LaTonya Rodney Faces Breast Cancer Twice With Strength and Purpose
Six years after beating breast cancer, LaTonya Rodney found herself facing the diagnosis she never wanted to hear again. She knew she was at a higher risk of her breast cancer returning, but knowing that possibility existed didn’t make hearing the news any easier.
In November 2025, she discovered a lump in the same breast where she had been diagnosed with cancer in 2019. This time, though, she had something she didn’t have with her first diagnosis - perspective. She knew what was ahead, and she knew she could get through it.
LaTonya’s says her outlook remained the same: “stay positive, take things one day at a time, and remember that God is faithful.” She completed treatment in May 2026 and underwent a double mastectomy in June. Throughout it all, she continued working in early childhood education, staying active with her church and spending time with her two young grandchildren. Staying busy helped her focus on the present rather than the uncertainty of what might come next.
When LaTonya discovered a lump in her right breast in February 2019, it would take four months before she had it checked.
Looking back, she spent time beating herself up for waiting. But once she received her diagnosis — stage 2 triple-negative breast cancer, an aggressive form of the disease — she knew there was no time to dwell on what she could have done differently.
But her experience, which included surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, gave her a new purpose: helping other women.
LaTonya continues to encourage women to be in tune with their bodies, schedule their annual mammograms and speak up when they notice something different or unusual. She knows firsthand how easy it can be to think cancer happens to other people.
Now, she uses her experience to support others facing the same challenge. She has accompanied women to doctor’s appointments, offered a listening ear and been there for them when they needed someone who understood what they were going through.
She continued doing that even while facing cancer for the second time.
Throughout her first cancer journey, LaTonya often thought about a favorite poem that ends with the words, “you’ve just come to a bend in the road.”
Her second diagnosis brought her to another bend. But LaTonya says she has learned that a bend in the road doesn’t mean the journey is over.
Today, she continues follow-up care with her oncologist and the Baton Rouge General High-Risk Breast Clinic. And while she knows there are no guarantees about what the future holds, she chooses to focus on what she can do today -- stay positive, keep moving forward, and help someone else along the way.