An agonizing, burning pain in her left breast plagued Billie Klecko, then 37, for weeks as she breast-fed her baby girl. “I felt like I had a hot coal under my skin,” she recalls. Frightened, but not discouraged, the Jackson resident decided to be proactive and discuss the symptoms with her primary care doctor — a week after her daughter’s first birthday in January 2017.

After closer examination, Billie’s doctor advised she get a mammogram.

Her mammogram results were abnormal enough to require a follow-up ultrasound. Two days later, Billie found herself undergoing further examination with a biopsy.

Her tests revealed Billie’s diagnosis of stage 2 breast cancer.

Billie turned to the expert care of the highly specialized physicians at Hackensack Meridian Health for the most effective, individualized treatment.

Visit HackensackMeridianHealth.org/MeetBillie to learn how this Jackson resident teamed up with the experts at Hackensack Meridian Health to battle this diagnosis.