Meet Saylor

“In the midst of midlife, raising 3 children and all that entails, the last thing you think about is cancer. Fatigue and joint pain are simply by products of a busy life. And yet, I had been exhausted for months. I took a leave of absence from work in winter of 2022 to try and get a hold of it. That turned into leaving work entirely and 6 months later, I still just wasn’t feeling quite right.

So in June of ’23 when I just so happened to feel a painless marble under my skin, I knew exactly what it was. And a few days afterwards had it confirmed: at 38, I had breast cancer.

From there, a whirlwind descended on me and my family. The following week I got clarification-I had Inflammatory Breast cancer, a rare and highly aggressive type. It is automatically considered Stage 3 due to involvement with the skin. I immediately started aggressive therapy, chemo with adriamycin-also known colloquially as “the red death” or “the red devil” due to its neon red color. It’s toxicity is so severe it can burn the skin on contact and cause permanent scarring.

20+ rounds of chemo later, I then had a bilateral mastectomy and node dissection, followed by 36 rounds of radiation. I am now waiting on additional surgery and will be on oral chemo for 10+ years.

My treatment was so hard and fast, I never really got much time to consider it, my cancer or it’s impact on my family. It was simply what had to be done. My family needs me, I need me. But I hate that we’ve all had to suffer so much, especially my munchkins. It has made me so incredibly grateful for my family and friends, for small kindnesses, for love.

Having cancer is a bizarre and very singular experience, no two are alike and being forced to confront my mortality has been hard. And yet. It has changed me for the better in so many ways.

I am more openly joyful. I engage with people, where previously I was reticent and shy. And I have so many unexpected friends, I LOVE all of the folks I have worked with at the Cancer Institute. I am so grateful for my experience and the opportunity I have to better my life, my health and the perspective to enjoy my life more. To love harder and live with wild abandon. I have no idea what the future will hold but I have no doubt it will be something good. ” – Saylor Mayer

Saylor’s Bedroom Reveal