A breast cancer diagnosis is life changing. So is the right care team.

Rachel Compton thought she was doing everything right.

After watching her sister go through breast cancer a year earlier, the 42-year-old never missed a screening. Because of her family history, she was being closely monitored every six months by her physician, Colleen Silva, MD, who is also medical director of Breast Cancer Services at The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB Health).

She did what she was supposed to do, and cancer still became part of her story.

During a routine screening last June at the UTMB Health Galveston Campus, a radiologist found a mass. Within days, Compton learned she had invasive ductal carcinoma.

What followed was a whirlwind of appointments, treatment decisions, and uncertainty, but also a level of care and support at UTMB Health that she says made all the difference.

When everything changes in an instant

“I had my mammogram and ultrasound on June 2, and I knew something was wrong when the radiologist walked into the room holding my results,” Compton said. “She stood at the edge of the ultrasound table and said, ‘Rachel, you have a mass.’ I remember the only thing I could say was, ‘Please call my mom.’ In that moment, my whole world turned upside down.”

Compton was stunned.

“I had a biopsy the next day. On June 5, which was the day before my 41st birthday, I was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma. Three days. That’s how quickly my entire life changed,” she said.

She met with Silva to discuss her treatment plan. From that point forward, Compton said, her life felt divided into two versions: who she was before cancer and who she became after cancer.

What followed was one of the most difficult parts of Compton’s journey. In late July, she underwent a double mastectomy, a surgery she says changed her physically and emotionally in ways she never expected.

“One thing I will always advocate for is that breast reconstruction after a mastectomy is not the same as cosmetic breast augmentation,” Compton said. “I didn't get ‘new breasts.’ I lost my breasts to cancer. They were amputated, and then my body had to be reconstructed. There is a huge physical and emotional difference between reconstruction and cosmetic surgery.

“There are still days when I look in the mirror and don’t recognize the person looking back at me,” she said. “Cancer changes your body, but it also changes the way you see yourself. I'm still learning this version of me. I don’t think people always understand that part.”

Finding a care team she could trust

Compton’s mother and sister became her family care team. Silva and Jeffrey Smith, MD, a reconstructive plastic surgeon at UTMB Health, became key members of her medical team.

“My mom has never missed an appointment. Every appointment, surgery, scan, she’s been there,” she said. “My sister walked this same breast cancer journey one year before me, so watching her go through it gave me strength when it became my turn. Between the two of them, I have never had to walk into an appointment alone.”

Compton also found reassurance in her relationship with Smith.

“I have anxiety, and there were times throughout this journey when it completely took over. Dr. Smith never made me feel like I was asking too many questions or that I needed too much reassurance. No matter how anxious I was, he was patient with me every single time.

“He listened, he reassured me, and he helped carry me through some of my darkest moments,” she said.” Having a doctor who makes you feel seen and heard matters more than anything.”

That experience shaped the advice Compton now gives others facing a cancer diagnosis.

“Find your medical team,” she advised. “Find the doctors you trust enough to ask the same question five times if that’s what you need. Find the ones who listen when you’re scared. You're putting your life in their hands. That relationship matters.”

That sense of trust remained important to Compton as she has moved through treatment and into survivorship.

“Looking back at everything I’ve been through, I’m incredibly grateful for where I am today and for the outcome I’ve had. I truly believe so much of that comes back to having the right medical team beside me,” she said.

“I tell everyone about Dr. Silva and Dr. Smith because I trusted them with my life and my care. Dr. Smith has been one of my biggest advocates from the very beginning, and I’ve always been very open about how much of a role he has played in my story. I wouldn’t be where I am today without the care, patience, and compassion I received from both of them.”

Although Compton is now more than a year past her diagnosis and surgery, the effects of cancer and its treatment continue.

“I didn't need chemotherapy or radiation, and I'm incredibly grateful for that. But sometimes people hear ‘no chemo’ and assume that means it was easy. It wasn’t,” she said.

Compton continues to take medication as part of her treatment plan and said the side effects have been significant.

“Treatment doesn’t suddenly stop because the surgeries and appointments slow down,” she said. “Cancer changed everything about my life. I'm still learning who I am on this side of it and what life looks like now. It changes you in ways that are hard to explain unless you’ve lived it.”

She now sees her care team every six months for blood work and Smith every three months.

Looking ahead, Compton said the experience changed not only how she sees herself, but also what she values and how she approaches life.

“Things that once felt so important just don’t anymore,” she said. “There’s this idea that once you survive cancer, you’re supposed to come out stronger and be inspirational all the time. That’s just not reality.”

She said some days she feels strong, while on other days, she’s just trying to get through. Over time, she has learned to give herself room for both.

“What I do know is that regular screening mattered. Advocating for myself mattered. And finding a medical team I trusted mattered. I found mine, and I truly don’t believe I would be where I am today without them,” she said. “Cancer will always be part of my story, but it doesn't get to be my entire story.”