Wisconsin Mother Flies to KC for Metastatic Breast Cancer Care

Bernadette Priestley had just moved back to Wisconsin from London with her husband and two boys when her life changed forever.

In 2017, she discovered a lump in one of her breasts, had a double mastectomy, and was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer (MBC).

“I bawled and bawled,” Bernadette says. “It is so strange to be 37 and thinking you aren’t going back to work—instead, you get an oncologist you will have for the rest of your life. It’s a strange place to find yourself.”

Going to the doctor’s office multiple times a week took a toll on Bernadette. She had to find a daycare and was reminded of her cancer daily. Knowing the preciousness of time, she didn’t want to spend it all as a patient.

Just a few months into her journey with MBC, Bernadette was told by her local oncologist she had to start the last and most rigorous phase of treatment, IV chemotherapy. The same moment she received the call, she was registering her son for kindergarten.

She feared her days were numbered.

Finding experts who care

Bernadette called Saint Luke’s Koontz Center for Advanced Breast Cancer—one of the first centers in the U.S. and the only in the region—to focus exclusively on the comprehensive care of patients with metastatic breast cancer, with specialization for stage 4 cancers. 

The next day, she traveled to Kansas City for a second opinion.

“I was looking for my wedding dress moment,” Bernadette says. “I wanted to find a team of people that I could trust with my life. I am worth it as a daughter, as a wife, and as a mother. I have to be worth it.”

Dr. Timothy Pluard, an oncologist specializing in metastatic breast cancer and the Koontz Center’s medical director, ran further tests and found Bernadette responded well to basic treatment.

“Many patients understand their disease and advocate for themselves. Bernadette is the epitome of that,” Dr. Pluard says. “She is exceptionally bright. What drove her to the Koontz Center was uncertainty. She was not sure if her disease was getting worse, so we reevaluated her with a fresh set of eyes, found that her cancer was not progressing, and elected to continue her treatment with a minor modification. Ever since then she has been doing well.”

During one of Bernadette’s visits to the Koontz Center, after a scan, she wasn’t feeling very well. The staff set her up in a private room, got her a warm blanket and a snack, and let her sleep.

“You can’t find this level of care anywhere,” she says. “But at the Koontz Center—you find it easily. It’s a warm and supportive environment, and you meet others who are in the same boat as you. You don’t feel alone.”

Bernadette’s experience exemplifies how the Koontz Center sets itself apart: It focuses on the whole person, not just their disease. 

“Our primary focus is to provide our patients with the best treatment and the best outcomes,” Dr. Pluard says. “But the outcomes can be defined in a very narrow sense in terms of ‘is the disease progressing or is it not,’ or in a much broader way, ‘is the patient living with their disease in a way that fulfills their goals.’ At the Koontz Center, both outcomes are equally important to us.”

You are worth it

Eight years after her initial treatment, Bernadette still has her hair, very mild symptoms, and she can be there for her children.

Bernadette travels to Kansas City every six months for treatment, She no longer spends countless hours researching new clinical trials because she trusts Dr. Pluard is taking care of it.

“He’s not keeping up with lung and bone cancer,” Bernadette says. “He specializes in MBC, and you have someone just focusing on you and your disease. It is so rare.”

In 2020, Bernadette reached one of her biggest goals as a mother: seeing her youngest son start kindergarten.

On his first day of school, her husband walked their boys out the back door, around the block, and led them back to the house. Bernadette laid out a red carpet, answered the door, and said, “Hello! Who are you? I am your teacher!” She went on to homeschool her boys during the pandemic.

Last year, a local school asked Bernadette to teach a fourth-grade class. Even though she loves teaching, she only had a temporary teaching license. The principal asked why she wasn’t fully licensed already.

“I had to hold back emotion because I never thought I would live this long,” she says. “I never got my license because someone told me I would be lucky to live three years.”

This is why Bernadette takes advantage of all the time she has been given to share her story—there’s more life worth living. She hopes anyone struggling with a diagnosis or finding adequate care has the means to get the treatment they need to live a better, longer life.

"I just can't imagine not doing everything I could to be where I am,” she says. “What have my children gained by having me here these last seven years?"

Bernadette advocates for every cancer patient to know they are worth a second opinion, a team they can depend on, and an oncologist that fits them just right—just like the perfect wedding dress.

Learn more about Saint Luke’s Koontz Center for Advanced Breast Cancer.