Six months before her wedding, 33-year-old Joyelle Fleming received devastating news — she had breast cancer. “I did six rounds of chemotherapy, then a double mastectomy,” Fleming said.
“Once I recovered, I had 14 more rounds of chemo — and then I was done,” she told Straight Arrow News.
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Fleming documented her treatment journey through Instagram videos and a newsletter she shared with family and friends. What began as a way to educate others and process her experience ended up saving another life — her father’s.
“My dad told me, ‘I looked up to you and how you handled it to model how I handled it,’” Fleming said. “That always made my heart happy. There’s not a lot of times when parents say they look up to their kids.”
While on vacation in Hawaii, Alton Fleming, Joyelle’s father, felt a painful lump in his chest.
“It was painful — that’s what caught my attention,” he said. The lump turned out to be stage 2 breast cancer.
Following his diagnosis, both father and daughter underwent genetic testing through the Lurie Cancer Center at Northwestern Medicine to understand if there might be an inherited cause. The results showed no genetic markers and two different types of breast cancer, meaning their diagnoses were purely coincidental.
“When I was diagnosed, I was actually at peace,” Alton Fleming said. “My daughter had just gone through this, and she showed me how to get through it.”
The Flemings grew even closer as they navigated their treatments together. Now both cancer-free, they continue to advocate for early detection and self-checks, which they say can literally save lives.
“It really highlighted to me that men, too, can have breast cancer,” Joyelle said. “It’s not common — only about 1% of cases — but it’s important not to ignore the symptoms.”
Both Joyelle and Alton hope their story reminds others to pay attention to changes in their bodies and to have open conversations about health within their families.
“Cancer doesn’t discriminate,” Joyelle said. “If sharing our story helps even one person get checked earlier, it’s worth it.”
