BRADENTON, Fla. — October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It's a disease that affects one in eight women in the United States.
In Bradenton, a mother's battle with breast cancer gave her daughter the education and tools to detect an abnormality in her own breast.
"Being so involved and front and center to her journey, breast cancer just became such a big part of my life," Madeline Mordarski said.
In her mid-20s, Mordarski would become her mother's caregiver.
"I always knew that self-checks were important, but it wasn't until going through that experience with her that, one, I even really understood how to do a self-check, and two, I prioritized it," Mordarski said.
Breast self-exams would become a religious part of her monthly routine, Mordarski explained.
"It came in handy because it was in my own self-check that I found a lump which ended up being my breast cancer."
Days after her 32nd birthday, Mordarski would be diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer.
According to the National Breast Cancer Research Foundation, when caught in its earliest, localized stages, the five-year relative survival rate is 99%.
Mordarski's mother, Doreen Wesley, said she'd fight cancer 10 times over, knowing it would save her daughter.
"My cancer treatment gave her all the knowledge to save herself. If that's what it took, I'm all in," Wesley said.
Now, Wesley and Mordarski hope their story will help save others.
"Don't second guess yourself," warned Wesley. "The earlier you catch any cancer, but breast cancer in particular, the more treatable it is."
According to the American Cancer Center, breast cancer is sometimes found after symptoms appear, but many women with breast cancer have no symptoms. This is why regular breast cancer screening is so important.
Madeline Mordarski hopes to be a resource to other young women battling breast cancer or looking to learn more about self-checks. You can find her on Instagram and TikTok at @_miss_maddie.