With less than 60 days in her new job, Lisa Whitmore Davis found herself in the emergency room. It was a medical mystery. At the time, she was a 57-year-old healthy woman living her life full of travel, fun and family. But that time was unexpectedly interrupted when, in August 2023, she began experiencing severe chest pain and struggled to breathe. While having trouble breathing on the phone, her daughter, Allantѐ, suggested that Whitmore Davis go straight to urgent care.
When she arrived, the staff recognized her struggle to breathe and urged her to get to the hospital immediately. The team prepared to call an ambulance, but Whitmore Davis drove herself. She had no idea what doctors would eventually discover.
At the ER, the staff was preparing to send her home with unresolved pain and instructions to follow up with her primary care provider, but Whitmore Davis requested of the emergency physician, ‘Please don’t send me home. Something is wrong, and it hurts to breathe.’
The emergency physician listened, ran a CT scan, and ended up diagnosing her with three life-threatening pulmonary embolisms lodged in her right lung.
One doctor visited her hospital room and asked her, ‘Do you have any known cancers or malignancies in your body?’ With great disbelief, she replied, ‘No.’
After spending a week in the hospital before being discharged, an otherwise healthy, active individual was determined to uncover what had happened to her.
Whitmore Davis began the five-month journey of visiting multiple specialists to find out what caused her blood clots, and during that time, she became unemployed. On that journey, she was evaluated by an endocrinologist, cardiologist, pulmonologist, internist, and hematologist, but no one was able to determine why she experienced three pulmonary embolisms. One specialist even noted, ‘Maybe we’ll never know why you have these blood clots.’ That answer was insufficient for her, her family and her friends.
How Could it Be Breast Cancer?
After months of seeing specialists, Whitmore Davis arrived for her routine exam at her obstetrics and gynecology (OB-GYN) office. Whitmore Davis always trusted her OB-GYN of 20 years and shared how she experienced blood clots a couple of months prior. Her provider comforted her with the words, ‘That’s not normal, but we will figure out what is wrong with you.’
Based on what her OB-GYN learned during her appointment, she wanted Whitmore Davis to get an abdominal CT, pelvic CT and 3D mammogram. However, her former employer's insurance provider refused to approve several tests, but approved the 3D mammogram.
While fighting with the insurance carrier, her OB-GYN sent a screening mammogram order to Karmanos Cancer Institute.
“Over the past 10 years, I have had all my mammograms at Karmanos. ‘I’m a Karmanos girl,’” Whitmore Davis said she told her provider.
3D mammography (tomosynthesis) is a revolutionary screening and diagnostic tool designed for early detection of breast cancer. Featuring next-generation technology, 3D mammography imaging acquires a series of images of the compressed breast at different angles. When combined with conventional 2D digital mammography, breast cancer screening with tomosynthesis has a higher cancer detection rate than conventional 2D digital mammography alone.
On Jan. 23, 2024, Whitmore Davis received the call. The 3D mammogram results came back with a concerning diagnosis, so she was seen the very next day by Eric Brown, M.D., FACS, breast surgeon and co-leader of the Breast Cancer Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute. Dr. Brown sees patients at Karmanos Cancer Institute at Lawrence and Idell Weisberg Cancer Center in Farmington Hills.
“When you hear you have cancer, all you can think is, ‘How am I going to make it through this?’” Whitmore Davis expressed.
Based on the 3D mammogram results, Dr. Brown diagnosed Whitmore Davis with stage II breast cancer. The tumor in her breast was so small that no one could have felt it.
“An unprovoked clot - meaning an unexplained clot for a healthy individual - may be a hidden cause for cancer,” explained Jalian Elayoubi, M.D., member of the Breast Cancer MDT. She is Whitmore Davis’ medical oncologist, another specialist on her breast cancer care team.
“Breast cancer is not the most common cause of blood clots. Pancreatic cancer is the most common cancer that may cause blood clots, and clots are sometimes the very reason the cancer is discovered,” Dr. Elayoubi enlightened.
“The only way we could see the tumor was the 3D mammogram,” said Dr. Brown. He advised Whitmore Davis to consider surgery, followed by radiation.
Cancer has a strong history in Whitmore Davis’ immediate family. Her mother was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, while her father was diagnosed with lung cancer.
Whitmore Davis decided to schedule her partial lumpectomy for March 2024.
“My surgery was scheduled right before my 58th birthday,” she said. “It brought to light the reality that I was diagnosed with cancer at 57, which is the same age my mother was diagnosed with cancer.”
The partial lumpectomy revealed Whitmore Davis had stage I, grade III HR+/HER2- breast cancer. The pathology report indicated no lymph nodes were affected; however, since this was an aggressive form of breast cancer, Dr. Brown advised her to consider chemotherapy.
“If this were my family member with this type of cancer, I would strongly advise her to choose chemotherapy,” he said.
Beginning Treatments and Participating in a Clinical Trial
With her courageous daughter and caregiver by her side, Whitmore Davis began her first of five rounds of chemotherapy.
“My infusion team was so kind and attentive to me and my needs,” she expressed.
She consented to participate in a clinical trial connected to her chemotherapy treatments, as part of a neuropathy study.
“I wanted to help people. It’s important for us to have our data included to create new methodologies, approaches, and cures for women of color.”
After her first round of chemotherapy, Whitmore Davis went home and slept for 18 hours straight. Her body experienced myelosuppression, a bone marrow reaction after chemotherapy.
“Dr. Elayoubi was travelling for vacation at the time, but she remained on the phone with me and was even able to connect with the staff at the hospital to ensure I was well cared for,” she recounted. “You can’t help but love your care team when they go to lengths like Dr. Elayoubi went for me.”
During her four-day stay at the hospital after her bone marrow reaction, Whitmore Davis emphasized the personalized care she received.
“The chief nursing officer at Karmanos even visited me in my hospital room. She gave me her phone number to keep her updated on how I was doing. That’s the type of care I appreciate at Karmanos,” she said.
Before starting the second round of chemotherapy, the team at Karmanos adjusted her regimen to be more manageable with additional fluids after the chemotherapy treatments.
“I love my Karmanos care team so much! They knew how to provide quality care to support me when I felt so bad.”
Coping with Cancer in a Creative Way
Throughout her cancer journey, Whitmore Davis, a self-proclaimed “photo lady,” took pictures and videos to help her process what she was going through. She chronicled the trips to the infusion center, trips to the doctor, and even right before the surgery.
“I hoped it would help sort out what exactly I was going through and even to help process during survivorship.”
At the end of July 2024, Whitmore Davis courageously completed her fifth and final round of chemotherapy.
“My daughter was there for me the entire time. When I experienced my blood clots, she was only eight days married, and yet she and her husband have been there for me through it all,” she shared.
In September 2024, Whitmore Davis discussed the path forward with Jordan Maier, M.D., to incorporate radiation into her cancer treatment. Dr. Maier is a radiation oncologist and member of the Breast Cancer MDT who sees patients at the Karmanos location in Farmington Hills.
With Dr. Maier's input and advice, Whitmore Davis was given hypofractionated radiation. This type of radiation administers larger doses of radiation over fewer sessions. She completed all her radiation treatments in less than one week.
After her final radiation treatment, she proudly and triumphantly rang the bell to signify the completion of her cancer treatment. Surrounded by her pastor and his wife, family, and over 30 friends on Zoom, Whitmore Davis immediately began to sing, ‘Oh, Lord, how excellent!’
“I just started singing because I knew the Lord had brought me through!”
Ringing the bell signified a new beginning.
Whitmore Davis recognized and appreciated the authentic compassion of all the Karmanos staff who stood by her every step of the way.
“My two social workers, Kathleen and Lauren, were not part of my medical team, but they were an essential part of my Karmanos care team, helping me navigate dealing with cancer while unemployed. I do not want them to be forgotten in my story.”
From Diagnosis to Documentary
Whitmore Davis continued to chronicle her days with photos, videos, and interviews. Little did she know that her daughter would be the bridge to a high school friend who was a film student. The student was deeply moved by her cancer journey, captured her last day of treatment and the bell-ringing ceremony. It was then that they realized they had the contents of a documentary.
From November 2024 to February 2025, Whitmore Davis and her daughter met twice weekly with her daughter’s friend to create the film. Eighty percent of the documentary consists of photos and videos from Whitmore Davis’ phone, while the other 20% was shot on a professional camera.
Just 14 months after her initial diagnosis, she would be standing in front of an audience showcasing her personal documentary, The Whitmore Project. At the event, she was approached by a woman with eyes full of tears.
“The woman looked at me and shared she had just been diagnosed with breast cancer, and that my documentary was the perfect orientation for her as she begins her journey. Hearing that made all the work to build the documentary worthwhile,” she recounted.
Whitmore Davis is currently travelling to different parts of Michigan to provide health screenings, educate the community on health disparities and breast cancer awareness, and show exclusive screenings of her documentary.
Diving Into Additional Resources Karmanos Provides Survivors
Since her diagnosis, Whitmore Davis has participated in some of the art therapy sessions held by The Healing Arts Program at Karmanos. She always enjoyed painting, even before she battled cancer. One of her favorite events held by the program was hosted at Pewabic Pottery in Detroit. Whitmore Davis still has the tile she painted on her desk, where she sees it daily.
“I just wanted to say that events like these mean so much to patients like me,” said Whitmore Davis. She even uses her paintings to help fund her travels for promoting her documentary.
In addition, she has been involved in the CAPABLE program designed by researchers at Karmanos and Wayne State University (WSU). CAPABLE stands for CrossFit® and Physical Activity: A Better Life Experience. This 12-week program helps adult cancer survivors achieve exercise and strength-training recommendations supported by the American Cancer Society by introducing them to the sport of CrossFit®.
Whitmore Davis was committed to achieving true healing, and thanks to the care and direction of the health care professionals at Karmanos, she is now promoting healing for others.
“When patients, like Lisa, are committed, their journey is yours, too. You feel like you’re in this cancer journey together because we are. We are committed to going above and beyond for our patients,” said Dr. Elayoubi.
Taking action is the most important step in protecting your health. Annual mammograms are necessary to find breast cancer in the early stages. Should you or a loved one be diagnosed with breast cancer down the road, consulting with a specialist who has dedicated their career to researching the disease is important. To schedule a mammogram appointment or a second opinion, call 1-800-KARMANOS or visit karmanos.org/breasthealth.