seven out of ten women are expected to survive breast cancer. In the '70's it was only four out of ten.

Shirley McLellan had never even known anyone with cancer when doctors told her she had breast cancer in 1976. Can you imagine? Today, we can google anything, no matter how rare.

A friend of hers was diagnosed at the same time...and died six weeks later. Without the help of modern technology or treatments, McLellan survived. She says her doctor sent her to a surgeon. Back then, they didn't do biopsies, they just put you into surgery. If you had breast cancer, they took the breasts, and you woke up realizing you had cancer and are now without breasts.

She joined us for our 6pm newscast on Thursday. She says even 35 years out, she hasn't forgotten what she learned when she was first diagnosed and that is:live life, slow down.




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