Survivor Series: Gina Zylo

In January 2020, Gina Zylo acted quickly after experiencing a series of concerning symptoms. That same month, she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

“I found the lump myself,” she said. “I had been having these pains in my left breast too, so I called the doctor and scheduled a mammogram.”

The following mammogram led radiology to immediately schedule an ultrasound for further testing after detecting the possibility of cancer.

“The radiologist was fairly certain after reviewing the mammogram results that I had cancer,” Zylo said. “After the ultrasound he was very suspicious, but didn’t know what kind. He immediately scheduled a biopsy.”

A day or so later, Zylo received the biopsy results. She in fact did have the much-dreaded disease.

“It was triple negative breast cancer, which is a very aggressive form of breast cancer,” said Zylo.

The term triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) derives from the fact that the cancer tests negative for three receptors that fuel most breast cancers. These receptors are known as estrogen receptors (ER), progesterone receptors (PR), and HER2 proteins. Not only is TNBC hard to detect, it is also extremely aggressive and prone to rapid spread and growth. Furthermore, it has a high likelihood of returning within a few years.

Zylo finished her treatment less than a year after her diagnosis. By August 2020, she was in remission.

“I’m currently cancer free and have been for several years,” said Zylo. “I count my blessings for that, especially given the nature of triple negative breast cancer.”

Cancer does not run in Zylo’s family, and Zylo’s breast cancer is the only confirmed cancer case in her family. Dense breast tissue like Zylo has makes breast cancer particularly challenging to detect.

“I tell women all the time, if you have dense breast tissue as I did, you really have to advocate for yourself,” she said. “It’s not always found just with a mammogram. You should go ahead and ask for an ultrasound too, just to be vigilant.”

Zylo encourages those struggling with a diagnosis to remain positive, keep fighting, and take the journey to recovery little by little.

“It really is a very emotional time and it’s just learning to take things one step at a time and knowing that there’s light at the end of the tunnel,” she said. “In the very beginning, I just thought I was done and I thought it was over. I thought I was going to die, but I remained resilient and positive, which are two of the core things that got me through.”

To this very day, Zylo takes nothing for granted – her health, work, family, friends, community, and even the little things. She is grateful to be alive and, once again, have her health back. Now, she considers it a duty to help others going through cancer, particularly TNBC given its complexity and nuances, to fight and remain informed.