- October 2, 2024
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Carla Cline with friend Shelley Chapman as they underwent breast cancer treatments together. Photo courtesy of Carla Cline
Carla Cline said she did not let her cancer diagnosis stop her from enjoying life. Photo courtesy of Carla Cline
Carla Cline, over a year after her breast cancer diagnosis and treatments. Photo courtesy of Carla Cline
Carla Cline is a breast cancer survivor. Photo courtesy of AdventHealth
Flagler Beach All Stars co-founder Carla Cline said before her breast cancer diagnosis, she wasn’t the type of person who went to the doctor often.
That changed when she found a lump on her breast in 2022.
“I’m grateful that I found it,” she said. “That’s probably the biggest thing.”
Cline, 48, was diagnosed with Stage 2 triple-negative breast cancer that December. According to the American Cancer Society’s website, tiple-negative breast cancer is an aggressive form of breast cancer that tends to grow quickly. Cline said, because she spends a lot of time in the sun, she found the lump soon after it formed.
Cline said it was because of her friend Shelley Chapman that she even went to the doctor’s to get checked out.
“Looking back at it all, what saved my life probably is the fact that she was going through breast cancer,” Cline said.
Chapman is a registered massage therapist and was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer as well in September 2022. Cline is not only her friend of 12 years, but a client, and, when Cline pointed out the lump, Chapman said she knew right away that it was new.
“I looked at her and I said, ‘I hope that is a sebaceous cyst, but you need to go to a doctor right away,’” Chapman said. “'Don’t delay.'”
Immediately after her diagnosis, Cline said she was going through more doctor’s appointments than she’d been through in years. She’s learned a lot through the process — like that breast cancer is not just hereditary like Cline thought.
One in eight women will develop breast cancer in the United States, the ACS website states. One in 40 will die from breast cancer.
“It’s just the luck of the draw,” Cline said.
The ACS recommends woman over the age of 40 begin screening for breast cancer with annual mammogram exams. Chapman said she was actually at a routine mammogram exam when her doctors found her cancer.
It took Cline 16 rounds of chemotherapy, a double mastectomy and a full year to complete her treatments, finishing them in February 2024.
Chapman and Cline went through their treatments together, supporting each other. It was a relief, Chapman said, to have a friend who understood what it was like, in real time.
“The joke is, ‘we're never playing that game again,’” Chapman said. “We're going to play Monopoly next time, because that was no fun.”
Both women are now cancer free, but, Cline said, she knows “it’s not over.” Now she goes for blood work to check her tumor markers every three months.
“The fact that I still go is like a little like a security blanket,” Cline said. “Like, somebody's still watching out for me and taking care of me, just in case.”
On Oct. 6, Cline will be the official starter of the Pink on Parade 5K and One Mile Pet-Friendly Walk in Palm Coast, an AdventHealth press release said. The Pink on Parade, hosted by AdventHealth Palm Coast and the city of Palm Coast, raises funds for local cancer care services through the AdventHealth Palm Coast Foundation.
In the race this year, cancer survivors will be able to ring a symbolic bell that will service as “a powerful symbol of hope, as cancer survivors ring it to celebrate the completion of their treatment,” the press release said.
That bell will soon be installed in the Freytag Cancer Center at AdventHealth Palm Coast, which is set to open in 2025.
For both Chapman and Cline, it’s important for them to give back to the community that supported them during their time in need. Chapman said the Her Turn surf competition, which donated money to help her pay for treatments, has a life-long volunteer in her.
“A lot of people did a lot of things for me,” she said. “I feel like I need to put back as much as I can, as often as I can.”
Chapman said she encourages people to use all of their resources to get checked out.
“I would encourage anyone to use all their resources. If you go to a massage, tell them to look on your back. If you go to you know your regular physician, have them look at the weird mole,” Chapman said. “Don’t be shy. Reach out to all your resources.”
Cline said she still has her own message to share, too. It’s important to stay vigilant and aware of changes in your body, she said, and get checked out sooner than later.
“The sooner you find it, the easier it is to handle,” Cline said. “That's with everything, and we know that. We put things off and put things off until the sink is broken or whatever, but when it's your health … the earlier, the better, for sure.”
