Patricia Nettles knew she should have gotten mammograms but being active and feeling healthy, she put it off, year after year, for 15 years.

But in 2022, life threw Nettles a challenge she never saw coming. What began as mild abdominal discomfort spiraled into a health journey that would reveal a diagnosis that took her by surprise.

“I started having abdominal issues in 2020,” Nettles said. “I was diagnosed with IBS and so I just thought that’s what was going on.”

Her physician in Columbus couldn’t quite pinpoint the source of the pain. For two years, the symptoms worsened—abdominal pain, diarrhea, unexplained fatigue—but no clear answers emerged. Finally, a chance decision from a nurse to order a CT scan, intended to examine her abdomen, led to the unexpected discovery: a lump in her left breast.

“That scan changed everything,” she said.

Tests confirmed it was stage four breast cancer, but the deeper shock came when the cancer was found to have metastasized to the lining of her abdomen. 

“It felt like they were talking about someone else,” she said. 

She doesn’t dwell on the emotions, nor does she harbor anger about the diagnosis. 

“I’ve never been one for breakdowns. I deal with facts, not emotions. When they told me, my response was simply, ‘Well, what do we do now?’”

After switching to Dr. Clayton Allen with Baptist Cancer Center in Oxford, her care team moved swiftly. They sent her to Birmingham for exploratory surgery, and Dr. Allen prescribed intravenous chemotherapy—12 sessions in total. But after eight sessions, her body began rejecting the treatment.

Transitioning to oral chemotherapy tablets, she settled into a routine of pills that shrank the tumors and have kept the cancer at bay for nearly two years. 

“But it’s incurable,” Nettles said. “It’ll never go away completely. It’s here. But so am I.”

Despite the terminal diagnosis, at 77 years old, Nettles has found a new rhythm in her life. 

“I know it’s terminal, but I feel good. I’m in no pain,” she said. “I take naps when I need to. I pace myself. But I still quilt, I still sew, I go to church—I do whatever I want to do, just a little slower.”

For Nettles, cancer has not been the end. Instead, it’s been a turning point, a chance to reflect on life and, more importantly, to share her hard-earned wisdom with others. Her experience, while deeply personal, has turned into a message of prevention and self-awareness.

“If I’d had a mammogram earlier, things might have been different. Now I preach to everyone: Get that mammogram. It can sneak up on you,” she said.

Five years ago, she and her husband Christopher experienced the unbearable loss of a child. That grief, she says, shaped her perspective on her own cancer journey. 

“Losing a child—that’s the hardest thing anyone can go through. Cancer? It’s nothing compared to that. I can handle what happens to me, but when it comes to my children—well, that’s different,” she said.

She and Christopher also battled cancer together. He was diagnosed around the same time with bladder cancer. He is in remission. 

Nettles said she is extremely grateful for the care she found at Baptist Cancer Center and she and her husband have since switched all of their medical care to Oxford physicians.

“I’m blessed beyond belief,” she says with a smile. “I kind of hate that I have this, but I’d rather it be me than one of my children. I’ve had a very good life.

“I’ll keep going as long as I can. And when I can’t, I know I’ll have had the best care possible. That’s more than enough for me.”