Malerie Sloshay had never needed a biopsy in her life — until she did. “You know when you have a feeling something is wrong, and you hope and pray it’s not and that you’re overreacting? I had that feeling,” she remembers. “After all the tests were done, I got a call from the doctor that they had found breast cancer. I thought, ‘What am I going to do?’ My wife and I have an 11-year-old daughter. What if I’m not going to be around for her?”

Malerie was taken aback, even though she was told the tumor was small, the cancer was in its early stages, and treatment was available. From there, she says, it was all about being in “turbo speed” to make the necessary appointments to get treatment underway. “The testing was in February and my surgery was in March [2024], and I feel like I still haven’t processed it yet.”

Enter Sumana Narayanan. After Malerie received the news of her diagnosis, Dr. Narayanan was the first doctor she met with. “If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t have found the strength to move forward with necessary treatment,” Malerie says.

One of Malerie’s toughest challenges, she says, was the waiting period between tests. “There are so many steps to take to make sure you’re going to get the right treatment,” she explains. “Your mind and your head take over while you’re waiting, and you have absolutely no control. Dr. Narayanan is one of a handful of people who have seen me at my messiest stage of life, and she helped me get through it. She was just able to put everything in perspective, to remind me to breathe.

“I was having lunch with my friends one day about a week before my surgery, but I was not myself. The phone rang and it was Dr. N. I explained to her how I was having trouble breathing, that I was worried about my wife and my daughter, and she said three words that changed everything for me. She said: ‘I got you.’ And when I went back inside, my friends said, ‘What happened? You look so much better.’ I felt like a weight had been lifted from my body.”

It was the medical team that treated Malerie and the team at Mount Sinai that made all the difference on her road to recovery. “They make you feel you are all that matters to them,” she says. “Like they aren’t treating the patients before or after you; they are only thinking of you.”

Her advice for anyone about to start a treatment journey at Mount Sinai: “Try not to let your diagnosis define you. You’re the same person you were before. If anything, you have an opportunity to be stronger and more powerful by getting through your journey. Reevaluate what’s important. Practice gratitude. Be happy.”

Dr. Sumana Narayanan, a surgical oncologist at Mount Sinai’s Comprehensive Cancer Center, combines deep scientific expertise with a personal touch in cancer care. “Cancer changes lives profoundly; my goal is to guide patients like Malerie knowledgeably and compassionately through their treatment,” Dr. Narayanan shares.

Her approach shines in her care for Malerie, who faced a challenging cancer diagnosis. “Malerie came to me with a small, estrogen-positive form of cancer,” she says. “We tailored her treatment from surgery to follow-up, ensuring each step was understood and manageable,” Dr. Narayanan recalls, emphasizing the importance of support beyond medical procedures.

Dr. Narayanan is enthusiastic about the Braman Comprehensive Cancer Center’s potential to enhance cancer care: “The center will unite advanced research and comprehensive treatment options, providing a sanctuary for patients and a beacon for medical innovation.”