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When a young woman in her congregation asked, “What’s a mammogram?” Pastor Tammy Harris knew it was time to end the silence about breast cancer in the Black community.
When she discovered her aunt had quietly undergone treatment for breast cancer, Pastor Tammy decided the generational and cultural stigmas among Blacks about discussing illness had to stop.
With her “active, jump-around kind of preaching,” Pastor Tammy began the conversation about her own breast cancer treatment to shine a light on high rates of cancer in the Black population. Iowa ranks No. 2 in the nation for the rate of new cancer cases in the Black population; No. 3 for the rate of cancer deaths, according to the Iowa Cancer Registry.
She felt the need to begin educating in her most sacred, peaceful place – the church. As a preacher-teacher, her motto became “Infected by…Inspired by…to bring education to others.”
Lessons in breast cancer
Her own breast cancer journey began in late 2023. Since a breast cancer scare two decades ago, she had always been diligent about getting her yearly mammograms. “On the day I was driving to Chicago for my ex-husband’s funeral, I got the call they had found something on my mammogram,” said Pastor Tammy of Waukee, Iowa.
After returning home, and before learning her diagnosis, she spoke at a women’s conference. At the event, she approached a woman sitting at a MercyOne breast cancer awareness table.
“I asked her, ‘What if I do have breast cancer? What’s the next step?” Pastor Tammy said. “She said, ‘Well, let’s hold on to our faith.’ I said, ‘That’s all I have but, I’m a realist.’ The woman gave me her number and told me to call her Monday if I didn’t get the call telling me whether or not I had breast cancer.”
Little did she know, the woman was general surgeon Susan Beck, DO, a specialist in breast cancer surgery at MercyOne Katzmann Breast Center in Clive, Iowa. Dr. Beck came in on her day off to meet with Pastor Tammy. “Dr. Beck is phenomenal,” Pastor Tammy said.
Pastor Tammy had left breast Stage 1B invasive breast cancer and had a radioactive seed-guided lumpectomy in December 2023. Radioactive seed localization is done prior to surgery to help the surgeon locate the breast tissue to be removed. A tiny metal seed is placed into abnormal breast tissue to mark its location. During surgery, the surgeon uses a sterile Geiger counter to target the area and them removes the radioactive seed along with the tissue around it.
After her recovery from surgery, Pastor Tammy had four weeks of radiation. Along with Dr. Beck, her MercyOne Circle of Care included radiation oncologist Emily Merfeld, MD and oncologist is Tara Graff, DO.
Since Pastor Tammy completed her cancer/radiation treatments, other health concerns have surfaced. She learned she now suffers from an overactive thyroid, which has caused dizziness, low energy, tremors, extreme weight and heart and pulmonary issues. “The toughest part of my cancer journey has been the weeks after the radiation in which now I live with an inhaler,” she said.
Self-reflection and revelation
Her digestive issues have led to further tests, including a colonoscopy and endoscopy. She also has osteopenia. She believes the radiation brought to the forefront other lingering health problems, and she has learned an important lesson she shares with others.
“I just turned 59, and I’d say for 40 of those years I just ripped and ran and didn’t take time for myself. I’d try to self-medicate instead of seeing a doctor. I was always running, and now I have to slow down and sit out. What I’ve been sharing with some of my younger church members is to pace yourself and make sure you get your doctor exams.”
As part of her self-reflection, she has told the Lord, “If I had to have cancer to find out about my other health problems, then I needed to go through it.”
Pastor Tammy is still weak in body but her drive to teach others is stronger than ever. She has to sit while delivering her sermons and to be helped off the stage. But her words carry power. She brings topics like cancer and illness out into the open.
“There is a tradition in Black households that you don’t share our health problems or talk about your family’s medical history. When I was growing up, I never heard grown-ups talking about cancer,” Pastor Tammy says. “We have to end the stigma of having a cancer diagnosis, or any health problem, so that those who are sick don’t suffer in isolation.”
Talking about cancer breaks down barriers to treatment. Education leads to prevention. Sharing a cancer diagnosis brings forward the compassion of others and hope from other survivors. “Cancer is not a taboo like we’ve learned in our culture.”
Less than 6% of U.S. doctors are Black, according to the latest data from the Association of American Medical Colleges, while an estimated 12% of the U.S. population is Black.
“Because of generations of racism and medical experiments using African-Americans like the Tuskegee syphilis study, many in the black community are still suspicious of doctors. So for me, my journey is to talk to anybody who’s willing to listen, including the congregation the Lord has sent to me already,” Pastor Tammy said.
“I been infected with it. Now I’m inspired by it. I just want to educate others.”
