DUBLIN, Ga. — Angel Dyar knows a lot about breast cancer- she's an ultrasonographer at Fairview Park Hospital, but also recently beat it.
She's worked at the hospital for 26 years, and she spent the majority of that time doing ultrasounds for people like breast cancer patients.
"The breast is one of my passions, is taking care of the breast patients," Dyar said.
She's done more ultrasounds than she can count, but in October, she was the one who needed one.
After discovering a lump, she had surgery in November for her breast cancer diagnosis. She started chemo in December of last year, and in July she finished her radiation treatments.
"You definitely can empathize more when you've been through it yourself," she said.
She took some breaks, but she kept working at her job through a lot of it, continuing to help her patients with a whole new level of empathy.
"They would ask me a question, and I would try to give them the comfort that they needed, you know some of my patients that are going through what I had just gone through," she said.
She'd share her story and advice with patients, giving information that helped her and reminding them of things she needed to hear herself.
"There is light at the end of the tunnel. It seems kind of dark when you first get that diagnosis, it just kind of hits you. But you just gotta take it one step at a time," she said.
Dyar credits God, and her work family for getting her through the hard days. That work family includes two women, mammographer Laurie Sumner, and registrar Gloria Calhoun who are also breast cancer survivors.
"I was glad that we were there to support her and give her our experience with, and maybe in some way comfort her and help her through that journey," Sumner said.
When Dyar's personal cancer journey came to an end in July, her coworkers got together to celebrate the milestone with a special cake.
"There's a lot of women that go through it, and you stick together, and there's a lot of people that are there for us," Calhoun said.
Dyar credits early detection for the success of her recovery, and wants everyone to know that it can save lives. She encourages anyone who feels a difference in their body to contact their doctor immediately.