OWINGS MILLS, Md. — When you think of Mother's Day and sharing something special with mom, flowers, brunch, a clean house, taking in an O's game..Those are some of the things that come to mind. But cancer, that's definitely not something you'd expect to share with your mom.
"I have four children. I love all of my children and I am close to all of them, but there's just a special bond that we share, since day one," said Camille Carver.
Now the bond that Camille and her daughter, Ashley Engram, share is even stronger. It was cancer that brought them together.
"God got us through it. We were able to support each other," Camille said.
Another challenge for the family, Ashley was a new mom.
She was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer just days before she gave birth to Anai.
"I think the part that took me down the most is the fact that the breastfeeding. I, I couldn't breastfeed anymore. Well, I had to slow down the breastfeeding and then only breastfeed on one side and then eventually take a pill that would take away the breastfeeding altogether. So, I think that's the only part that really broke me down. But other than that I just had to keep going," Engram said.
"At one point, and I think we were in the infusion center watching her, and I just realized I can't do this for her. I have to be strong enough to watch it," said Camille.
They were diagnosed three months apart. Ashley first and then Camille.
There was no hereditary connection. Ashley was stage four bilateral and her mom was stage 1A and 2B on the second breast.
Ashley responded well to her treatments, Camille is still undergoing chemo.
"I mean, you're used to like, your mom guiding you as a parent and everything. You're the one who had to step up here."
"Yeah, I had to switch, try to be there for her, but it was a little hard because I had to go through my own," said Ashley.
"I don't think we've ever had one where we've had a mother and daughter come through simultaneously," said Dr. Ethan Rogers.
Dr. Rogers with the Breast Health Center at the University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center performed Camille's surgery.
"It wasn't obvious on her mammogram, so she had an MRI and that demonstrated what was actually reasonably small cancer on that side and then we found one in the other breast too, so she had two different cancers at the same time that we treated," Dr. Rogers said.
Ashley finished her treatment and things looked good.
"She had the best outcome that we could hope for. It's called a complete pathologic response, meaning that all the cancer is gone by the time that we did her surgery, so she's a stage 0," Dr. Rogers explained.
Camille is finishing up her chemo and her prognosis is bright.
"God saw us until now. We've come a long way in a year," Camille said.
The mother and daughter were always close, but now they share a bond that no one should have to.
"I appreciate every single day. I appreciate every single person. It used to be people would call me and like, I'll call them back, but I always answered that phone. Thank you for calling. Thank you for thinking of me. Thank you for praying. I'm just grateful for everyone around us," Camille expressed.
Camille got her mammograms on a regular basis, but that didn't detect her cancer. It was actually a lump under her armpit.
At 31, Ashley wasn't even old enough to schedule a mammogram.
Both women say it's important to be an advocate for yourself and be in tune with your body.
