Early detection is vital, cancer survivor says

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  • Megan Broome/The Clayton Tribune. Elizabeth Harper is now cancer free after being diagnosed in December 2018. She said that it was detected in its early stages and strongly encourages women to get routine mammograms.
    Megan Broome/The Clayton Tribune. Elizabeth Harper is now cancer free after being diagnosed in December 2018. She said that it was detected in its early stages and strongly encourages women to get routine mammograms.
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Just because you can’t see or feel something, doesn’t mean it’s not there and Elizabeth Harper learned this first-hand when she was diagnosed with breast cancer last December at age 59.

“When they found my cancer, it was very small and in the beginning stages,” Harper said.

Harper said that she was due to have a mammogram in October 2018 but decided to wait until December because she had plans to visit Greenville (S.C.) anyway, and that’s where her doctor was.

After identifying the cancer from a mammogram, doctors performed a CAT scan and MRI to confirm the diagnosis.

“I already knew in my heart of hearts that I had it,” Harper said about how she felt when given

the diagnosis. She said there is no other way to explain how she felt that day.

Harper said that the specific cancer was estrogen-fed, or Estrogen Receptor (ER) positive.

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