Breast cancer fears and what's important: How Jacqueline Coleman chose a double mastectomy

When most women find out they are at risk for breast cancer, they aren’t running for an elected position that has the power to impact how they — and other women around the state — receive health care.

But Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman was.

The doctor’s appointments, uncertainty and fear were in the backdrop as she traveled around the commonwealth, conducted media interviews and debated her opponent, Sen. Robby Mills, R-Henderson, in the fall of 2023.

And even though her running mate, Gov. Andy Beshear, told her she could miss events because her health was most important, Coleman continued on the campaign trail. If anything, it put the vitality of the race into perspective and furthered her low tolerance of "petty politics."

"It's silly season — it's accusations and stories and tweets and ads," she said. "In the back of my mind, I'm carrying this and I'm thinking, 'This is why we're running for office. We're doing this to help people. We're doing this to make sure people have access to health care. ...' So, it kind of fired me up in that way."

After months of campaigning, including a bus tour around the state the week before the election, Beshear and Coleman won against former Attorney General Daniel Cameron and Mills — drawing national attention as the only two Democrats to win a statewide race.

“It made me double down on the importance of people being in these seats who understand what it's like to go through what so many Kentuckians go through every day,” she said.

Just six days after Coleman was reinaugurated as Kentucky's lieutenant governor, she had her double mastectomy.

'It was just a matter of time'

Coleman remembers hearing about breast cancer for the first time when she was in high school or college.

Back then, Coleman had no idea she'd have her own cancer scare and then opt to undergo a double mastectomy followed by immediate reconstruction surgery — all while running for a state office.

"It wasn't until the last few years that I realized that this was probably in the cards for me," she said in a one-on-one interview with The Courier Journal on Wednesday. "You have to be realistic about your genetics."

Coleman's mother, aunt and cousin have all had breast cancer. About a year ago, she tested to see whether she had BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutations, which can significantly increase a person's chance of developing breast cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute.

She didn’t have them. Regardless, Coleman worked with her doctor to schedule her first mammogram in September.

Her results indicated she needed further testing. MRIs and biopsies ensued. Eventually, Coleman's doctors found four lesions in her breasts, one of which greatly concerned them and needed to be removed.

"In a way, I have felt like — over the last few years — that it was just a matter of time," she said. "I did not expect it to be the very first time I went to the doctor, but it's a good reminder for people that maybe it's time for a scan or a test."

During the weeks Coleman waited to see her surgeon, she sat in uncertainty, and she worried about what this meant for her family. She knew she owed it to her 3-year-old daughter to be as aggressive with her treatment as possible. She didn’t know if she would qualify for a double mastectomy or what would come next.

"I'm pretty sure at one point every day I cried," she said. "Just from the worry and the anxiety, and being nervous and unsure."

Then, her surgeon told Coleman she had the option to remove both of her breasts. Coleman knew that was the decision she wanted to make — and not just for herself but for her children.

"Before I became a mother, I never thought about making a health decision — a personal health decision — for somebody else," she said. "I didn't care what I was going to look like. I didn't care what it meant for me personally …  being around for them and being able to teach them about this was of the utmost importance to me."

Now that Coleman knows breast cancer runs in her family, she knows this will be a conversation that she will have to have with her youngest daughter, Evelynne, one day.

"She's going to have to know," Coleman said. "I'll have the scars to prove it. We'll have information to give her to arm her with the knowledge to have agency over her own body."

Using her seat to spread awareness

Despite members of her family having breast cancer, having a double mastectomy was uncharted territory for Coleman. No one she knew had gone through the procedure before, and she was overwhelmed by how much she had to learn about the medical process.

Afterward, she forced herself to rest in bed — something she says does not come easy to her. Her friends, family, coworkers and her husband, Chris O'Bryan, took care of Evelynne, cooked meals and stopped by to check on her.

"I joke with him that when he said, 'Til death do us part' he probably did not anticipate having to empty my surgical drains," Coleman said of O'Bryan, smiling.

She was amazed at the outpouring of encouragement from women around the state — from strangers who sent her cards to friends who scheduled their own mammograms — and one even chose to stop smoking.

"She hasn't smoked since (she found out)," Coleman said.

Amidst recovery, she found out that all four of her lesions were benign, but the one her doctors were most concerned about had the potential to develop into cancer.

She felt no regret about her decision.

"I would rather be aggressive and give myself peace of mind than to do the minimum and every six months for the rest of my life have to scan and test and biopsy and worry," she said.

Coleman has one more reconstruction surgery coming up in the next couple of months.

"The doctor said that's going to be nothing compared to what I've been through," Coleman said, smiling.

But while she’s looking forward to moving past the surgery portion of this experience, her passion for women’s health care is not going anywhere.

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Coleman won her race for office — and now she plans to use it to support the other women in the commonwealth who may also struggle with breast cancer. It is the second-most common type of cancer in U.S. women, only behind skin cancer, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But, unlike every patient, Coleman has a platform as one of the highest state-elected officials, which gives her "a unique opportunity to speak to people that maybe otherwise wouldn’t have heard about something like this.”

Coleman has been assertive — regardless if that looks like taking of her health, her family, or pushing for universal pre-kindergarten services.

“Whether it's raising awareness or being an advocate, that’s a job I’m willing to and want to take on separate and apart from being lieutenant governor," she said.

Reach reporter Eleanor McCrary at [email protected] or at @ellie_mccrary on X, formerly known as Twitter.

More on breast cancer prevention

Doctors can perform examinations to ensure breast tissue is healthy and to make recommendations for future treatments. Medical professionals also encourage routine self-examinations.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: How Kentucky Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman chose a double mastectomy