South Jersey Woman Shares Breast Cancer Journey with Inspira Health by Her Side

Mullica Hill, NJ, resident Missy Cosgrove took getting her annual mammograms very seriously—until the COVID-19 pandemic derailed her routine visits in 2020. In 2021, Missy received news she never thought she would hear. She had breast cancer. With her family, friends and the team at Inspira's Leading-Edge Cancer Center by her side, Missy faced her diagnosis head on. Today, she is in remission and hopes her story can be an inspiration to others. Inspira Health President & CEO Amy Mansue paid Missy a visit to learn more about her story.

 

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TRANSCRIPT

AMY:

Missy, I want to thank you so much for giving us the time to talk about your journey. And I remember when we met in Mullica Hill you said to me, “the thing that's most important to me is to be able to tell my story.” And so here we are. We're going to tell your story.

MISSY:

We are.

AMY:

So why don't you take me back to—it was during the pandemic right?

MISSY:

It was. It was in 2020. I didn't do a mammogram due to COVID, so they weren't letting anybody in for screenings. So, in 2021 I went and got a mammogram, and we went to the Phillies opening game. I got a phone call and she said to me that I needed to come back in, do a biopsy, the whole nine.

AMY:

First of all, in the middle of the game, right?

MISSY:

Yeah.

AMY:

Now, had you been religious about getting your mammograms?

MISSY:

Very religious, yes.

AMY:

And then COVID stepped in.

MISSY:

COVID stepped in. It was April 1st when I got the call. And I did say to her, I'm like, “is this a joke? It's April Fool’s day. Is this a joke?” And she's like, “no, this is the worst part of my about my job is I have to tell you this.” So then we did that and I went. I cried. I'm not going to lie. Am I allowed to cry?

AMY:

You're allowed to cry, yes. You're always allowed to cry. It's an emotional journey. And that's part of the process, right? Is, you know, telling people about what you've been through.

MISSY:

Yeah. It sucked, but it's over. I'm healthy now. I'm cancer free. My hair's back.

AMY:

And curls, I noticed.

MISSY:

Yep, curls, yep. But it was tough. It was long. But the support and all the people at Inspira, love it. Like, I miss them. Like I don't wanna go back and do all that again, but...

AMY:

Well, Missy, one of the things that struck me is obviously your husband Joe is in the business, he's in health care. He knows a lot about health care. And so I'm sure people are going to say "Why'd you stay at Inspira"? You could have gone anywhere. And maybe just spend a couple minutes talking about the process you guys went through to decide to stay.

MISSY:

All right. So we went everywhere and I didn't even know Inspira did cancer. And Dr. Herman recommended us to go.

AMY:

… And Dr. Herman is one of our primary care doctors at Inspira.

MISSY:

Yes. When I decided to go, we did that. We went over there and we met everybody.

AMY:

What was the deciding factor for you?

MISSY:

Close to home. People were awesome over there and they were gonna give me the same remedies and treatments that they were going to give any place else. But it was close to home for me. And it just—I went to other places and I was overwhelmed. Like I cried, I was overwhelmed. There were a lot of sick people. But I'm glad I chosen Inspira. I am so glad.

AMY:

You know, it's funny because our whole vision about building that Leading-Edge Cancer Center was just for this. So that people would be close to home and be able to have state of the art care, and be able to see people like Dr. Tubb. Now he was your oncologist but you also had other folks in the cancer center. Your surgeon, Dr. Kulkarni, and your radiation oncologist, Dr. Lowther ...

MISSY:

And all of my people upstairs in my infusion. I can't forget them cause they were awesome.

AMY:

And you told me about that. You told me that, you know, again, because of COVID, during the infusion, Joe was in the lobby waiting for you, but you he couldn't be with you up there.

MISSY:

No. I had a friend, Mr. Herman's wife, she would come in...

AMY:

She's a dietician at Inspira right?

MISSY:

Yep, she would come in and with all her stuff. And she would sit down and she was like, "How you feeling"? I'm like, “Okay.” She'd say, “You look good.” I probably didn't look good, but she was awesome. And that five to ten minutes that she was there meant everything to me. Even when I did my radiation, those ladies they were great. I mean, the machine was tough, but it's over. I got through it. And that was six weeks of that. That was long, every day, Monday through Friday. I don't miss it, but I miss the people. Dr. Tubb, he is awesome. He would come in and sit with each patient. He would come over, ask how you were feeling and anything he could do for you. He was very personable. That’s something my husband would do. Someone who cares, you know? And that's what you need in a doctor.

AMY:

And one of the things I, I love about Dr. Kulkarni, her energy, much like your energy, Dr. Kulkarni is obviously the surgeon. I always feel like when I watch her with patients, she's all in, you know?

MISSY:

Yeah, I remember the day I had my port put in and we're waiting. We were waiting for a while. I said, “Are you saving the best for last?” And she said, "I am.” And that was sweet. She was so sweet. And Lowther, I like him too. I think him and my husband hit it off real good.

AMY:

Well, you know what, you end up on these journeys, going through this crazy thing together, right with them. And they do become part of our life.

MISSY:

Yeah, I don't know how to say thank you for the support from all you guys for patients like me.

AMY:

Well, and I'm sitting in your beautiful home and we're talking about your grandchild and the wedding and all the things that are happening in your life. And I'm looking around and I see the pictures that you told me your friends threw you a pink party?

MISSY:

A pink party. Yes, my girlfriends threw me this. Everybody wore pink. It was beautiful. I mean, I got great friends, great support from everyone. They were all great.

AMY:

So we were talking about figuring out a way to do like a field trip where you can come back to Inspira and visit everybody, but not have to have any treatments.

MISSY:

Yes, no treatment, please! Every Wednesday there is a cancer support group there, and I try to get there all the time. And that I love. It’s four women, and their stories alone are sad. We all cry. It's good.

AMY:

But that's the energy of it, right. Making sure you have that support, too. Cause even as you heal, right, I mean, we talked about how every six months you have to go back to make sure everything's okay and it's just, you know, it worries on your heart while you're there.

MISSY:

Every day.

AMY:

So tell me what you would say to women who say you know what, I just don't have time to get the mammogram. It's a pain.

MISSY:

I'm so excited. My mammogram is December 7th, I think it is. I'm so excited to get it done. You have to. It's a part of my life and you just have to do it.

AMY:

Yeah, that early screening is the key, because what we know is what your journey is going to be. You're going to have a good, full life and this is just something that is going to, you know, like a heart condition or diabetes or anything else. You're going to have to manage it and you're going to have to treat it and, you know, we'll deal with whatever comes out. And most importantly, you know we're with you. No matter what.

MISSY:

Thank you, that really means a lot.