2 Chicago area teachers forge friendship over breast cancer diagnoses
ROMEOVILLE, Ill. (CBS) – Many people have a "work best friend," someone to share a lunch or a laugh with.
CBS 2's Lauren Victory had the story about two Romeoville teachers who walked the same halls for years but only recently formed a bond over a serious situation that brought them together.
Some adorable first graders at Irene King Elementary School in Romeoville were singing about sunshine and rain on the same day CBS 2 came to learn about the storm weathered by not one but two teachers at the school over the past year.
"The ultrasound tech said, 'Well, if they want to biopsy, it's better to be safe than sorry,'" teacher Laura Gress recalled. "And I knew in that moment, game over."
Gress received a breast cancer diagnosis in October of 2022. The early childhood educator decided to go through with a double mastectomy, then needed more treatment.
"I went through four rounds of chemo and then I went through 28 rounds of radiation," she said.
Gress returned to school where news traveled of another breast cancer battle down the hall.
"I was diagnosed officially March 31 of this year," said Michelle Pytel.
Pytel, who teaches first graders, was processing calls from a doctor while putting on a brave face for her students.
"My heart broke in a million pieces for her and I knew immediately that I was meant to reach out to her," Gress said.
The two women knew each other from working in the same building for years, but never really talked.
"It's been like an 'Oh, I like your outfit, cute hair, cute earrings!' in passing, but the actual bond started when you walked into my classroom that day," Pytel said to Gress.
Gress popped by with an offer to share her experience. That led to an lunch where she talked Pytel through what to ask her doctors.
"It helped take away a lot of that anxiety of now knowing what's going to happen," Pytel said. "What we thought maybe would be an hour lunch, I think we were together for six."
They've been inseparable ever since, escorting each other to doctors appointments and starting hormone therapy medicine on the same day.
"[We're] texting each other to say 'I need a walk,'" Pytel said. "We'll go on a five-mile walk and just talk about maybe some concerns or talk each other off the ledge that day."
They made sure to have time for fun.
Victory: "What are some other things you guys have done together?"
Gress: "Drink margaritas. It's all about balance, right? Walking, margaritas, tacos."
Both said their families are an amazing support system, but there's something different about going on the journey with someone in the same place, literally, at their school.
"It's like your sister rounding the corner that gives you that little wave and you know like, there's my Thelma," Pytel said.
Gress added, "Yeah. She's my Louise."
Their students have undoubtedly picked up on the sweet tale of friendship, but the educators asked to do the interview to create a teachable moment for adults: that cancer doesn't discriminate.
"Michele has no family history, where my mother passed away from breast cancer," Gress said. "Michele has a relatively thin build where I'm a little bit thicker."
They said to keep up with your mammograms and never feel shy about asking for or offering support.
"We're breasties!" they said.
The latest guidance about breast cancer screenings suggest women begin to get regular mammograms when they're 40 years old and older.