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<\/p>\nBy nature, twins have an unbreakable bond.<\/p>\n
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It was no surprise Connie Claeys and Cortney Drover did everything together: Growing up in Saskatchewan, moving to Alberta and even working at the same place.<\/p>\n
The pair of identical twins have experienced life through a similar lens. In their late 20s, they faced their biggest challenge yet \u2014 side by side.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m actually the oldest twin by five minutes\u2026 I feel like I\u2019ve kind of done everything first,\u201d Drover explains.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was no different \u2014 I got diagnosed in 2015 with Stage 3 breast cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Drover was just months away from turning 30.<\/p>\n
\u201cI actually had a lump under my armpit\u2026 being that young, it\u2019s just not even on your radar\u2026 I\u2019ve never been, honestly, so shocked in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Drover began eight rounds of chemotherapy, as well as undergoing a double mastectomy and radiation therapy.<\/p>\n
News of the diagnosis compelled Connie, who was symptom-free, to also get checked.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe next thing I knew, I was getting called into the clinic because I also had breast cancer,\u201d Claeys recalled.<\/p>\n
\u201cEspecially back in 2015, it was just unheard of at that time, I feel, for women our age. It was terrifying.\u201d<\/p>\n
Claeys credits her sister for helping find the cancer so quickly, and the two sought answers as to how this could happen to both of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got tested for the BRCA2 gene, which we found out we both carry. That does give you a significantly higher chance of having breast cancer,\u201d Claeys said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt answered our questions. As sad as it is that we both have (breast cancer), we could accept it more,\u201d Drover explained.<\/p>\n
After several years, both women thought they were in the clear of the disease.<\/p>\n
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A little more than five years after Drover\u2019s initial diagnosis, she found another lump on her neck and was diagnosed again, this time with Stave 4 metastatic breast cancer\u00a0 \u2014 spreading beyond the breast and nearby lymph nodes to other organs.<\/p>\n
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It rocked the tight-knit family once again, and Claeys says she carried a lot of guilt watching her sister begin the fight again.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Court got diagnosed in 2020 and I was cancer-free at that time, I would say that was the hardest two years of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
But in 2022, Claeys would resume her fight as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was actually just at an appointment with Cortney, just supporting her \u2014 our oncologist asked me to be part of a trial that prevents metastatic breast cancer from occurring.\u201d<\/p>\n
Claeys agreed, and underwent a CT scan to ensure everything was clear.<\/p>\n
\u201cI ended up having a lump on my left lung.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead of going on a trial to prevent it, I got my Stage 4 diagnosis.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a battle that\u2019s lasted 10 years and will continue to take place for the rest of their lives.<\/p>\n
The sisters already thought they were inseparable, but the experience has brought them even closer together.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I\u2019m having a bad day and saying \u2018My medication has made me feel like this,\u2019 she gets it because she has the exact same things happening in her body \u2014 the exact same emotions,\u201d Drover said.<\/p>\n
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The two women live minutes apart from each other in Okotoks, Alta. They say they\u2019re thriving but even today, their experience is somewhat different.<\/p>\n
Drover struggles with the effects of medication more so than\u00a0Claeys, who says she\u2019s still symptom-free.<\/p>\n
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