Destined to get cancer? Read Rachael Nicole Dye Arney’s story to find out why she believes that for herself.

HER-2 positive breast cancer patient has had chemotherapy, surgery, radiation therapy and is going through a clinical trial at the Nancy N. and J.C. Lewis Cancer & Research Pavilion

Have you ever been influenced by someone you’ve never met? Someone who possibly saved your life?

Rachael Nicole Dye Arney never met her paternal grandmother. Juanita Dye died on July 23, 1964, at the age of 38 to breast cancer. It was Rachael’s father’s 20^th birthday, which also happened to be the day he died in 2017. That day has become extremely personal to Rachael for those reasons.

Rachael grew up hearing stories about her grandmother and the sadness her father was left with after losing his mother at such a young age. That inspired Rachael to be proactive about her own health.

She started mammograms in her 20s – paying out of pocket for years – and has never missed one since. When she still lived in Missouri, she sought out genetic counseling but was told she didn’t qualify.

“I feel like I’ve been very cognizant, but here we are.”

“Here” at the time of this interview was in an infusion chair on the second floor of the Nancy N. and J.C. Lewis Cancer & Research Pavilion. Rachael, 52, was diagnosed with HER-2 positive breast cancer in late August of 2024.

Since, she’s remained proactive – this time about beating breast cancer. She’s had adjuvant chemotherapy (chemotherapy before surgery), a double mastectomy (the removal of both breasts), radiation therapy, more chemotherapy, and she is participating in a clinical trial.

“For me, our son Mason is 23, and if this is not going to go the way that I would like it to go, then I want to be able to clearly tell him I did everything that they asked me to do,” Rachael says. “And that I did everything I possibly could to help myself and hence our family.”

‘I think this was my destiny’

While getting ready for work, Rachael found a lump she describes as the size of a partially used bar of soap. It was big, but it wasn’t a surprise.

“Honestly, I think this was my destiny. I really believe that,” Rachael says. “I have never thought, ‘Why me?’ because ‘Why not me?’”

While not shocked, Rachael still felt a range of emotions from disappointment to scared to sad. She felt guilty having to tell her husband and son. The three had just moved to Pooler a few years earlier from Missouri. And as an only child, she felt so bad telling her mother, Deborah, that she flew back home to tell her in person.

But more than a year later after finding that lump, Rachael still hasn’t asked ‘Why me?’ or even gotten angry.

“I think you get the cards you are dealt, and you just have to play them. Breast cancer was one of my cards.”

On the road to recovery

A mammogram, ultrasound and biopsy confirmed what Rachael knew after finding that mass. She then met with Dr. Mark Taylor with Summit Cancer Care at St. Joseph’s/Candler and the LCRP. She started adjuvant chemotherapy, which she described as ugly, even though she knows there are uglier treatments out there.

The next leg on her road to recovery was surgery. She opted for a double mastectomy even though the cancer was only in her right breast and a few lymph nodes. That was followed by several rounds of radiation therapy, which she completed in June 2025.

But Rachael’s journey isn’t over yet. Every three weeks, she gets an infusion treatment with the drug Kadcyla. She recently finished cycle 9 out of 14.

In additional, Rachael is participating in a clinical trial that requires her to take oral medication twice a day. Tucatinib has been FDA approved to treat metastatic breast cancer, and the clinical trial is hoping to prove it’s also beneficially to treat HER-2 positive breast cancer.

Rachael has had the typical side effects such as chemo brain fog and losing her hair, but she’s grateful it hasn’t been worse.

“I haven’t prayed, ‘God take this away’ or ‘Let the next test show no cancer,’” Rachael says. “I pray, ‘God, give me the least possible trouble and issues with what I have to go through,’ and so far, it’s been very successful.”

One bell down, one to go

When Rachael finished her radiation treatment in the summer of 2025, she decided to ring the bell in the lobby of the LCRP. Ringing the bell symbolizes the end of treatment. Even though she still has one more bell to ring in the infusion center once she finishes chemotherapy, Rachael was confident she was done with radiation therapy.

With her that day were her husband, Scott, and supporters at the LCRP she didn’t even know she had. But also with her was the only photograph she’s ever seen of her paternal grandmother, whose own breast cancer death greatly impacted Rachael.

“I’ve always been very aware of breast cancer because of her story,” Rachael says. “She was a big influence on me even though we never met, and I’ve only seen one picture of her; hence why I brought that picture that day.”

Rachael continues to have a positive attitude through the rest of her treatment, in part, thanks to her support circle of family and friends. She encourages everyone – whether they have cancer or not – to start finding their support team now. She often quotes her father, this time saying, ‘You better save for a rainy day because eventually it’s going to rain.’

She is also thankful for her LCRP clinical research coordinator, Cierra Wiggins. Cierra goes to appointments with her, literally takes her drawn blood work across the street to Candler Hospital to be tested and answers any text message Rachael sends her way.

“She’s just amazing,” Rachael says. “I just feel so well taken care of. Cierra makes me feel important.”

Additionally, Rachael credits her strong fight to her faith.

“What I find interesting is we live life forward but we understand it backward,” Rachael says. “I understand completely looking back why my faith was a focus in my life and a strength because it was preparing me for this.”

So what does Rachael see in her future? Obviously a complete and full recovery. But, she also looks forward to finding her new normal as a cancer survivor while hopefully helping others.

“I do think there is a definite plan for me to somehow, someway assist with people who have cancer, specifically breast cancer. Simply because I don’t think God would have set me up with the faith and given me everything I have gone through without giving me a plan on the other side to be able to help people,” Rachael says. “I’ve been a funeral director since 2007, so I’ve helped people off and on since then, but I feel my future will somehow be helping people in another way. Not just at the funeral home, but in addition to.”