Imagine having your mother and maternal grandmother diagnosed with breast cancer, and your paternal grandmother being diagnosed with stomach cancer, only to eventually hear the doctor say you too have cancer. This is Nakara Miller’s story and even though she is no stranger to cancer, she refuses to let the disease get the best of her.
Since receiving the diagnosis of stage 1 breast cancer, Nakara endeavours to keep her spirits up. She looks at it as another hurdle that has to be overcome. She is a fighter. She is a survivor. She refuses to roll over and let cancer beat her. What keeps Nakara going as well is the amazing support system she has, inclusive of family, friends and coworkers at Commonwealth Bank, a company where she has worked for the past 20 years. The beautiful Nakara who loves to smile is determined to keep that smile on her face, trusting God through the process.
With a family history of cancer, Nakara was cautious for a long time. She started having mammograms and ultrasounds 10 years prior to the recommended age of 40. Ironically, she was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 40 following a routine wellness exam. It was the same age her mother, Cheryl Williams, was diagnosed; her mother passed away eight years later.
Since then, the brave Nakara, who tested positive for the BRCA 1 gene and the most aggressive form – triple negative –has been treated with four of the strongest doses of chemotherapy and has had a bilateral mastectomy as a preventative measure. She is scheduled for a hysterectomy as another preventative measure on November 15th. Her body has gone through much, but she is unwavering in her resolve to do what she must to live for her children, her husband…herself.
The cancer news was a double whammy for Nakara because she was diagnosed in 2016 with vasculitis, an inflammation of the blood vessels. That resulted in her having two seizures and a transient ischemic attack. After many medications failed to treat the vasculitis, doctors prescribed chemotherapy to put the disease in remission. And it was during her January 2018 annual wellness exam,breast cancer was discovered. She had just completed her last chemotherapy for vasculitis three weeks prior, so yet another challenge was upon her.
Nakara, who recognized that one breast had grown three inches longer than the other – believing it was weight gain – is now strongly recommending that people pay close attention to their bodies and get tested.
In the interim, Nakara receives love and support from her husband of nearly 11 years, Kai and their children, including sons Ashton and Kamdynn along with daughter, Kailey, her three sisters and two brothers.
Nakara does not pretend that all she has gone through is easy. However, she has chosen to live her life to the fullest – with a smile – choosing to see the glass as half full as opposed to half empty.