ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) — Col. Marcie Fulford has spent 28 years in the U.S. Army Reserve. Now, as she prepares for breast cancer surgery, she says the people she served with are helping her through it.

Fulford, who moved to Albany from North Carolina at age 5 and graduated from Albany High School, returned from an overseas deployment on July 3.

A little more than two months later, on Sept. 18, she learned she had breast cancer. It was the day before her 54th birthday. She is preparing for surgery on Nov. 17.

Fulford says the news was hard to take, especially after spending so much time away from her family. But having a treatment plan, along with her faith and support from loved ones, has helped her prepare.

“I’ve survived a war, and now, what, I’m not going to survive a disease?” Fulford said.

Fulford was working as a travel nurse when a friend encouraged her to join the Army Reserve. At first, she joined to help pay off her nursing school loans. But she says she got more out of her service than financial help.

Over the years, Fulford served as a critical care nurse, deployed to Afghanistan and the Middle East, and rose from second lieutenant to colonel. With help from the Army, she also earned three master’s degrees and a doctorate.

Fulford, an associate chief nurse at the Tomah VA Medical Center in Wisconsin, says the Army helped her grow as a nurse and leader.

But serving also meant missing time with her family, including holidays and her daughter’s 16th birthday.

“I can’t even count all the things that I’ve missed because I’ve had to be gone for the army,” Fulford said.

Now, fellow service members are checking on her every day as she prepares for surgery. Fulford says soldiers across the country have sent messages and care packages and offered to help.

“They are brothers and sisters in arms,” Fulford said. “When you’re in the military, it’s family, and so I have a whole circle of brothers and sisters offering support to me.”

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