Chief Nursing Officer of Tift Regional speaks on stint with breast cancer

Published 4:11 pm Wednesday, October 18, 2023

TIFTON — As a breast cancer survivor herself, Chief Nursing Officer of Tift Regional Tonia Garrett puts her all into helping those who have been in her shoes.

Garrett was diagnosed with differentiated ductal carcinoma in 2019. Her doctor had requested she conduct a mammogram in April, but she had elected to postpone the procedure due to external life, work, and family commitments. She eventually had the mammogram in July, uncovering her condition just days before a family vacation.

“I vowed I was going to get all my outstanding things to do completed,” Garrett said. “I had a mammogram that day, and was prompted to have an ultrasound for sufficient mass in my left breast. The ultrasound led to having a breast biopsy that same day, and that biopsy revealed that I had differential ductal carcinoma.”

The day she returned from her trip, Garrett went under the knife to remove her cancer, receiving chemotherapy treatment following her surgery to ensure its permanent removal.

She was declared cancer-free Oct. 28 of that same year, and was put on routine checkups every three months, recently shifting to a six-month cycle instead.

Though she is relieved to be free of the disease, Garrett notes that her experience with her cancer has left an impact on her.

“Obviously you have a sense of relief, but you always have ‘that’ in the back of your mind,” Garrett said. “When you have an unusual pain or ache somewhere, it crosses your mind: ‘I wonder what this is?’ It makes you have a new sense of urgency to get things followed up on, and to not prolong taking care of yourself.”

That experience has also inspired Garrett to work even harder to support patients struggling with breast cancer as she had.

In addition to overseeing the quality of nursing care given to patients of Tift Regional Medical Center as the facility’s chief nursing officer, Garrett has an extensive background in perioperative care, where she worked very closely with many breast cancer patients.

She currently serves on the medical center’s Breast Cancer Leadership Committee, collaborating with her fellow committee members to improve the overall care given to breast cancer patients of the hospital, including regular events to lessen the burden of their treatment and raise money to support them.

Recently, she helped organize free breast cancer screenings at Tift Regional, and plans to hold a fundraiser, “Pink or Swim,” in which participants can pay for a chance to drop a selection of Southwell doctors into a dunk tank, at the end of the month, with all proceeds going to the Breast Health Fund.

And having been in a similar position to many of them, she hopes to encourage breast cancer patients to stay on top of their disease, acting as their own advocates to fight their cancer in the best way for them.

“Educate yourself,” Garrett said. “Find out what the best practiced treatment plans are for your particular type of cancer, because there’s many different types of breast cancer and there’s not one treatment plan for all types. You have to educate yourself.”