By Chanda Temple
Tomeka Clemons’ breast cancer journey started in November 2023 when she went in for a routine mammogram. She went home, thinking things were OK. Then, a letter arrived in the mail, telling her the mammogram looked suspicious. A second letter soon arrived, asking her to return for a second mammogram of her left breast.
She returned for another mammogram. The radiologist looked at it and told her she was good. She could return in a year for another mammogram. But God saw different, telling Tomeka to seek a second opinion.
Tomeka has what’s known as “lumpy breasts,” and she could feel a small lump in her breast that just wouldn’t let her rest. “Maybe the mammogram missed it,” she thought. She had her mom feel the lump and her husband feel it. And then, she had her gynecologist, who was a breast cancer survivor, feel it.
They all agreed with Tomeka, there was a lump.
When Tomeka’s gynecologist felt it, she immediately went across the hall to have a surgeon look at Tomeka. He felt the lump, too. He ordered an ultrasound and then scheduled surgery at the end of the week.
“He took out the lump, and he said it was a good thing that we took it out because (the lump) was hard as a rock with irregular edges,” Tomeka said. “It was ER-positive, and the plan was to treat it with surgery.”
A pathology report confirmed it was cancer.
Within days, Tomeka was back at the hospital for work up for chemo and to make plans for a double mastectomy. She started chemo in February 2024. She had her double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery in September 2024.
“When they went in to take the actual breast tissue off, they also took out 30 lymph nodes on my left side, and about 21 or 22 had cancer in them,” Tomeka said. “So, when they tested the lymph nodes on the left side, my cancer decided it wanted to switch to triple negative cancer, which is a faster growing cancer.”
“So, with it switching from er-positive to triple negative, that meant I had to have more chemo.”
Tomeka had more chemo from January to March 2025. She did five weeks of radiation, starting April. 2025, due to the cancer switching to triple negative. And she also took an immunotherapy drug, which brought on rheumatoid arthritis in her hands. It was just one of many side effects she faced during her cancer treatments.
Rheumatoid arthritis still shoots through her hands, leaving her to wonder if her left thumb will ever straighten again. Numbing leg and hip pains are so severe, working in her garden is now a memory. Lymphedema, which swells her left arm without notice, gives her the blues. There’s Stage 2 kidney disease, which her doctor said is improving; and brain fog. She’s also had chemo-induced diabetes and low potassium, which she’s treated.
And when the dreams she and her husband had of becoming pregnant one day are now diminished due to the early onset of menopause, tears sometimes still fall over the thoughts of what could have been.
But Tomeka still rises each day, suited for the battlefield.
“Stopping is not an option,” she said. “I was raised to push through, so, I’m pushing through.”
During treatments, she and husband would visit North Italia restaurant at the Summit, where they enjoyed the Pig Pizza and the Gem Caesar salad with chicken.
Food and support of loved ones brought joy to Tomeka, but so did therapy.
“I have this wonderful therapist that I talk to every two weeks,” Tomeka said. “She has been very instrumental in keeping me sane through all of this because I can tell her things that I cannot necessarily say to my mom or my dad.”
“It just helps to have a third party to help you navigate things. My last homework assignment (from the therapist) was to reframe what my new normal is going to look like.”
Tomeka is still figuring out what that “new normal” will look like because cancer never leaves you like you once were.
Just the other day, her aunt sent her a quote that kind of sumps up her journey: “If your past demands that you walk through hell, walk as if you own the place.”
For Tomeka, who is now 50, she’s walking in, flipping on the lights and showing cancer the door.
“Whatever it is that I have to go through, I just suck it up and keep pushing through.”
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 their nutritionist for healthy eating tips. Links to area resources will be shared in future posts this month.
Chanda Temple is an award-winning writer living in Birmingham, Ala. She blogs at http://www.chandatemplewrites.com. If you have a food story idea, email her at chandatemple@gmail.com. Follow her on Instagram at @chandatemple.
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