[00:00:00] Adam Walker: From Susan G Komen, this is Real Pink, a podcast exploring real stories, struggles, and triumphs related to breast cancer. We’re taking the conversation from the doctor’s office to your living room.
[00:00:17] As we kick off Black History Month here on Real Pink, we’re excited to highlight guests who have been affected by breast cancer and are using their experiences to make an impact. Today’s guest advocated for herself to ensure that she was receiving the best, most personalized treatment for her diagnosis.
[00:00:34] And in the process learned the staggering fact that less than 10 percent of clinical trial participants are members of racial or ethnic communities who often face higher breast cancer or mortality rates. This fueled Tina Pickett to get involved. She’s passionate about educating women on early detection, health equity, and representation in research.
[00:00:54] And her team was at the top of the fundraising board at her local Race for the Cure. She’s an inspiration and we are thrilled to have her on the show today. Tina, welcome to the show.
[00:01:05] Tina Pickett: Thank you so much.
[00:01:06] Adam Walker: Well, I appreciate all you’re doing. I love stories of people that are taking their own, uh, their own adversity and turning it into good for the sake of others.
[00:01:16] And you’re, you’re doing exactly that. So let’s, let’s start with your story. Uh, tell our listeners about your diagnosis and what was going on in your life at that time.
[00:01:23] Tina Pickett: Well. I had, um, breast pain for several weeks in late July, sometime August of 2020. And for me, that was kind of a norm, but it didn’t go away this time.
[00:01:40] It was just, you know, there all the time. And I was on vacation in August of 2020 when I felt alone. And my last mammogram was about 8 months prior, but I always. Taking, you know, have a mammograms timely. I called my doctor when I returned and she was on maternity leave. So there was another doctor that I saw and I went in and I told them I thought… I had purchased a new washing machine and a little vertically challenged.
[00:02:12] So, reaching over into it. I thought that I had hurt myself and. Probably should have never said what I thought to start with, but, um, I was trying to get her to feel the lump and she had a hard time feeling it. And eventually she did feel it. But looking at my chart, she said, well, I feel what you’re talking about, but it’s not anything that causes me any concern.
[00:02:39] But you’re due for a mammogram in October. So, you know, if it continues to hurt between that time come back. Well, it didn’t continue to hurt and that’s normally how that happens. But um, so in October when I went for the mammogram, I told the technician that I felt something back in August and I later found out she should have done a diagnostic exam, but she did just a regular mammogram.
[00:03:06] So after the results came back, I was called to have a diagnostic mammogram and an ultrasound, and then add two biopsies on the same breast because of two different types and location. Um, and then one was a tumor looking, and then the other was micro calcifications that looked like just a little dots.
[00:03:29] So, um, October 28th, 2020, I received a call with the diagnosis and I had, um, DCIS ductal carcinoma in situ. Which was considered stage 0, that was the micro classifications and I had also invasive ductal carcinoma and that tumor ended up being at a stage 1 had a lumpectomy in December of 2020 and
[00:03:59] there were the tumor was like a size of a pea, but they found a smaller one was in the area that was being… of the tissue that was being taken out. That had not shown up on the mammogram at all. And it was also invasive ductal carcinoma, but the MRI that I had leading up to the mammogram did highlight an area.
[00:04:25] So it was in the area of MRI
[00:04:29] Adam Walker: Right.
[00:04:29] Tina Pickett: So, um, that was ultrasound, you know, mammogram, ultrasound, biopsy, MRI leading up to the lumpectomy. I then had 16 rounds of chemo and 20 rounds of radiation.
[00:04:43] This was during the pandemic. So no one was allowed to come in to sit with us. Um, also during this time I was dealing with personal issue where my sister and great niece had been murdered.
[00:04:58] So there was a murder trial and I was having to travel two hours away to attend that trial. And so there was a lot of pandemic and all of that going on at the same time. So..
[00:05:11] Adam Walker: Wow, that is a lot going on the same time.
[00:05:14] Alright. So, uh, so I understand that you are an accountant and you also love medicine and you really dove into the research side of things when you were diagnosed.
[00:05:23] So can you talk about why you think it’s important for people to take an active part in their treatment and to educate themselves about their disease?
[00:05:31] Tina Pickett: Okay, I have always loved the field of medicine. Um, and I had a friend who was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer about 17 years ago, and I immediately started researching to find out.
[00:05:44] And have a better understanding of what she was going through and then when I was diagnosed, of course, research was important to me. Because I needed to know what I was dealing with and what I could do to help myself. And I believe people should be active in their treatment and educate themselves so that they will better, they’ll know what to expect.
[00:06:04] And, you know, educate themselves and also to ask questions and so that they can consider the treatment that’s going to be best for them and also to eventually help somebody else. You know, whenever they can, so..
[00:06:20] Adam Walker: Yeah, that’s right. I mean, when you educate yourself, you give yourself more options and you can ask better questions and find out more information and and be more of like an active participant in the process, right?
[00:06:30] Tina Pickett: Yes. And I had doctors tell me, stop researching. I asked So many questions and one of the doctors asked somebody else, Is she a doctor? Is she in the medical field? But that was just me. I asked so many questions.
[00:06:43] Adam Walker: The fact that you studied so much that they thought you were in the medical field is kind of amazing.
[00:06:48] I really, really like that. All right. All right. Well, let’s talk about your treatment for a minute. Was there any point where you were, you know, suffering from side effects and had to work with your doctors to figure out a more personalized methodology to sort of get you through that?
[00:07:04] Tina Pickett: Yes, um, there were a couple of things.
[00:07:06] One, when I was taking one of the chemos, the drip rate, um, had to be adjusted because it was dripping a little bit too fast. The normal drip rate was causing headaches for me, so they had to adjust the drip rate.
[00:07:24] Adam Walker: I would never have thought of something like that. That’s such as like small detail that like, wow, did you, like, did you research that?
[00:07:35] Like, how did, how did you figure that out?
[00:07:37] Tina Pickett: I, um, did not know a lot about that medicine, but I knew that I was getting a headache. So I actually said to. The nurse who was, you know, working with me then, um, I’m getting a headache. I said, is, do you know why that is? And she said, okay, let’s adjust your drip rate.
[00:07:57] It’s probably going a little bit too fast. So ..
[00:07:59] Adam Walker: Interesting. I mean, it makes sense, I guess, if you think, because like the higher the drip rate, the more medicines flooding your body at one time. So I, I, it would make sense, but I, I never would have thought of that. Right.
[00:08:11] Tina Pickett: Wow. Okay. There were times when my numbers, um, my neutrophils would drop to the point where they were concerned that, you know, if I catch a cold or whatever, that it would cause issues.
[00:08:24] So, um, even after getting the shots to kind of boost the immune, there were times when the chemo Had to be postponed. So, um, yeah. And then I had an issue with my eyes that was caused by a different chemo because there were like three or four.
[00:08:45] But this one, um, was causing issues with my eyes. And so I had, I mentioned that I had to go get my eyes checked because it was weird.
[00:08:55] But, um, then the other thing was that I had lost over 20 pounds. And I asked the doctor, I said, you know, when this started, you told me that the medication was adjusted based on weight and different things. I said, so now that I’ve lost some of that weight, should I be receiving the same amount of medicine or should it be adjusted?
[00:09:20] Adam Walker: Right.
[00:09:21] Tina Pickett: Because I’m having this, you know, problems with the eyes and the light sensitivity, weird stuff. And so she said, you know… that’s a good point. So the last several treatments, she adjusted the amount of medicine that I was receiving.
[00:09:37] Adam Walker: I would never have thought to do that either. Oh my goodness. Wow. I mean, I, I love how interactive you were with your treatment.
[00:09:46] Like that, that seems like it seems like it really worked out well for you.
[00:09:49] Tina Pickett: I thought I was a doctor at one point.
[00:09:54] Adam Walker: Well, good. You were mistaken for one at one point too. So, yeah. Um, so, so, so what are, talk about some of the things that helped you the most throughout the process, either physically or emotionally that sort of helped you as you navigated your breast cancer experience?
[00:10:07] Tina Pickett: Well, um, I was, I was a preacher’s kid raised in the church and also my, the most, the thing that helped me the most was my faith and my faith in God and prayer. And then I journaled, um, and eventually hope to, you know, turn it into a book, but I journaled the entire process and I was determined to think positive thoughts and I listened..
[00:10:32] I love music. I sang it right. So I listened to music. I wrote music. Um, we were in the pandemic, so I was able to work from home and therefore I continue to work. I didn’t miss a beat. I had surgery one day and was in a meeting the next day online. Um, so those kinds of things then kind of trying to stay independent.
[00:10:55] Um, sometimes I push myself a little bit, but whenever my body said, sit down somewhere, then, you know, I would go and I would sit down when I needed to.
[00:11:03] Adam Walker: Is it, is it fair, based on what you said, that, uh, that a lot of your, a lot of what helped you was your mindset. Is that kind of like, like, I mean, your, your faith and your, like all of that sort of comes around to sort of mindset, right?
[00:11:18] Tina Pickett: And when I was diagnosed, the first thing I said to them was to the doctor was, okay, so what do we need to do to get this out of my body? That was the first thing I said. So yes, my set is important. Yeah.
[00:11:30] Adam Walker: Yeah. I mean, I’ve talked to so many people and I do, I do think, uh, A positive mindset really does help in so many ways in terms of just overcoming and adapting and everything else.
[00:11:42] So, um, so I understand there was an appointment, you were getting a second opinion, and you asked some questions to the doctor that became eye opening to you in terms of representation of research in clinical trials. Can you tell me a little bit more about that?
[00:11:55] Tina Pickett: I’d gone to get a second opinion because one, I didn’t want chemo.
[00:12:00] I didn’t want the drugs in my system. I wasn’t anything about hair loss that didn’t matter. It was I didn’t want the drug. So this second opinion doctor was telling me why I she recommended chemo. So, during that time, I asked her about people I had known, African American women, whose fingernails would just turn really, really, just almost black, um, and she looked at me and she said, well, And I said, and I know that that’s not a big issue with our Caucasian sisters.
[00:12:34] And she said, she said, well, you know, um, that does happen, but, and it’s fingernails and toenails and she said, but it happens with darker tone, um, women. And that they did not know necessarily why it has to do with melanin, but African American women are not jumping at the clinical trial. So there are a lot of things that we don’t know why it impacts us.
[00:13:07] The medicine affects us the way that it does. Because we’re not heavily involved in the clinical trial. So I thought that was really interesting because I often wondered why when I saw that, but nobody really could say why what’s the medicine doing that’s causing this?
[00:13:26] Adam Walker: So, and that, that sent you down a path, I think, uh, and so, so I understand that you’ve sort of taken a role in educating other people in your network and in your circles about breast cancer health and the importance of African American women getting involved in clinical trials, uh, which I’m all for advocating for that.
[00:13:44] Tell us more about that.
[00:13:46] Tina Pickett: Well, um, I would share my story with whomever. Would be interested in listening. So they, the church that I attend, we, during breast cancer awareness month, one of the ladies who was organized and asked me if I would be interested in helping out. And I said, sure. Um, I had to attended the year before and just kind of listen and I made notes just thinking to myself, oh, it’d be good to talk about this or to hear that.
[00:14:15] So when she asked, I was like, sure, I’ll help. And just sitting talking to one of the ladies who sings in the choir with me. I learned that she was a clinical, um, she was a cancer research person. That’s what she did for a living. That’s where she worked.
[00:14:32] And I said to her, well, it’s interesting because African American women don’t really get involved.
[00:14:38] And she said, you’re right. And so I asked her if she would speak at the event. We had a nurse who spoke and, you know, different things going on, but her presentation was really, really good. And I think people learned a lot about clinical trials and just, you know, there’s a history among African American in general, uh, where we don’t trust clinical trials.
[00:15:03] We don’t, you know, there’s a lot that has gone on. So she was trying to spell some of the myths. That we hear and to encourage people to get involved in the clinical trials. It was really, really good. Um, it was 1 of the best presentations I’ve heard and I had never been to an event where I heard them talk, not a breast cancer event where I heard them talk about getting involved with clinical trials.
[00:15:27] Adam Walker: I love that you’re, that you’re helping with that. Um, so, so I understand that in addition to the, all the stuff you’re doing for, you know, educating people and advocating, you’re also involved in one of the top fundraisers for your local race for the cure. So tell me what that experience has been like.
[00:15:44] Tina Pickett: Well, last year, um, in 2020, what was mit 2024 oh, because we’re in five now.
[00:15:51] Adam Walker: Yeah, it took me a minute, but yes,
[00:15:53] Tina Pickett: I walked and just with a friend. And then in 24, I was like, I want to, I want to do a team. Let’s, you know, do fundraisers. So we started in March and then we did pretty good because the event was in May.
[00:16:07] And the experience for me, um, just being there, it was, it was very motivating. It was, um, it gave you the sense of just being there to support each other. And there were, it’s, it’s one of celebration and perseverance and just, you know, just being able to help. Each other and to represent each other because of course, there are people who are not survivors and in memory of people as well as just being out there to support each other.
[00:16:42] It was it was a really great event. So we’re gearing up this year to do it again. So…
[00:16:47] Adam Walker: I love it. I love it. And how many people are on your team are part of your team?
[00:16:51] Tina Pickett: Oh, last year we had probably 40 to sign up, but About 34, 35 actually came out and walked.
[00:16:59] Adam Walker: Wow.
[00:17:00] Tina Pickett: It was a great turnout.
[00:17:02] Adam Walker: That’s fantastic. Wow, congrats.
[00:17:04] That’s got to be so, uh, so, I mean, just so satisfying to, like, gather that many people around you, you know, supporting this cause that are, you know, and you’re all physically, you know, walk, like, that’s got to be so great, right?
[00:17:15] Tina Pickett: It was great.
[00:17:16] It was, it was a lot of fun and I think everybody enjoyed it.
[00:17:20] Adam Walker: And I think I’ve heard a lot of guests say that, uh, the breast cancer community is a community you never want to be a part of, but it, but it’s a pretty amazing community once you are.
[00:17:28] Yes. Yeah. Well, uh, Tina, uh, do you have any final advice that you’d like to share that you give to someone that’s newly diagnosed with breast cancer?
[00:17:36] Tina Pickett: I would tell someone who’s newly diagnosed to, um, not immediately think, Oh my God, this is a death sentence because again, mindset is important, um, to ask questions, do research, research the doctor, research the surgeon, oncologist, research, research everybody, um, and to also surround yourself with a support system and to ask for help when you need it.
[00:18:06] Um, that was a challenge for me because I’m so much in it, but it’s important to allow people to help you when they. Taking interest and want to help. Mm. So, um, I just think mainly just being focused on healing and getting well and just, you know, being positive.
[00:18:26] Adam Walker: That’s right. That’s right. Well, Tina, you are an inspiration.
[00:18:29] Uh, thank you for the work that you’re doing for this community. You are just an amazing person. Thank you for joining us on the show today.
[00:18:36] Tina Pickett: Thank you. Thank you for having me.
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[00:18:42] Adam Walker: Thanks for listening to Real Pink, a weekly podcast by Susan G Komen. For more episodes, visit realpink. komen. org. And for more on breast cancer, visit komen. org. Make sure to check out at Susan G Komen on social media. I’m your host, Adam. You can find me on Twitter at AJ Walker or on my blog, adamjwalker.
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