Kicking Cancer To The Curb

After Kim Hornbuckle’s breast cancer diagnosis, she became proactive and took charge of her health

by ELLEN ORR

photo by ALAMOND PHOTOGRAPHY

Not quite a year after she found out she had breast cancer and five months after all surgeries were completed, Kim enjoyed a vacation trip to Virginia Beach.

Kim, Sydney and Bruce in 2017, three weeks before Kim found out she had breast cancer.

Bruce, Sydney and Kim at the Redwater football field during September 2017, six weeks after Kim’s bilateral mastectomy.

Annual mammograms for women over 40 reduce overall breast cancer mortality by about 40 percent (according to breastcancer.org)—and yet, despite this fact, it is estimated that only 72 percent of all American women ages 40–85 have had a mammogram within the last two years; the numbers in Texas and Arkansas are even lower than the national average (Kaiser Family Foundation).

Redwater teacher and counsellor Kim Hornbuckle prided herself on being a part of that 72 percent. Whether at Wadley or Collom & Carney Clinic, she always scheduled her annual mammogram every summer, “as many educators do because we don’t usually have time during the school year,” she said. “I had always been diligent about getting regular mammograms in the past.” 

In June of 2017, for the first time, her routine mammogram results came back irregular. Kim assumed the recommendation for a second mammogram was a formality based on an abundance of caution. “I wasn’t even going to get the second one until a friend convinced me that I should, just for peace of mind,” Kim said. The second mammogram confirmed the presence of a tumor; she needed a biopsy.

After the biopsy, Kim refused to wait for the results. “Instead of waiting for my appointment [with the surgeon] the following week, I called and asked for my results,” she said. “I was told that this is not something they customarily do, but I wasn’t concerned about customs. I persisted, and on July 28, 2017, I was told over the phone that I had breast cancer.

“My daughter [Sydney, then-14] was sitting beside me and listening to the phone call. She asked me, ‘Mom, are you going to die?’”

Kim was in disbelief; she judged herself to be typically healthy, had no family history of breast cancer, had no lumps, showed no signs. “I even asked if they had possibly gotten [my results] confused with someone else’s,” she recalled.

The standard path forward was for her doctor’s office to refer her to a breast cancer specialist, “but I was not about waiting [for a referral],” Kim said. “I gathered all of my scans and results and started making phone calls.” 

When Kim connected with a specialist, she was presented with two options, one being a bilateral mastectomy. “Although I discussed my options extensively with my husband, there was never really a doubt in my mind what the best option was for me,” Kim said. “I opted to have the mastectomy and reconstruction and rid myself of this.”

Completely recovered and back to her active lifestyle, Kim and her family enjoyed hiking Mt. Quandary in Breckenridge, Colorado, during the summer of 2019.

On August 9, Kim underwent a five-hour surgery to remove the breast tissue and implant “expanders” for eventual reconstruction. “My mom, dad, sister, and brother-in-law waited on me in the hospital,” Kim remembered. “Theirs were the first faces I saw, and that made me happy. I had so many people praying for me and checking on me daily. My husband has been my rock, in more ways than he can imagine. When I saw my scars in the mirror the first time, he caught me, literally, because it was such a shock. My daughter stepped up when she was needed and went above and beyond what most kids her age would do to help.”

Kim completed her reconstruction during early 2018. This photo of her and Sydney was taken a few weeks after the surgery.

Motivated by a desire not to miss any part of her daughter’s life, Kim began an active post-op recovery. “A week after my surgery, I was at a volleyball game to watch Sydney. Two weeks later, I was at a cross-country meet and then at a football game to watch Sydney cheer. I was back at work three weeks after the surgery,” Kim said. “We went on with life.”

Despite Kim’s quick return to her day-to-day, the reconstruction process took six long months. Every three-to-four weeks, she underwent tissue expansion, preparing her for a final reconstructive surgery. “The expansion was the worst and most painful part of the ordeal,” Kim said. “Most days, I felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest.” In January, a final surgery completed the reconstruction.

In February, Kim was told that she needed no further treatment. “I came out okay thanks to early detection,” Kim said. “I’m an intensely private person, and I wasn’t going to do this [story because of that], but, as I discussed it with my husband and daughter, my daughter said, ‘If you could help just one person understand the importance of regular mammograms, then it would be worth it.’ Hopefully someone will see this and understand that, if I had not had mine detected so early, it could have been so much worse.”

Scheduling and enduring annual mammograms was the first of many proactive decisions that led to Kim’s survival and recovery. “I learned the importance of taking charge of your own health and advocating for your own medical care,” she said, referring to her assertive approach of retrieving results and seeking out specialists—and then making the brave, swift choice of a double mastectomy.

“I feel healthy and well now, and if I had to make the decision again, I would do exactly the same thing,” she said.