When Nicole Flowers felt a small lump while showering one morning, she almost brushed it off. “It felt like a blueberry,” she recalled. “My best friend felt it, then my mom, and we all thought, ‘Well, let’s just be safe and get it checked out.’”
That simple act of self-awareness — listening to her body — ended up saving her life.
Born and raised in Burlingame, Flowers had spent her life in leadership roles: student body president, president of her sorority at Pepperdine, and a professional career spanning Genentech, Facebook and Airbnb. She even trained sales and marketing teams on oncology products during her decade at Genentech.
“I worked with oncologists, radiation oncologists and patients,” she said. “But never did I imagine I’d one day be the patient.”
At 41, after years of excellent health, Flowers was diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer. The news came just two days after her biopsy.
“I remember sitting there in a paper gown for a regular checkup,” she said. “My doctor looked at my file and said, ‘I have the results.’ I told her I wanted my mom there, but she kept asking if she could just tell me. That’s when I knew. If it wasn’t cancer, she would’ve said I was fine.”
Flowers’ diagnosis set off a whirlwind. Within 13 days, her care team at Sutter’s Palo Alto Medical Foundation had her tumor removed.
“My surgeon told me, ‘You saved your own life.’ It was aggressive and grew quickly. If I had waited even a couple of months, it could’ve been a different story.”
Her experience reinforced a message she now shares with everyone she meets: Don’t ignore what your body tells you. “Women are intuitive,” she said. “We know when something’s off. It’s scary to face the unknown, but it’s scarier to worry alone.”
“Nicole Flowers demonstrated the remarkable resilience and beauty that is being human,” said Victoria Erslovas, a license clinical social worker at the Dorothy E. Schneider Cancer Center at Mills-Peninsula Medical Center. “Nicole’s grace, wit and candor helped her soar throughout her chemo and radiation treatments.”
Flowers’ journey through surgery, chemotherapy and recovery was anchored by three constants: faith, family and support. Raised by her mother and grandmother, faith has always been central to her life. “I was mad at God at first,” she admitted. “We prayed it wouldn’t be cancer. It was. We prayed I wouldn’t need chemo. I did. But through that pain came perspective, and eventually, peace. His joy has come back.”
Her family and friends became her lifeline. “My mom, my brother, my aunt, my girlfriends — they sat with me, prayed with me, laughed with me,” Flowers said. “They made sure I never faced it alone.”
Now two years cancer-free, Flowers reflects on how the experience reshaped her. “I wouldn’t be as beautiful as I am inside without it,” she said. “Cancer gave me a new perspective. I’m protective of my peace, my time and the people I love. I get to live the rest of my life with that clarity.”
To those afraid to get screened, Flowers offers reassurance. “It’s scary, but you can do it. You’ll be surrounded by people who know how to care for you. Finding out gives you power. It gives you a chance to live.”
For Flowers, early detection and faith-driven resilience turned fear into gratitude and transformed a diagnosis into a testimony of hope.
