While driving to the barber shop in Douglasville, Ashley Penson of Tallapoosa knew it was time.
Her hair had been thinning for months, and she initially cut her hair into a fade in anticipation of the day she would shave it all off.
That day was today because two weeks after getting a fade, she saw a bald spot.
“I was like, ‘Nope, I don’t think I have the strength to watch my hair fall out,” the 42-year-old mom who is a sous chef at Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton said. “So, I was at home one day, and I just got up, and I drove to Douglasville to a barbershop I had never been to.”
When she arrived and walked in, she asked the barber if he could cut her bald. He looked at her and asked if she was sure.
Penson assured him she was, and he said, “I don’t want to be personal, but are you OK?”
“I said, ‘Well, I have cancer, and my hair is falling out,’" she said. "He said, 'We got you.'"
Fast forward to the day she attended her niece's birthday party and had the time of her life dancing to a song playing in the background. There were two biracial twin girls there who had alopecia and were bald.
"I'm just silly because that's who I am," she said. "I was dancing, and one of the little girls said I'm going to go dance with her."
Penson later learned that they went home that night and told their mom there was a lady at the birthday party who looked "just like us."
"They said they have never seen anyone like that," she said, holding back tears. "It made them feel proud of themselves to see someone else like them with no hair. Throughout this journey, that is the best feeling to make other little girls feel like it's OK to be bald."
Their mother messaged Penson on Facebook to thank her.
"She said, 'They came home, and that's all they could talk about — that they saw a lady just like them,'" she said.
They told their mom they had never seen a Black lady with no hair.
"They said, 'It didn't bother her, and it doesn't bother us anymore.'" she said. "They touched me."
Of course, Penson's cancer story doesn't begin here. It started in May 2021 when she woke up, took a shower and felt a lump.
A devastating discovery
Penson had a routine mammogram in February 2021 that came back clear, so discovering a lump months later probably should have been cause for alarm, but she didn't think much of it.
She went to work and talked to a coworker who told her she needed to see a doctor.
"I was like, 'Aw, it's just a lump. It'll go away,'" she recalled. "She said, 'No, go.'"
So that day, Penson made an appointment and went to the doctor, who ordered a diagnostic mammogram. On July 17, 2021, she had a mammogram and ultrasound.
After reviewing the results, Penson’s doctor recommended a biopsy, which was performed on July 21, 2021. When the results from the biopsy came in, she received a call from Raul Zunzunegui, MD — also known as “Dr. Z” by his patients — a breast surgeon with Tanner’s Comprehensive Breast Care Center.
Dr. Z told Penson she had stage 1 breast cancer, and it was aggressive.
"My heart dropped to my stomach," she recalled. "I was at home. I can remember the exact time. It was 6:31 p.m. when he called me. Everything went blank — like anything else he was saying sounded like the teacher on Charlie Brown. It was like, 'Mwa-mwa-mwa.'"
All she heard was, "Breast cancer... stage 1... it's aggressive."
"That's the only thing I could remember," she said.
Dr. Z told Penson the next step was seeing medical oncologist Bradley Larson, MD.
"I was like, 'OK,' and so when I got off the phone, I called my sisters," she said.
Penson called her older sister, Sara Penson, first.
"We laugh about it now, but as soon as I told her, she started screaming, and she hung up on me," she said. "I kind of laughed. I was like, 'She just hung up on me.' So, I called my oldest sister, Katrina (Owensby). I said, 'You know your sister just hung up on me.’"
Katrina told her Sara was probably in shock after hearing the news.
"She said, 'We got this. We got this journey. We've got your back,'" she recalled.
Learning she had cancer was hard not only because it's a scary diagnosis but because her mom passed away in 2020 from a massive heart attack.
"I just lost my mom," she said. "I was getting over that, and then you're telling me I have breast cancer now when I don't have my mom to comfort me. So, I was like, 'What am I going to do?'"
Starting the journey
Penson's treatment plan included neoadjuvant chemotherapy, a lumpectomy with sentinel node biopsy, radiation therapy and anti-estrogen medication (Tamoxifen).
Penson's treatment plan was very comprehensive and was designed to provide her with the best chance for a cure.
"Our approach to breast cancer treatment is very multidisciplinary," Dr. Z said. "We have a team of medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, breast surgeons and plastic surgeons who all work together to develop the best treatment plan for each patient."
Penson began her journey with neoadjuvant chemotherapy on Aug. 5, 2021. Chemotherapy is used to shrink the tumor before surgery
She underwent chemotherapy through October, but Dr. Z noticed that the lump was getting bigger.
"He said the chemo only touched 30% of the tumor," she said. "I got to stage 2."
So, she had surgery to remove the tumor on Oct. 29, 2021.
The power of a strong support system
Penson is thankful for the support she's received from her healthcare team.
"I haven't had a bad experience — not with the doctors, the nurses," she said. "All of them were just genuinely sweet."
Her healthcare team includes Dr. Z., Dr. Larson, radiation oncologist Anil Dhople, MD, and patient navigator Nicolle Rooks, RN. If Penson underwent chemotherapy on Thursday, Rooks would call on Friday to check in on her.
She also had the support of her family, which includes her sisters, older brother Demetris and god mother Renee Wallace.
"They have been my rock," she said. "Without them and my Tanner family — my work family — I don't think I would have been able to make it through this journey."
Support at work
Penson started working in food and nutrition services at Higgins General Hospital in Bremen in 2007. She stayed at Higgins General Hospital for about four years and then transferred to Carrollton.
After completing culinary school at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Tucker, she became a certified pastry chef.
"I worked in the bakery for maybe three or four years, then I switched to being a cook, and now I'm a sous chef," she said.
When Penson learned she had cancer, she didn't hesitate to tell her coworkers.
"I told them the day I found out," she recalled. "I called my chef, and I told him because we're like family."
When she returned to work the next day, she told everyone else.
"It was draining," she said. "I think everybody was drained that day. I don't think there was a dry eye in the kitchen."
She continued working while undergoing chemotherapy.
"I wanted to keep my mind busy," she said.
Penson would go to her treatments on Thursdays and then take Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays off. The most difficult part of treatment for Penson was not having energy.
In 2018, she took up walking to stay healthy after gastric bypass surgery and losing 160 pounds. Her starting weight was 310 pounds.
"After I got the gastric bypass, my life changed," she said. "I was able to move around. I was walking four to six miles a day."
Fast forward to the present, and now she can't walk a mile without feeling out of breath.
"You wouldn't think I didn't have energy because I work like 12 or 13 hours every day," she said. "Everybody at work calls me ‘Speedy’ because I'm running through here. You would never know I was tired."
But she took a break for about two months when the side effects began to interfere with her ability to do her job.
"Chemo made me nauseated, and when working around food, it wasn't good," she said.
Penson returned to work on Nov. 29, 2021. In January 2022, she started radiation and “rang the bell” in February.
The bell is located in Tanner’s Roy Richards, Sr. Cancer Center. Patients ring it as they leave the radiation treatment area following their final treatment. Penson's support system at work included a coworker she calls “Mama Bernice Glass.”
"She was there with me from day one," she said. "If I needed her to take me somewhere or if I needed something, she was there. If my sister couldn't be there, she would be there. It was her, Chef Matt and everyone in between. They've been there for me."
Another coworker, Donna Frazier, made her a blanket with pictures of her mom and two sons — 15-year-old Myles Ray and 22-year-old Faizun Ray.
"She took some pictures off my Facebook page and gave me a huge blanket," she said. "I think that was just the greatest thing, and then the day I had my tumor removed, they all met me at the door and walked me in before surgery."
A word of advice
Penson has advice for anyone preparing to start their own cancer journey.
"Keep the faith," she said. "Don't let fear take over. It's a shock at first. You think it's a death wish, but as long as you have faith, you can get through it."
Faith and family — at home and work — helped Penson get through her cancer journey.
"I'm very strong in my faith," she said. "I believe in God. I believe as long as you believe in him, you'll be OK."
Penson also wants to remind women to schedule a mammogram immediately if they notice anything unusual.
"If you find a lump, please get one," she said. "I don't care if you got one in February. If you feel something in April, go to the doctor."
If you or someone you know has been diagnosed with cancer, resources are available to help. Visit TannerBreastHealth.org for more information.
Life after cancer
Penson has been running as part of as her health journey after cancer. On Oct. 15, she will run in the Breast Cancer 5K in Tallapoosa, with the proceeds benefiting Tanner Foundation to help provide screening mammograms to women in our region who can’t otherwise afford them. Anyone who would like to sponsor or participate in Penson’s 5K run is invited to do so at tanner.org/ashleypenson.