{"id":153734,"date":"2026-02-13T00:24:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T00:24:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/153734\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T00:24:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T00:24:08","slug":"what-are-pleomorphic-calcifications-a-jacksonville-grandmother-shares-her-breast-cancer-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/153734\/","title":{"rendered":"What are pleomorphic calcifications? A Jacksonville grandmother shares her breast cancer journey"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Buddy Check Day, a Jacksonville grandmother shares how a routine mammogram found breast cancer she could not feel.<\/p>\n

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 Marcele loves cats, especially her rescue cat. She says he was her best pal during radiation treatment for breast cancer.<\/p>\n

Now, though, she’s rung the bell and her days of treatments are behind her.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Marcele beat breast cancer because she paid attention.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s loyal to Buddy Check.<\/p>\n

“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.<\/p>\n

So she knew \u2014 never skip your mammogram.<\/p>\n

After her exam, that’s where she learned an important keyword: pleomorphic.<\/p>\n

At Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center, Marcele\u2019s doctor, Dr. Karen Ching-Tismal, showed us exactly what that means.<\/p>\n

“We’re looking at mammogram of the right breast,” Dr. Ching-Tismal explained.<\/p>\n

On the screen, tiny white dots were visible \u2014 called calcifications.<\/p>\n


\n \"\"<\/p>\n

“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.<\/p>\n

Some of Marcele\u2019s white dots were clustered together. That\u2019s one sign they\u2019re pleomorphic. Another is if they have irregular shapes.<\/p>\n

Their appearance is a red flag; a sign that there could be early-stage cancer.<\/p>\n


\n \"\"<\/p>\n

This is the whole reason women should get mammograms. You can’t feel those pleomorphic spots; they’re too tiny. Too tiny to feel \u2014 but not too tiny to find on a mammogram.<\/p>\n

So thank goodness Marcelle caught her breast cancer early.<\/p>\n

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

Now she\u2019s alive for her six grandchildren, who call her Mimi.<\/p>\n

“And they’re \u2014 they’re perfect!” Blaylock said.<\/p>\n

“They’re beyond perfect …beautiful, yes,” Marcelle laughed.<\/p>\n


\n \"\"<\/p>\n

Once a month is Buddy Check Day \u2014 the time to do self-exams and set up mammogram appointments to catch breast cancer early.<\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/p>\n

And if you\u2019d like to bring our Buddy Bus \u2014 the mobile mammography unit with Baptist MD Anderson \u2014 straight to your workplace parking lot, schedule a visit online now: https:\/\/baptistjax.com\/buddy<\/a><\/p>\n

We bring mammograms directly to your group, school or business, because finding cancer early can save your life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Buddy Check Day, a Jacksonville grandmother shares how a routine mammogram found breast cancer she could not…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":153735,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-153734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153734"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153734\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/153735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}