Survivor story: Debbie Howey

Debbie Howey was diagnosed with breast cancer in June 2015. Though the cancer was in her left breast, she decided to have a bilateral mastectomy so there would be no chance of getting cancer in the other breast, as well.

"It was triple negative (meaning it cannot be treated with hormone therapies or medications), so after the mastectomy, I had four months of chemotherapy," she says, adding, "Because I was only 44, I was able to wake up (from the surgery) with my implants in because I had lots of good, healthy tissue. I didn't have to go through reconstruction, which was great."

Howey shares that the hardest thing about her cancer battle was figuring out how to handle it all as a single parent.

"Luckily, my (then) 13-year-old daughter became a wonderful caregiver," Howey says. "She really stepped up and took over a lot of things."

Howey's advice to other women dealing with cancer is to rely on a large support group.

"I didn't keep (the fact that I had cancer) to myself," she says. "I told my friends and family and my friends at church."

She even shared her cancer journey on social media.

"I had friends ask me to post what was happening to me on Facebook so they would know what was going on, so I did," she says.

Howey, who is 44 and now cancer free, lives in Cape Girardeau with her daughter. She is the registrar at the Southeast Hospital College of Nursing and Health Sciences.