Garrett Junior High principal in Boulder City shares her breast cancer fight to urge women to get annual mammograms

What happened

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that Melanie Teemant, principal of Garrett Junior High in Boulder City, has spent the past six months being treated for breast cancer. She is now speaking publicly to encourage women to make annual mammograms a priority. Teemant, 64, has been an educator for 29 years, eight of them at Garrett.

Her story comes during October's Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which Boulder City students marked with a fundraiser in her honor. Teemant told the newspaper she continues to work at the school while she spreads the word about mammograms and regular check-ups.

How the cancer was found

A routine screening in March

According to the Review-Journal, doctors found a mass after a routine mammogram in March. A week later, an oncologist confirmed it was cancer. She started chemotherapy in May, shortly before the school year ended, and by then the cancer had spread and was classified as Stage III.

Teemant told the newspaper she had no genetic predisposition and no symptoms. "That's why the annual mammogram is so important," she said, noting that people would not necessarily notice anything that would make them wonder.

Telling family and staff

Teemant said that at first it was hard for her even to say the word cancer, and that telling her family, especially her four adult children, was difficult. She said she informed her staff right before chemotherapy began because she was not sure of the outcome. On bad days during treatment, she took the day off.

"They have all been extraordinarily supportive," she told the Review-Journal. Most of her treatment took place over the summer, and her last chemotherapy session came a week after school started again.

Where her treatment stands

Maintenance therapy

Teemant has completed six chemotherapy treatments and is now in what is called maintenance therapy. The Review-Journal cited Cancer.gov, which describes this as treatment given to help keep cancer from coming back after it has disappeared following initial therapy. In her case, she receives a shot every three weeks with the goal of rebuilding her immune system.

Next steps for her liver

Doctors told her the mass is now one-third of its original size, but they have also found lesions on her liver. If deemed necessary, she may visit a liver specialist in California for histotripsy, which she described as a treatment that uses ultrasound waves to attack tumors. Her doctor considers her a good candidate for the procedure, an alternative to surgery, and is comfortable delaying a mastectomy or lumpectomy to address the liver first.

Schools rally around her

Once news of her diagnosis spread this school year, Boulder City High School teamed up with Garrett to raise money for the Cure 4 the Kids Foundation in Teemant's honor. The Review-Journal reported the effort brought in $3,167. An oversized check was presented at a recent Boulder City High volleyball match, where players wore pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Readers can follow more local education coverage in our schools section.

The national picture

The Review-Journal cited the National Breast Cancer Foundation, which reports that one in eight women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime, including approximately 382,000 this year. The foundation also says advances in early detection and treatment have significantly increased survival rates, and that there are more than four million breast cancer survivors in the country.

Teemant said cancer can feel very personal, but she decided to speak openly. She told the newspaper that "by sharing it, you control the narrative," and that she is now happy to talk about her experience with everyone.

What to watch next

• Whether doctors decide Teemant needs histotripsy from a liver specialist in California to treat the lesions on her liver.
• Any decision on a mastectomy or lumpectomy, which her doctor has delayed while the liver is addressed.
• Her ongoing maintenance therapy, a shot every three weeks aimed at rebuilding her immune system.