2022 Survivor Profile - Tina Sammis
“Be your own health advocate. Get your mammogram every year, or if you have family history, breast MRIs and sonograms. Don’t hide.” - Tina Sammis
It was not the kind of birthday gift Tina Sammis, a personal trainer and wellness coach, had envisioned. On May 29, 2019, the day the Huntington resident turned 55, she learned she had stage 1 triple-negative cancer in her right breast, an aggressive, fast-growing invasive form of the disease.
But this was not the first time she had faced a cancer diagnosis. Nineteen years earlier, Tina, then 36, was diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ, cancer of the milk duct, in the same breast. Treatment included a lumpectomy, removal of the tumor, and eight weeks of radiation.
“I didn’t want to have to go through this again,” said Tina, choking back tears, whose older sister also contracted triple-negative breast cancer years earlier. “I knew what she went through...but I knew it was not a death sentence, and that I’d be okay.”
By mid-September of that year, Tina began the process of breast reconstruction. But within three days of the surgery, she was running high fevers; her wound turned a fiery red. Doctors hospitalized her with a serious bloodstream infection, prescribed intravenous antibiotic therapy and removed the implants.
Once the infection cleared, Tina began eight long months of chemotherapy, during which time she periodically trained her clients in her home gym. “Work helped me cope,” she said. “I remained active when I had the energy.”
During her cancer journey, the mother of three stepchildren and grandmother of seven, credits her husband and family for providing much- needed emotional support. “My husband stood by my side 24/7 and fed me, drove me, and helped me when I didn’t think I could take it anymore,” Tina said. Her sister, children and grandchildren kept her “happy” and showered her with “love, affection, care and strength.”
Cancer-free for three years, Tina advises others coping with breast cancer to lean on loved ones for care and compassion and to reach out to breast cancer support groups for help in navigating treatment and the life changes that come with a diagnosis.
