Across campus, students and faculty find a cause to stand behind as sophomore biology major, Tat Cordts, shares her mother’s story.
It began when her mother, Jennifer Cordts, was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive breast cancer. In an interview with Tat Cordts, she shared her mother’s journey and their family’s hope to spread awareness.
“It was like the world was being ripped out from under me. It was the worst pain I’ve ever felt. November of 2015 will be forever etched in my mind as the month that everything changed. Prior to her diagnosis, my mom was complaining of a tenderness in her left breast. There appeared to be a red rash, almost like a sunburn, that took up a majority of her breast as well.”
Throughout the span of eleven months, Jennifer was left with no answers. Her fears and questions were brushed aside as the cancer was spreading throughout her body every day. The Cordts saw doctor after doctor, and still no one had an answer.
“Until one day someone finally did. It was a doctor from Baylor Scott and White in Dallas that finally decided to seek answers. A biopsy confirmed what a mammogram could not. Within those eleven months of being turned away from every doctor we faced, the cancer had spread from my mom’s left breast to her bones, lymph nodes, liver, and blood. She was Stage IV. Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC). An extremely rare, about one percent of the population, and an extremely aggressive form of breast cancer. It does not show up on any mammograms or blood work. It is almost undetectable until you feel the pain.”
Over the next two years, as time passed with chemotherapy and radiation sessions, the cancer had not returned to anywhere except her liver.
“The doctor gave her three to five years and she is making the most of it, we all are. We have traveled, we have prayed together, and we have never stopped fighting since.”
Jennifer Cordts’ story has gone viral as it has been shared in magazines, news articles and much more. She now has a large platform to speak out for this disease and raise awareness around the world. Right now, her story is being nominated for an Emmy award.
“I have recently made T-shirts that I have been selling to raise money to donate to the Cancer Research Center in Houston,” Tat said. “They simply say Love>Cancer. That’s our message. Love is always going to be greater than any disaster, disease or defeat. My mom’s voice is being heard far and wide.
For more information about IBC or to read the rest of the story go to loveisgreaterthancancer.com.
