Every October, during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, CBS News Miami shares stories from viewers who give a glimpse into their personal battles.
This year, one of our own has a story to tell. Entertainment reporter Lisa Petrillo, who has graced South Florida screens for decades, is opening up after a 10-month battle that she kept private until now.
“I’m feeling great. I’ve been feeling great,” she said. “It was a shock what happened.”
A decade on South Florida screens
Lisa is known for her upbeat energy and entertainment coverage, from hot spots across South Florida to major events. Back in January, she featured the reopening of the iconic Mai-Kai restaurant in Fort Lauderdale. What viewers didn’t know at the time was that just minutes before going on camera, she received a phone call that changed her life.
“I get a call on I-95, and he’s like, ‘Yeah, Lisa, I’m sorry to tell you, you have a lobular tumor in your right breast,'” she recalled.
A self-exam leads to early detection
Days earlier, Lisa had gone in for a routine ultrasound of her left breast due to fibroids. The night before, she decided to do a self-check and found a hard lump on the right side.
“I woke up my husband and said, ‘Do you feel this?’ He told me it could be anything, but it bothered me,” she said.
At her appointment the next day, Lisa insisted doctors also examine her right breast. Initially, they refused because her prescription was only for the left side. She persisted, and that insistence led to an ultrasound that revealed early-stage breast cancer.
Doctors caught it at Stage One. Lisa underwent a lumpectomy followed by 15 days of radiation.
Moving forward with strength and support
She took about 10 days off work during treatment, even covering the South Beach Wine and Food Festival as usual. For nine months, she kept her diagnosis private, calling it only “the C word.”
“Now I can say I had breast cancer,” Lisa said. “That is big. It’s still hard for me to say. It’s still hard for me to talk about it.”
She has since connected with a supportive community of women and now hopes her story can help others. “If someone’s in the same situation as me, maybe it’s time for me to say what happened so I can help,” she said.
Lisa recently received her first post-treatment mammogram and all is well. She will remain on medication for the next five years but says she is otherwise feeling great.
Viewers can join Lisa’s CBS Miami colleagues at the Susan G. Komen “More Than Pink Walk” on Saturday, Oct. 4, at the Miami-Dade County Fair and Exposition.
