TAMPA, Fla. — A Tampa Bay area woman is taking her cancer diagnosis in stride with the help of her doctors at Tampa General Hospital.
By the looks of it, Jeanie Tini is the picture of health, but on the inside, she’s stronger than anyone would know.
Her world changed with a diagnosis last summer.
"All I knew is I had some discomfort, and it was getting harder. I was a little more tired, but I did nothing about it, ignored it, and just kept going, and one day, I just got up to get ready for work, and I blacked out, just hit the ground," said Tini.
The 65-year-old eventually found herself in the care of doctors at Tampa General Hospital with a shocking diagnosis.
“Stage 4 metastatic, it's estrogen-positive breast cancer, and I embrace it," said Tini. "I don’t call it a battle because there’s just been a lot of blessings for me in it.”
Tini’s focus shifted to her healing journey while leaning on her faith, and she said fate led her to TGH’s Dr. Victoria Rizk.
“There was a doctor that was on call. She walked in in the morning, Dr. Victoria Rizk," said Tini. "She came beside me, took my hand, and said may I talk to you for a minute?”
“Every time somebody hears the words stage 4, they automatically think death sentence, but thankfully, there are a lot of different cancers that we’re now able to turn into a chronic condition," said Rizk, a breast medical oncologist at Tampa General Hospital Cancer Institute.
Instead of conventional radiation or chemotherapy, Dr. Rizk said Tini went through the new standard for stage 4 estrogen-positive breast cancer with anti-estrogen therapy and an oral targeted drug, which was found to be more effective for her type of cancer.
"The fact that she’s responded so beautifully to this treatment is just a testament not only to her motivation and her perspective, and she just brings a light to every room that she walks into, but also the advancements that we’ve made in metastatic breast cancer," said Rizk.
Now, Tini's come a long way. She continues to spread joy at work, at home, and in other people's lives, sharing a message of hope beyond a diagnosis.
“Hope, it’s huge," said Tini. "You’ve got to hang on to it with all your life and belief. You have to believe.”
