Twenty-four hours before her first date with a man who would one day become her fiancé, Madeline Patterson’s phone rang.
It wasn’t him.
Instead, her UAB doctor was calling to tell her that her biopsy confirmed she had breast cancer and she needed to come in the next day. She had to call her date and cancel.
“I said, ‘Hey, this is crazy. I got some really bad news today. This is what is going on,’ ” she recalled. “He was really supportive.”
It was Nov.16, 2022.
Breast cancer survivor Madeline Patterson (Photo provided by Madeline Patterson)
On Nov. 17, 2022, Madeline met with a UAB team to discuss treatment options and more. Because Madeline was single and 31 at the time, her oncologist recommended she freeze her eggs because doctors did not know if she’d need chemotherapy, which can affect one’s fertility.
She visited a Birmingham fertility clinic in December 2022. She had her eggs retrived in January 2023. Insurance does not cover egg retrieval, and the clinic told her about grants to help with the costs.
In February 2023, she had a double mastectomy because she, her sister and brother all had the BRCA 1 gene, and her maternal aunt had had breast cancer. BRCA1 (BReast CAncer gene 1) is a gene that, when mutated, is associated with an increased risk of several cancers including breast cancer, and, particularly, triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), according to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Since there were risks, Madeline opted for the double mastectomy.
“I was focused on what do I have to fix this and get better,” she said.
So, getting back to that first date …
Madeline and the guy, whose name is Chase, went on their new first date nine days after she had to cancel. It was the day after Thanksgiving. He’s a Birmingham physician, and he understood what she was about to face.
Chicken tenders from Publix (Photo from the Publix Facebook page)
While she received chemo treatments in the hospital from April to June 2023, Chase brought Madeline what she craved: the chicken tenders from Publix and their honey mustard sauce. She also liked the frozen casseroles, chicken salad and pasta from Ashley Mac’s Kitchen during chemo. “The chicken salad was very light,” she said. “It still tasted good when nothing else did.”
The chicken salad is a top-seller at Ashley Mac’s Kitchen. (Photo from Ashley Mac’s Facebook page.)
For her sweet tooth, friends occasionally treated her to Ashley Mac’s Kitchen strawberry cupcakes and brownies.
Food is love, and Chase was always ready to deliver.
In July 2025, he proposed.
“It was very full circle, and I was so thankful that God had brought somebody in my life when I needed it. And it was not just at that period of time, but it’s forever,” she said. “I think that’s the strength of our relationship.”
Now at 34, when Madeline is not envisioning wedding plans and life beyond saying, “I do,” she works to fundraise for the Junior Board of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama. She encourages women to know their family history, get genetic testing and get their mammograms. She said she knew she had the BRCA 1 gene, and she went in for testing every six months, starting at the age of 25. But never did she think she’d get a diagnosis as early as 31.
“It’s like you know you have this risk and you are planning for it, but you never think it will happen,” she said. “It’s just very surreal.”
Some of the prepared casserole options from Ashley Mac’s Kitchen (Photo from company’s Facebook page)
And five surgeries later, she said she’s thankful for Chase’s support and his love. “I mean luckily, I have someone who loves me for me,” she said.
What’s her advice for others, especially when maneuvering the dating scene during times like this? “Don’t settle until you find someone who is willing to sit with you through any negative experience or life-changing experience,” she said. “The hard times.”
Her story is proof that bad news doesn’t last forever. Sometimes, it leads you right where you were meant to be.
***NOTE: In America, one in eight women will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer during their lifetime.In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I will be profiling one female breast cancer survivor each day in October 2025. The stories will also highlight a food from a Birmingham, AL restaurant or food vendor they liked at some point during their breast cancer journey or today. The series is called “SurviveHer at the Table: Food. Faith. Fight.”
Each story posted this month is the opinion of the survivor, with a goal to increase awareness about early detection and treatment for breast cancer. Readers should consult with their physician for medical and health advice and a nutritionist for healthy eating tips. Links to area resources will be shared in future posts this month.
