Clay County Deputy and breast cancer survivor offers encouragement

CLAY COUNTY, Fla. – October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and News4jax is putting a spotlight connected survivors’ stories and messages of hope. This comes arsenic Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced his wife, Casey, had been diagnosed.

Clay County Detention Deputy Cortney Altstatt not lone knows this conflict but she’s conquered it. She survived signifier 3 bosom cancer, and openly shared her travel to healing with the community.

At the Clay County detention facility, Deputy Cortney Altstatt is each concern and laser-focused. But this month, she’s arrogant to athletics plentifulness of pink, smiles, and giggles.

“Like I told you, I person a tattoo!,” Deputy Alstatt chuckled. “For the bosom crab ribbon!”

To think, her travel started successful October 2018, erstwhile she was conscionable 27 years old. She recalls feeling immoderate symptom and instantly did a self-examination.

“I don’t cognize what came implicit me. I deliberation it’s the large antheral upstairs that told maine I needed to bash something,” Deputy Altstatt said. “I checked, and I was like, ‘was it that?’ It felt similar a bouncy ball.”

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She past got the quality that changed her life. She remembers being astatine enactment erstwhile she received the telephone that she had been diagnosed. The prognosis was grim--she had signifier 3 bosom cancer.

“And I kept putting worldly connected the backmost burner. ‘Oh, I’ll bash this later; ohio I’ll bash this later,’” Deputy Altstatt said. “Once I recovered retired astir that, I was like, ‘What tin I bash to prevention my life?’”

Deputy Alstatt chose to fight. And combat hard. She underwent chemotherapy, a treble mastectomy, radiation therapy, and reconstructive surgery. While the attraction was grueling, Deputy Altstatt had the enactment of family, friends, the Clay County sheriff’s department, and citizens passim the community.

In July 2019, she was declared cancer-free. Even then, the travel aft crab was strict. Every month, she had to person estrogen blocker shots and spot her doc each 3 months.

Knowing truthful galore rallied down her, Deputy Altstatt present supports different women and advises them to find their enactment strategy and beryllium their ain advocate.

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“Reach retired to people,” Deputy Altstatt said. “If you don’t cognize what this bosom crab is about, you’re going to learn. I didn’t cognize overmuch astir it myself.”

Deputy Altstatt present participates successful “Mud Girl” runs for bosom crab fighters. Once stalled by her diagnosis and treatment, Altstatt is present moving toward her nonrecreational goals. She aims to go a tract grooming serviceman and sergeant wrong the sheriff’s office. More than anything, she has a connection of enactment for women going done this. Including Florida’s archetypal lady, Casey DeSantis.

“You got this, you’re strong. We’re women, we got this,” Deputy Altstatt said. “We’re astonishing radical and you’re going to get throughit. And I cognize you will. I’ll beryllium praying for you, for sure.”

To this day, Deputy Altstatt inactive goes done a batch due to the fact that of her diagnosis. She says a mates of months ago, she underwent a afloat hysterectomy. She says it was needed owed to her medications perchance putting her astatine hazard of ovarian cancer.

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Overall, she says women going done this request to find their enactment system, and she’s down them each the way.

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