National Guard Hero and Oncology Nurse Turned Cancer Survivor

A wife, a mother of three, a major in the South Carolina National Guard and a registered nurse working on the oncology floor at Beaufort Memorial, Constance (Connie) Pope had life figured out. Then, in late 2019, she started feeling a pain in her chest and abdomen.

At first, she and her primary care doctor thought it was a gastrointestinal issue. But by early 2020, she noticed a lump had appeared on her chest.

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Battling Beyond the Battlefield

Rewind 15 years, Connie was a specialist in the Florida National Guard escorting convoys through the Iraqi desert in a U.S. Army gun truck. She joined the guard while a sophomore at Florida A&M University out of a sincere sense of duty. Although the experience was both dangerous and difficult, she said that joining was “by far the best decision I made in my life. It gave me a mindset of service that I’ve carried with me ever since.”

She returned home to Beaufort in 2013 and was finally ready to take on another challenge that she had kept in the back of her mind since earning her bachelor’s degree: becoming a nurse. She started taking classes at Trident University in Charleston while working as a certified nursing assistant on the oncology floor at Beaufort Memorial.

“Oncology has always been close to my heart,” Connie said. “I’m drawn to the work. There’s just something about the patients. You feel good about the work that you do.”

So, after graduating from nursing school in 2015, it was a natural fit for her to stay with the Beaufort Memorial oncology team as a registered nurse. And she excelled.

She became the floor’s clinical coordinator in 2019. In that key leadership position, she worked as a charge nurse and ensured that each patient had an established care plan coordinated with the appropriate providers. But just as she was settling in, she was to become a cancer patient herself.

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Marching Toward a Diagnosis

After noticing the lump on her chest in March of 2020, she was referred to the Beaufort Memorial Breast Health Center, part of the nationally accredited Keyserling Cancer Center.

“The doctor told me that it looked like breast cancer and that I’d need to do a biopsy the next day,” Connie said. “I was like, ‘Um, OK.’ And I went back to work. I didn’t even know what to do with that information. I was 37 years old at the time and I stayed fit for the guard. Why would I have breast cancer?”

It was as though Connie went into default mode. Her mindset of service took over, she compartmentalized and she kept working.

When her diagnosis came a week later, Dr. Jonathan Briggs, her radiation oncologist, says he found that “it was an aggressive type of cancer.” She consequently needed “neoadjuvant chemo, meaning chemotherapy given before surgery,” along with postoperative radiation therapy “to further decrease the risk of recurrence.”

She received that overwhelming news while at her annual training with the guard, where she felt it was her duty to be.

“They sent me home,” Connie said. “They said, ‘This diagnosis is a lot’ and told me that I needed to focus on taking care of myself.”

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In the Trenches of Recovery

It was the compassion of her colleagues in the guard, on the Beaufort Memorial oncology floor and in the Keyserling Cancer Center that enabled Connie to let go of taking care of others for a while and focus instead on overcoming cancer herself.

“Connie is a joy to work with; she is always willing to help where she can,” said Chimene Heyward, breast care navigator and a colleague of Connie’s. “Even though she was going through a lot, she never let that get her down. She learned about her diagnosis, educated herself about her treatments and made the best decisions for herself. She is truly an inspiration.”

Connie recounted numerous little instances that made her feel at ease through what can be a traumatic treatment process. The support of one Breast Health Center radiology technician who held her hand as she underwent one of her first diagnostic biopsies stood out.

“The whole way through, she was so supportive, and I remember her rubbing my arm as they did the ultrasound,” Connie said. “Every time I have to go there, I feel genuine compassion from the staff for what they’re doing.”

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Mission: Remission

In the end, she felt reassured that she was getting the best care possible.

“They didn’t assume that because I’m a nurse, I’d know everything,” Connie said. “No matter who you are, you don’t know what exactly you’re walking into when you find out that you have cancer. But the staff here were amazingly calm, competent and compassionate. The doctors were willing to explain the science of each treatment I underwent and made me feel able to just lean on them.”

“Although the initial presentation showed an aggressive cancer, she had a wonderful response to the neoadjuvant chemotherapy, showing a complete response,” Dr. Briggs said. “She continues to undergo routine follow-up visits with her doctors and has regular blood work and a yearly mammogram.”

Connie has been cancer free for four years as of May and is back working with oncology patients in Beaufort Memorial’s medical oncology clinic. And this month, she’ll complete a master’s program to become a nurse practitioner, enabling her to be even more capable of serving patients facing similar cancer survivorship journeys.

Be proactive about your breast health. Request an appointment for a screening mammogram at the Breast Health Centers in Beaufort or Okatie or our imaging center on Hilton Head Island or schedule one by calling 843-522-5015.