One woman's breast exam saved her life. She had a double mastectomy two months before her wedding. But she had a great man beside her through it all.

She found a pea-sized lump and called her mom, who works at CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs. After going in to see Dr. Steven Halter, general surgeon at CHI St. Vincent Surgery Clinic, it was determined she had cancer. One day after an exam and ultrasound Dr. Halter diagnosed Kristin had breast cancer at the age of 29.

"Women under the age of 40 make up about three percent of the diagnosis of breast cancer," Dr. Halter said.

She just wanted it gone. "I wanted to have it out. I felt like I needed to get it removed as soon as possible,"

She was given the choice between lumpectomy or bilateral mastectomy.

"Because I didn't want to bring them down," Kristin said. "And like I didn't want my husband to think or my fiance at the time. I didn't want him to not want to get married to me so that was a really um you know that was really important for me to him to wanna still marry me." The man she feared losing became a tower of strength. "Loving me and loving me with no hair," Kristin said.

And she did lose her hair when she started chemotherapy. No hair, no honeymoon. She postponed it for a year. Kristin is finishing up her doctorate. And after going through chemo and allowed off medication for a short time, she got an ultrasound of a different image.

"And God gave us a sweet little baby girl," Kristin said. "I was 29 and I found it myself and a lot of women don't do self breast exams," Kristin said. "So I'm gonna encourage everyone even my daughter."


Learn more about Dr. Steven Halter and CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs.

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