BALTIMORE — Baltimore's new health commissioner knows firsthand the importance of early detection and self-care after surviving breast cancer nearly a decade ago.
Dr. Michelle Taylor was recently sworn in as Baltimore City Health Commissioner, bringing extensive experience from her previous role as Deputy Administrator of Health in Memphis. Her credentials include a degree from Johns Hopkins Medicine, but perhaps her most powerful qualification comes from personal experience — she's a breast cancer survivor.
"I had a mammogram in January of 2015 that had nothing on it. It was completely normal, and by January of 2016 I had two invasive spots. I was stage 2A," Taylor said.
Taylor's family history prepared her for the possibility of a cancer diagnosis. Her mother is a survivor, and her mother's identical twin sister died from breast cancer at age 34.
Hear from Dr. Taylor as she tells her story of overcoming breast cancer and advocates for early detection
"Fortunately, or unfortunately, I have a family history. My mom is a survivor, and her identical twin sister died from breast cancer at age 34, so I had had a lot of time by the time I was diagnosed to know exactly what I would do," she said.
With support from her community, Taylor survived three surgeries and four rounds of chemotherapy. The diagnosis came at a challenging time in her life — her daughter was nearly 2 years old and her son was about to turn 10.
"It was a really hard time, um, when I was diagnosed, my daughter was a couple months shy of being 2. My son was about to turn 10. And all of these plans I had for my career got put on hold so that I could fight for my life and be around to raise my children. Um, I had great physicians. I had wonderful family and friend support," Taylor said.
That support network now influences how she approaches her role as Baltimore's top health official. Taylor sees public health as an opportunity to impact entire communities rather than individual patients.
"Public health is just, it's so different, right? So, I hate to pick up the moniker of Johns Hopkins, but it really is about saving millions of lives at a time. The community knows what it needs and it's our job as public health practitioners to put that into practice to improve health," she said.
Taylor finds fulfillment in comprehensive community health events where residents can access multiple services in one location — from flu shots and car seats to WIC enrollment and HIV testing.
Her cancer experience taught her a crucial lesson about self-care that she now shares with others, particularly women.
"One thing about having a lot going on is you have to be intentional about taking care of yourself and at that time in my life I was not being intentional about that self-care was laughable to me and I was not taking care of myself and I knew I wasn't taking care of myself, but I felt like I did not have time to do the things. Uh, that I needed to do to make sure I was OK because I was busy taking care of everybody else," Taylor said.
"You cannot pour from an empty cup," she added.
Taylor emphasizes that early detection saved her life and continues to advocate for preventive care in her new role.
"I'm a living example. Early detection is so important," she said.
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