Health Care heroes Four champions of care who inspire hope and healing to our community Photography by J ohn Mi chael Si m pson
travis Brady
By An n a- R hesa Versol a
ravis Brady
discovered what she thought was a swollen lymph node under her arm while playing with her daughter, Grier Grose, who was 2 at the time. “I was tickling her, and she accidentally kicked me under my left arm, and I was like, ‘Whoa, that hurt,’’’ Travis recalls. She made an appointment in January 2016 to see her doctor but missed it due to a business meeting in Northern California, where she and her family were 54
chapelhillmagazine.com
“It was always a dream of mine to write a book; I went to school for creative writing. I never thought this was the book that I would write. I’m in the process of this dream coming true; then we’ll see what the new dream is.”
November/December 2024
– Travis Brady
living. They were already preparing to relocate to the East Coast that April when she was finally able to see her physician. “As soon as he touched it, his whole demeanor changed,” she recalls, adding that it never occurred to her that the area beneath the armpit is considered part of the breast. Travis, a native of Salisbury, North Carolina, had her first biopsy in California. A couple of weeks later, she and her husband, David Grose, who played lacrosse at UNC, had moved across the country with their daughter to Durham. Travis had additional tests at Duke University Hospital, and at age 45, she was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer. She underwent a lumpectomy and removal of 22 lymph nodes – five were positive for cancer. Travis, who believes in second opinions, chose a different oncologist who recommended a more aggressive treatment regimen at UNC. She endured a year’s rough passage of chemotherapy infusions, radiation, needle sticks and myriad side effects.