When Trisha Roudybush of Marysville, Kansas, talks about her breast cancer
journey, she keeps coming back to one simple message for other women: take a
few minutes each month to do a self-breast exam.
In July 2024, Trisha’s mammogram came back clear. Three months later, while
getting dressed, she felt what she described as a “really good-sized lump” in her
right breast. At first, her doctor thought it might be a reaction to her flu shot and
suggested giving it a little time to see if it went away.
By December, a friend encouraged her to have it checked again. After a sonogram
and biopsy, Trisha learned she had triple-negative invasive ductal carcinoma. It
was stage 3 and highly aggressive.
Trisha decided to move forward with a double mastectomy with reconstruction,
along with chemotherapy, radiation and drug therapy.
“I’ll never forget the doctor saying, ‘Give me a year of your life, and I will give you
back your life,’” Trisha said. “And it did — it took right around a year.”
Today, Trisha is cancer-free. Through it all, she kept working at Citizens State
Bank in Marysville and says she was blessed with family and friends who showed
up, checked in and encouraged her every step of the way.
Her advice to other women is simple: “Do your monthly self-breast check.
Noticing that lump saved my life.”