Earlier this year, Stefanie Embree was on top of the world. The founder of OKC Sweets bakery in Oklahoma City had recently won a nationally televised cooking competition. Little did she know that she was about to partake in the fight of her life.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Earlier this year, Stefanie Embree was on top of the world. The founder of OKC Sweets bakery in Oklahoma City had recently won a nationally televised cooking competition called Next Level Baker, been asked to create desserts for two of Gordon Ramsay’s restaurants and received multiple speaking opportunities across the country.
Her newfound fame was exhilarating, yet exhausting. “I was speaking at an event in Washington D.C. when this sweet lady came up to me and handed me a note that simply said, ‘It’s ok to slow down,’” Stefanie remembers. “It was the wake up call I needed, to take some time off for myself.” Little did she know that she was about to partake in the fight of her life.
“I was back at home and in the shower when I first noticed a lump in my left breast,” she recalls. “It felt weird and I didn’t remember it being there before. My stomach clenched and I just knew something wasn’t right.”
Being a proactive person, she shared her discovery with her husband, Steven, and her father, who is a family practice physician at INTEGRIS Health. They both said she needed to make a doctor’s appointment right away.
“Everything happened so quickly,” Stefanie admits. “It was a whirlwind. I saw the doctor on Thursday, had a diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound on Friday morning, a biopsy on Friday afternoon and received the call on Monday morning saying that I had cancer.”
JaNae Clapp, M.D., is an oncologist at INTEGRIS Health Cancer Institute. “Stefanie was diagnosed with a smaller stage I breast cancer that we were able to treat with curative intent because she was so proactive. She did what we try to educate our women to do, by doing her own breast exams and noticing when something was different. She was also brave to get a diagnosis rather than delaying and hoping it would not be cancer. Her courage let us find this earlier and gave her the best chance for a cure and to do it with less toxicity than what would be needed if it was found more advanced. She was also very open to hearing all the options so that she could have the information to choose the path that was right for her. She is a great example to give other ladies a role model of how to take care of themselves.”
Being the mother of four young children, Stefanie opted to respond aggressively and undergo a double mastectomy. “Telling our kids was such a hard thing,” she shares. “Their minds immediately go to the worst-case scenario. But we are so proud of them because they handled it really well.”
Nicole Sharp Cottrell, M.D., FACS, is a board-certified and fellowship-trained breast surgical oncologist at INTEGRIS Health Medical Group Breast Surgery. “I think Stefanie deserves a lot of credit because as women, it's very easy for us to say, ‘well, we have work, we have kids to take care of, we have other family members and other commitments. I'll get to it in a few weeks.’ But Stefanie was able to say, ‘this is a priority, and I need to drop what I'm doing essentially, and put my health first.’” She concludes, “That is a large reason why she had an early stage, treatable, curable breast cancer and is cancer free now and doing wonderful.”
Since her tumor was small and she caught it so early, there was no need for chemotherapy or radiation. Though, she will be on a medicine known as Tamoxifen for at least the next five years.
Stefanie knows she’s one of the lucky ones and that’s why she feels compelled to tell her story. “I was only 39 years old when I felt the lump. That’s too young for a regular mammogram in most cases. But my cancer didn’t even show up in the diagnostic mammogram. It was the ultrasound that ultimately found it.”
She adds, “I often wonder, what would have happened if I didn’t feel the lump. Waited until I was 40 to get a regular mammogram that wouldn’t have seen my cancer. What if I would have waited another year to get another mammogram? By the time it did show up, how advanced would it have been?”
These are things she wants no woman to have to go through. “I want women to feel empowered to know their own bodies, to advocate for themselves and to know they are worthy of self-care. And I’m not just talking about manicures and pedicures. While those things are lovely and we deserve those too, I want to spread a message of hope and encourage women to take charge of their health by getting their recommended screenings and staying on top of their regular self-exams.”
Today, Stefanie is cancer free and embarking on a new adventure. She is going to be a co-host on the Heard Chef Podcast. She hopes to continue to use her platform to promote breast health year-round and not just during Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
To schedule your mammogram, call 855-MY-MAMMO (855-696-2666) or talk with your doctor for more information.
