On Buddy Check Day, a Jacksonville grandmother shares how a routine mammogram found breast cancer she could not feel.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Marcele loves cats, especially her rescue cat. She says he was her best pal during radiation treatment for breast cancer.

Now, though, she’s rung the bell and her days of treatments are behind her. 

Marcele beat breast cancer because she paid attention.

She’s loyal to Buddy Check.

“I am a Jacksonville native and I’ve been watching you teach women about Buddy Check,” Marcele said in a conversation with First Coast News anchor, Jeannie Blaylock. She says she followed all the recommended steps to catch breast cancer early.

So she knew — never skip your mammogram.

After her exam, that’s where she learned an important keyword: pleomorphic.

At Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center, Marcele’s doctor, Dr. Karen Ching-Tismal, showed us exactly what that means.

“We’re looking at mammogram of the right breast,” Dr. Ching-Tismal explained.

On the screen, tiny white dots were visible — called calcifications.


“The same calcium you have in bones and teeth, but sometimes they’ve grown in breast tissue and can be early manifestations of breast cancer,” she said.

Some of Marcele’s white dots were clustered together. That’s one sign they’re pleomorphic. Another is if they have irregular shapes.

Their appearance is a red flag; a sign that there could be early-stage cancer.


This is the whole reason women should get mammograms. You can’t feel those pleomorphic spots; they’re too tiny. Too tiny to feel — but not too tiny to find on a mammogram.

So thank goodness Marcelle caught her breast cancer early.

“It gives you a different outlook on life…and you can’t go through it without God holding your hand,” she said.

Now she’s alive for her six grandchildren, who call her Mimi.

“And they’re — they’re perfect!” Blaylock said.

“They’re beyond perfect …beautiful, yes,” Marcelle laughed.


Once a month is Buddy Check Day — the time to do self-exams and set up mammogram appointments to catch breast cancer early.

If Buddy Check has helped you or someone you love, email First Coast News Anchor and Buddy Check Founder Jeannie Blaylock at JBlaylock@firstcoastnews.com

And if you’d like to bring our Buddy Bus — the mobile mammography unit with Baptist MD Anderson — straight to your workplace parking lot, schedule a visit online now: https://baptistjax.com/buddy

We bring mammograms directly to your group, school or business, because finding cancer early can save your life.