In 2001, after a routine mammogram, Julie Nichols was diagnosed with infiltrating intraductal carcinoma – breast cancer. "My immediate thought was, they're wrong!" says Julie (pictured). "I played on tennis teams, ate well, didn't smoke, drank only socially, had no family history of breast cancer, felt no lump ... they couldn't be right."
But they were. So Julie approached her cancer as she would a tennis tournament: She studied her opponent, assembled the best possible team to beat it, and played to win. In her written action plan, Julie spelled out her mission: "To be cancer's worst nightmare."
In putting together her team, she says, "I found through my research
that the best oncologists in town were at Providence Cancer Center." Julie
chose a Providence oncologist – "He became my coach," she
says. "His confidence in the correct course of treatment for me was
overwhelmingly reassuring."
Julie had a lumpectomy followed by chemotherapy and radiation.
The Providence breast cancer patient advocate who came to sit with her
through her first chemotherapy session quickly became a friend and a welcome
part of her team, calling every week to see how Julie was doing.
"I felt that Providence was the place to be," Julie says. "It felt like the hub of research and cutting-edge medicine, and it had a real heartbeat. I am very, very pleased with the care I received."