Husband of Livonia mother of 3 who lost brave battle with cancer, shares her story

LIVONIA, Mich. (FOX 2) - "She was in the shower, she comes into the bedroom, I feel a lump," said Brian Skoczylas. "I’m like, 'Calm down it’s okay.'  She said 'No something is different this time.'"

Brian Skoczylas remembers that now a significant day in December of last year - but thought everything would be okay. Especially because the year before his wife Kim found a lump, and it turned out to be just a cyst.

But sadly, he was wrong.

"She got her mammogram and got her biopsy and that’s when they said it is cancerous," he said. "It immediately destroyed us. It was right around the holidays and the doctor’s offices weren't open."

The high school sweethearts, in love and inseparable since they were 17 years old, held their three little kids close and tried to stay strong.

But another test would reveal Kim had something called triple-negative breast cancer, stage three.

"Doctor said 'Listen, it is triple negative, it is rare and it is aggressive,'" Brian said. "Two things you don’t want to hear when it comes to breast cancer or any kind of cancer."

The diagnosis was especially stunning because Kim was only 35 years old. In fact, Brian says their insurance fought paying for the mammogram when she found a lump the year before.

"Because she was so young, they told her not to worry about mammograms until she was 40 even though her mom had breast cancer at 35," he said.

But just like her mom, Kim fought, still convinced she could beat it. And after 10 months of treatment and a double mastectomy – Brian says they thought she did.

"They gave her a full body scan, 'Congratulations you are cancer-free,'" Brian said. "We all celebrated, we had the whole family over, a barbecue. She did it, she beat cancer.'"

But nearly a month later, Kim’s cancer came back more aggressive than ever - in her back, liver, and bones.

The medication caused complications and less than two weeks later, Kim lost her battle.

"Before they take her to the ICU, I just want my three little ones to come up here and kiss their mom, hug their mom, and say I love you," he said. "And I'm so glad they did that."

Brian is beyond grateful for the love, support, and generous donations that will go toward raising his young children.

He told us, in her final months, Kim pushed and pursued everyone to get a mammogram, since early detection is key to beating breast cancer.

Awareness is the main reason he is sharing Kim's story - and to honor her memory, only wishing they had more time.

"You know we always talked about being together forever," he said. "So I just said 'Save me a seat.' We talked about being together again and I do believe we will be together again."

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