To say that 2022 was a pretty big year for Tess Hrezo, MS, OTR-L, is a bit of an understatement. She celebrated her 50th birthday. She got engaged to her now husband, Joe, and began planning for an October wedding. Tess had literally just sent out “Save The Date” cards and chosen a wedding dress when everything changed.

“I had lost a friend to breast cancer and was acutely aware that it affects one in eight women during their lifetime,” she says. “I also believed: this could never happen to me.”

Early in her own breast cancer journey, Tess met with Vincent E. Reyes, Jr., MD, Chief of Hematology & Medical Oncology at St. Clair Health, who also serves as Chief Medical Officer at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center.

“Give me a year, and I’ll give you a lifetime, he said to me,” she shares—the remembered words now beaming out like a vow. “Right from the beginning, Dr. Reyes had a plan.”

With no family history of breast cancer or associated lifestyle habits, the diagnosis in itself was unexpected. What followed over the course of the next year of great change: new elements that Tess and her care team, plus family and friends, anticipated together.

As part of her message of hope and breast cancer survivorship, Tess is particularly proud of the quality of life she maintained throughout her treatment, aided by the use of Cold Capping—a scalp-cooling therapy utilized to help reduce hair loss—during the chemotherapy stage.

“Successful women can continue being successful—even if they get cancer,” Tess says. “I want to share my story to help erase the stigma around being sick, because when you don’t have hair, it’s easy for people to see. But you can still have a life while you’re going through treatment—look at me, I
got married! Keeping my hair helped me to have a positive attitude and outlook on the treatment.”

Tess was excited to be able to move forward with their October wedding as planned after completing chemotherapy in September 2022. She says, “I feel like I definitely nailed it when I went through chemo, and I credit that to my now husband,” who provided endless support and carried the cooler containing the Cold Cap to every appointment.

Dr. Reyes shares, “It’s often the little things that make a huge difference—and that’s bigger than cancer.”

He continues, “When someone hears the word cancer in your office, all they really care about is, are they going to be okay. I try to reassure them that they can still be normal, emphasizing that their life doesn’t stop even though they have cancer.”

Dr. Reyes reassured Tess that she could still live her life during treatment—so that’s exactly what she did. While planning her wedding, she also continued working as an Occupational Therapist at St. Clair Health and Pediatric Therapist at UPMC Children’s Hospital.

“My story is a success because I was still able to live my life during chemotherapy,” says Tess. “I definitely felt every symptom that I was told I would feel, but the doctors and nurses set me up really well to feel good, even when I didn’t feel good.”