The American Spirit: Battling Cancer
As a member of Congress, Debbie Wasserman Schultzis used to living her life out in the open. But until recently, she managed to hide a huge secret, reports CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes.
"My main reason for wanting to deal with it privately until I was already all the way through it was so that I could protect my kids," Wasserman Schultz said.
She's talking about the seven surgeries - including a double mastectomy - she endured last year after discovering she had breast cancer at the young age of 41.
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"We have Congressional recesses when I was able to schedule my surgeries, and you know enough recovery time to get back up and running when we went back into session," Wasserman Schultz said. "I juggled."
The mother of three, who commutes from Florida, is used to juggling - and on the Hill, she's known for being tough and blunt.
Which is why the Congresswoman surprised everyone this spring when she came forward, and broke down.
"I didn't find my tumor because of luck," Wasserman Schultz said. "I found my tumor because of knowledge and awareness."
But it's what happened since that day that surprised her even more.
"I got so many e-mails and handwritten letters," she said. "Hundreds and hundreds like this, it's been absolutely incredible."
The messages thank her for going public.
"I was at a parade in my district two weeks ago and a woman came up, grabbed my wrist and said 'you saved my life Debbie,'" Wasserman Schutlz said. "She said after she'd seen my story she did a breast self exam right away and she found a lump … She found a lump and she had a biopsy scheduled that week."
It made her realize how many women, especially young women, are unfamiliar with the risk breast cancer poses.
More than 25,000 American women younger than 45 are diagnosed with the disease every year. Eight of these women die every day.
Wasserman Schultz decided to write her own bill, which would give grants to educate young women on how to detect breast cancer and how to deal with it.
"More than half of young women are not receiving the timely treatment that they need," Wasserman Schultz said.
And they rarely get tested to see if, like Wasserman Schultz, they are genetically predisposed to breast cancer.
"How are you feeling now?" Cordes asked Wasserman Schultz.
"I'm feeling great" she said. "Everything is good."
All because she caught her cancer early - a lesson she decided was just too important to keep secret.
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