Black women and breast cancer: Des Moines pastor using diagnosis as testimony
Pastor Tammy Harris is cancer-free after what she describes as the longest journey of her life.
"I'm feeling like an overcomer. I think I'm finally at a place where I am feeling good about what's next in my life," she said.
The Des Moines pastor was diagnosed with breast cancer in October 2023 after a routine mammogram detected a mass. Harris had surgery and weeks of radiation but chose to stay silent about her sickness due to cultural stigmas within the Black community discussing illnesses.
"We don't talk about that stuff. It's a tragedy for us," Harris said.
According to the , Black women have a 38% higher death rate from breast cancer despite being diagnosed at the same rate as white women.
"If we can find breast cancer at the early stage whether you are White, Hispanic, Black, Asian or Pacific Islander, the survival rate is all about the same, but with every stage of cancer, Black women have a higher mortality," MercyOne general surgeon Dr. Susan Beck said. Beck is Harris' breast surgeon.
"She has a calling, I think. To be out there to tell women, 'I've gone through this,'" she said, smiling.
On a particular Sunday afternoon at Elpis Christian Fellowship, members of the congregation wore pink in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Harris said she no longer wants to shy away from speaking about sickness to her predominately Black church members.
"That's my quest to publicly share my testimony with them," Harris said. "I'm a champion for it now. I've accepted it. I've gotten to the place that if God allowed me to have cancer, then there is a purpose for me."
Doctors recommend women begin their mammograms once they turn 40 unless they have a previous breast cancer diagnosis in their family, which requires them to be screened earlier.