Rolande Graves

Rolande Graves has been living with breast cancer for the past 10 years. She has faced her cancer the way she has faced any obstacle — with determination and a positive attitude. When she was first diagnosed with breast cancer, she knew immediately she wanted treatment at Mayo Clinic. "I've read about Mayo Clinic and its excellent reputation for treatment and research," she says.

Graves' care was coordinated by the Breast Diagnostic Clinic at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. "Dr. Sandhya Pruthi and all the staff have been very patient and understanding. They gave me all the information I wanted. Then they allowed me to make decisions for myself."

A lumpectomy and radiation treatment for cancer in her left breast were followed by a lumpectomy with no radiation in her right breast five years later. She decided to forego radiation because she didn't want to feel the weakness she had experienced after her earlier treatment. In 2003, the cancer returned in her right breast and she knew she had to have a total mastectomy.

From the moment she decided to have the mastectomy, she began to plan for breast reconstruction. In 2004, she chose to have a procedure called deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP). With this procedure, the breast is made using tissue from the abdomen.

"Now that the reconstruction is done, I'm glad I did it," she says. "You cannot tell that this is not me when I have my shirt on."

Graves was born in France and came to the U.S. after World War II to live near her sister, who had married an American soldier. She settled in Marquette, Mich. At 18, she married and by age 21, had three sons. After a divorce, she decided she needed to go to college but didn't have the money to pay for it. She went to the local bank and promised to get good grades if they gave her $400 for tuition. They gave her the money and she made good on her promise; not only did she get good grades, she became a professor at Northern Michigan University for 30 years.

No matter what happens with her cancer, Graves plans to keep on going. "I have too much energy and too much to contribute" to stop living life to the fullest, she says. She is keeping her options open, occasionally thinking about moving to a warmer climate and perhaps teaching a class or two. But when it comes to health care for her and those she loves, she remains very firm. "I told my kids, if anything goes wrong, you're going to Mayo."