My aunt recently died of stage 4 breast cancer. She was diagnosed in April at the age of 78 and passed just three weeks later. She had been living in a long-term care facility since 2020. At the time, she was admitted with a sore on the bottom of her foot and arthritis so bad that she could hardly walk. Her cancer was discovered incidentally six years later while at the hospital for a urinary tract infection.

She told my mom after the diagnosis that she had a lump but never sought medical attention. She had not been screened for breast cancer since entering the facility, and after she learned of her diagnosis, she blamed herself for not being screened and promptly gave up on living, according to my mom.

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