Pam Harness first felt it in late June — a small lump in her left breast.

At first, she didn’t do anything except monitor it. But by the end of the week, it had grown.

Harness, who has worked at Hamilton Health Care System (now Vitruvian Health) more than 16 non-consecutive years, knew she needed to act quickly.

What happened next may have saved her life. Harness, a wound care nurse, is now a patient herself at Peeples Cancer Institute (PCI) where she receives chemotherapy treatments for her breast cancer from care team members she has worked alongside for years. She said the experience has given her a new appreciation for her colleagues who have met her with a strong message: “We have you, and everything is going to be OK.”

“I totally embraced the Hamilton family,” Harness said. “I totally embrace our core values and the heart of Hamilton — and it has been shown so much back to me.”

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime, according to the American Cancer Society, and early detection is crucial.

Harness said once she had her mammogram appointment, her team wasted no time informing her of her cancer diagnosis and setting up a treatment plan. She received her results, she said, before she even left the building, and she was set up for a biopsy with Dr. Eric Manahan of Hamilton Physician Group – General Surgery, all on the same day.

“While we were waiting for the official pathology report, Dr. Manahan himself met me and pulled me into a little room and told me the unofficial diagnosis, that it was confirmed to be cancer,” Harness said.

She said she had worked with Manahan before as a nurse caring for some of the same patients. While they had a professional rapport before, she said she got to see a different side of him as his patient.

Harness said she appreciated the rapport she built with oncologist Dr. Lisa Duhaime starting with her approach right from the start.

“I love that she is very honest and blunt,” Harness said. “She let me know up front I was going to be taking one of the strongest medication regimens and what that entailed.”

Her treatments are scheduled to wrap up in October and be followed by a mastectomy.

Sharing blessings

Harness said her team was concerned enough to expedite her care and help her advocate for herself to be treated quickly. At first, she felt overwhelmed at the idea of cancer and the treatments that would dampen her strength and cause her to lose her hair. Instead of healing, she prayed for strength — and she decided not to tell anybody.

“Then, one night, it just laid on my heart and God asked, ‘Why are you blocking blessings?’” she said. “From then on, I was an open book, and I started posting on social media and encouraging others.”

Harness started at Hamilton as an admissions receptionist in 2005. Later, she trained to become a licensed practical nurse, then a registered nurse. She said her coworkers and managers encouraged her throughout her journey.

“They always want you to grow,” she said.

Wound care was her passion for many years, but eventually she realized she needed to go outside of the local health care system to gain more knowledge and experience. When she approached her director about a leave of absence to pursue travel nursing, she received enthusiastic approval.

“I picked up so much information,” she said. “I am well-versed in wound care experience and knowledge thanks to travel nursing. But even with traveling, I always knew I was coming home to Hamilton, and I was always allowed to do so.”

Harness said she opted to shave her head before her hair fell out, an experience she described as “freeing.”

“I felt more in control of the process rather than allowing the process to control me,” she said.

After her first treatment, her care team introduced her to the Boggs Boutique at PCI. Run by local beautician Stacey Gibson, the boutique provides wig fittings and makeup trials free of charge to cancer patients.

“It was a wonderful experience,” Harness said. “Stacey made me feel so at ease. She helps boost your confidence when you know that you don’t look like yourself.”