Derrick: Spend the moments you have with your family

RUSSELLVILLE — In August 2018, Marcy Derrick learned she had breast cancer. She works as a buyer in manufacturing, sourcing parts and supplies to keep production moving.

The diagnosis came after a routine mammogram — a moment that changed everything. Seven years later, she reflects on what she’s learned, how she stayed positive, and why she urges others to get a second opinion.

She and her family moved to Franklin County when her husband’s job was transferred. She said she has no family history of breast cancer and does not carry the gene.

When asked if the diagnosis came as a surprise, Derrick said she had some scans in the past she was told were “nothing — just 5% tissue.”

“I think they just missed it [the cancer diagnosis].”

She was diagnosed with Stage Three breast cancer. Tests showed it was hormone receptorpositive, meaning the cancer cells grew in response to estrogen and progesterone.

Doctors discovered a “rather large mass” in her left breast, and tests showed it had also spread to a few lymph nodes.

“I didn’t even feel it,” Derrick said.

Her treatment began with 12 weeks of chemotherapy using a drug called Taxol, or paclitaxel. The chemotherapy drug Adriamycin — often called the “Red Devil” — was given every two weeks for four treatments.

“During my first treatment, I got a little nauseous because the pharmacy had put my medicine in the wrong bottle,” she said, so she didn’t receive the steroid she was prescribed. “But I never got sick.”

By her third or fourth treatment, she had lost most of her hair.

“In the beginning, I had sudden bone pain,” she said. “They suggested Claritin D, and it worked. Water tasted like metal, so I’d use lemon drops in it,” Derrick said. “Pretty much everything tasted funny — all kinds of food.”

“My doctors from the beginning said it was beatable and encouraged me,” she said. “So, I just kept that attitude every time I walked in.”

She faced each appointment with a smile, ready for whatever came next — as long as doctors told her she could live, she could handle it.

Through treatment, she kept her job a priority.

PHOTO BY MARÍA CAMP
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Marcy Derrick urges women to consider the value of seeking a second opinion, citing early detection as key in trying to get the best recovery options.

“I had a boss who was really good to me,” she said. “I still worked full time — driving to UAB for treatments, sometimes working from home. Later, during radiation, I worked remotely.”

After chemotherapy, Derrick underwent a bilateral mastectomy.

“I had already made that decision,” she said. “They thought they saw something on the right side but couldn’t find it again, so I went ahead and planned for reconstruction.”

Doctors placed tissue expanders during surgery to prepare for eventual reconstruction.

She had the mastectomy in March, followed by radiation in June.

“I believe it was 25 regular rounds and then five more — 30 radiation treatments over six weeks,” Derrick said. “Each was only about 10 minutes, but it was every day. I stayed at the Hope Lodge in Birmingham during that time.”

The Hope Lodge provides free lodging for cancer patients undergoing treatment, giving Derrick a place to stay near UAB during her six weeks of daily radiation.

Recovery from the mastectomy took about six weeks with weekly injections to expand tissue for reconstruction.

She kept working remotely from the Hope Lodge until late July when she underwent a radical hysterectomy.

“They told me I needed to have my ovaries removed,” she said. “So, I went ahead and they removed everything.”

After six to eight weeks of recovery, Derrick returned to work in mid-September and had reconstruction surgery in early November.

Through all of it, she leaned on her family, friends and co-workers for support.

“It was just my kids and my husband and a few close friends here, and then people at work,” Derrick said.

Support often came in small but meaningful ways.

“I had some close friends at work who would come and run the kids somewhere or bring us food, and that was very nice. But we pretty much don’t have any family around here.”

Raising three children — a boy and two girls — during treatment, Derrick said she tried to keep things positive around them.

Her oldest son became especially protective once COVID-19 hit.

“I was past all my treatments, but we didn’t know what my immune system was like at the time,” she said. “He was very worried.”

Outside of work and treatment, she said her focus is on travel and spending time with her children.

“I’ve personally been to 49 of the 50 states, and I’ve also been to Mexico a few times and the Bahamas,” Derrick said.

Travel, she explained, has always been about broadening her horizons and experiencing the world beyond her everyday routine.

“But I really want to go over to Europe — Greece and Italy. When I travel, I enjoy seeing new things and different cultures and people.”

She also expressed gratitude for the people who cared for her during her journey.

“I had a great team of doctors,” she said. “My oncologist, radiologist and surgeons — all of them were great. The nurses were fantastic.”

When asked how she feels now, Derrick said she wouldn’t describe it as normal.

“I have to take a hormone blocker for a total of 10 years,” she said. “I’ve got about four and a half years left, and it’s caused osteoporosis, so I have to take medicine for that.

“And you know, my range of motion is a lot less than it used to be. I’m not supposed to lift over 20 pounds and not supposed to go in the sun without sunblock.”

Those adjustments, she said, are constant reminders of what she’s overcome.

“Each thing causes something else. It’s sure slowed me down and aged me.”

Even with those limitations, she works to keep a positive perspective.

When asked what advice she would give other women about mammograms or self-checks, Derrick was direct.

“Get a mammogram every year,” she said. “Go somewhere that specializes in breast cancer — where they look at those images all day, every day. That’s my suggestion to help catch it earlier.”

She also shared a message of hope for anyone just beginning their journey.

“It’s beatable,” Derrick said. “Keep a positive attitude.”

Her perspective on life has shifted.

“Before, I thought I’d live to be 80 or 90 or 100, but I don’t feel that way now,” she said. “I just try to do a little better at eating healthier and avoiding sugar.”

That awareness, she said, has changed how she uses her time.

“I try not to work as much. I make myself step away, because I’m the type that just keeps going,” Derrick said. “Work is important to me, but I’ve got to remind myself to stop and be with my family.

“When you go through something like this, it’s a little bit life-changing,” she said. “You realize life can be gone at any moment — so take the moments you have and spend them with your family.”