- November 23, 2024
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From the moment Ormond Beach resident Lynne Carr saw the word "carcinoma" on her test results, she received nothing but support.
After undergoing her annual screening, and having received no extraordinary results, Carr, director of Student Services for Keiser University's Daytona Beach campus, was home that same night in May and found a lump under her right armpit. She decided not to overlook it, and contacted her physician assistant, who sent her to get an ultrasound. She arrived at AdventHealth Imaging in Ormond Beach and encountered a Keiser graduate. Then, when she had to later get an ultrasound with a biopsy, it was conducted by another Keiser graduate.
The patterned continued as she battled breast cancer.
"They were just so good to me," Carr said of the Keiser grads she met along the way. "And they weren't just so good to me because it was me. They were just genuine good people."
Carr has worked for Keiser for almost 22 years. She's seen many graduates move on to different modalities. She's helped them find jobs and create their resumes and cover letters. Carr spends time with students conducting mock interviews so by the time they head to their clinical rotations, the students are polished.
Then when she needed their help and expertise, they were there for her in return. One of her two breast cancer navigators from AdventHealth was also a Keiser graduate. Carr met her after discovering she carried the gene for both breast and colon cancer, and made the decision to have a bilateral mastectomy.
"It's the best decision I made because I felt so good when I left there," Carr said.
Carr's surgery took place on Aug. 23. There's no more sign of cancer.
"I'm a work in progress now," she said. "... I'm going to start recreating me, if you know what I mean."
Carr said she feels fortunate that her breast cancer journey neither needed chemotherapy or radiation, and has been so full of support, including from her navigators, AdventHealth nurses, and Suzi McCreery, director of Public and Media Relations for Keiser University, who is a breast cancer survivor herself. In her own cancer journey in Palm Beach, she also encountered numerous Keiser graduates.
"The fact that we're touching so many is really heartening," McCreery said.
Charlene's Dream, a free cancer support boutique opened in memory of late breast cancer navigator nurse Charlene Brady, also donated much of what she needed for her recovery.
Carr has spent all of her vacation time at AdventHealth this year, having dealt with a burst colon in September 2023, which led to an emergency surgery and six months of recovery. Six weeks after returning to work, she found out she had breast cancer.
When Carr received her cancer diagnosis, she was in her university president's office via AdventHealth's app. He immediately told her to do what she needed to do, even though she had run out of paid vacation time. Around eight of her coworkers volunteered to donate PTO. They brought her food, flowers and when she came back to work, her office was decorated with balloons, a welcome back banner and plants.
Joshua Champion, AdventHealth Vice President of ancillary services, said Carr's story warmed his heart. It was an example of how the work Carr has done for students at Keiser has merged with AdventHealth's mission.
"This is what we're all about within AdventHealth — to touch the hearts, the body, the mind, the spirit of a community," Champion said.
AdventHealth has three outpatient imaging centers in the greater Daytona Beach areas, employing 27 people. Fourteen of them, Champion said, are Keiser graduates.
Team member Rylie Stoker was among the Keiser graduates who helped care for Carr. What was different for the team in caring for Carr is that they get to celebrate the end result.
"Sometimes we get cards or different things that patients say afterwards, but being able to see you (Carr) through all this has been nice to hear that we made you feel that way, because not a lot of times do we get to hear that," Stoker said.
It has been an emotional and personal journey for Carr, but she wants to share it — if only to inspire other women to get mammograms. It's an hour of one's life once a year, she said. Self-exams are also important, as that is what led to her diagnosis. It was the tiniest of bumps, she said, but she didn't overlook it. And now she gets to live to tell her story.
"It's not for me, it's for other people," Carr said. "Because if you wait, and don't do these things, these beautiful women can't help you, or they can help you but you won't have the end result that you could have had if you had come earlier."
