Nurse educator turns her own cancer battle into a classroom

The last thing that most newly diagnosed cancer patients would want to do is take to TikTok to share fashionable scarves to cover newly shorn heads, or the best way to deal with a persistent bloody nose resulting from powerful chemicals being streamed weekly into their veins.

Pirate nurse Dr. Heather Helton uses social media to educate and inform followers about women’s health care, and birth and reproductive care. (Contributed photo)

But for one Pirate nurse, who is tackling a recently diagnosed case of a rare and aggressive form of breast cancer, doing just that is a way to continue her mission of educating women she’ll never meet — and the next generation of nurses who will care for them.

Dr. Heather Helton graduated in 2024 from East Carolina University with a doctor of nursing practice degree, the highest level of training for nurses that converts the latest research into evidence-based practice. Her DNP project explored how healthcare professionals could use social media for health education, based on her personal experiences as an influencer.

A recent Pew Research Center study found that 40% of American adults, and more than half under 50, get health information from social media and podcasts, but less than 4 in 10 identify as qualified healthcare professionals, which brings into question the quality of education the public receives.

Helton has more than 360,000 followers on TikTok and another 10,000 on Instagram. Over the years she’s untangled often complex women’s health issues with science-forward explanations that might be mistaken for a late-night conversation with a close friend over coffee.

In March, she was diagnosed with invasive triple negative breast cancer, a tough diagnosis because of the aggressive nature of the disease, but one that is increasingly treatable.

Helton isn’t the only College of Nursing faculty and staff member dealing with cancer diagnoses, but she is one of the few who has turned their treatment into a lesson — for her students, as well as those who follow her near-daily postings.

The American Cancer Society reports that more than 320,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year, second only to skin cancers. Helton now joins the estimated 4 million American women being treated for the disease or who are in remission.

From Healer and Teacher to Patient

Helton graduated from ECU as a certified nurse midwife in 2011. Since then, she’s cared for thousands of women and delivered more babies than she can count. In 2022, she took another step toward formalizing her health education by enrolling at ECU again for the DNP.

Dr. Heather Helton gives a thumbs up during a round of chemotherapy.

For the past 14 years she has worked at a private women’s healthcare clinic but left not long ago to find more stability and now works as a midwife with Duke Health. She wanted more time to teach. Being on call and managing a team of midwives was taxing. Then came the diagnosis.

With two decades working in women’s healthcare, she recognizes that there is nothing about obstetrics and gynecology that isn’t vulnerable. As much as they appreciate curing a malady, patients remember how their caregivers make them feel.

“Experiencing the healthcare system from the other side has shown me the emotional weight patients carry,” Helton said. “I want nursing students to know how important communication and kindness and just being present can be.”

One of Helton’s lifelines is her family. Her husband works at Duke Health as well and can share his sick time with her, providing an added buffer so she can rest and deal with punishing realities of chemotherapy. Her daughter Megan, also a Pirate nurse, has been her chemo buddy, packing a cooler with ice mittens to help with neuropathy during infusions and acting as an advocate and guard dog.

Megan watches as the nurses program the chemo pumps and when mom had a hankering for raw cookie dough, Megan’s answer was firm: Your white blood cells are low, Mom, you’re going to get an infection.

A former Honors College student, Megan participated in research as an undergraduate and has experienced “remarkable growth” as a nurse and a person, Heather said. Megan was the one who knew the meds her mother was being given and integrated her medical knowledge into Heather’s care because “words are not my friends right now.”

“As a parent it’s not something you want to have your child do, but at the same time she’s just an amazing nurse, a great critical thinker. On my days when I’m drugged during chemo, I know that she’s got my back, so it’s been really cool to have my own built-in nurse at home,” Helton said. “Hopefully I’m not giving her any trauma throughout all this.”

Turning Tragedy into Teaching

Dr. Michelle Skipper, a clinical professor and director of ECU’s doctoral adult gerontology primary care and family nurse practitioner programs, has known Helton for years — as a student and fellow faculty member. She lauds her friend for using the ordeal of cancer treatment as another way to affect healthcare outcomes.

“She’s somebody this shouldn’t happen to, but it did happen and her goal is to prevent somebody else from having to do what she’s doing,” Skipper said.

Dr. Heather Helton wears cooling mittens and booties during a round of chemotherapy.

When you are in a vulnerable state, you need support, said Dr. Alex Hodges, a clinical professor in the department of advanced nursing practice and education and Helton’s friend.

When Hodges agreed to be Helton’s DNP project site partner, Helton was already using social media for women’s health education and doing a good job with her outreach. “You feel like you are having a conversation with a friend,” Hodges said.

Helton has never shied away from controversy or tackling tough topics.

“She’s saying, ‘I schedule my chemo so I feel like crap on the weekends and I’m missing real life.’ That’s amazing,” Hodges said. “The key is that she’s just a strong woman.”

For Helton, an added benefit of the DNP process was the reminder to continually rethink the research that is being produced and find ways to use that new knowledge to improve the quality of care that she and her teammates provide.

“We have to be able to translate that evidence into practice; otherwise, what are we getting this evidence for?” Helton asked. “Evidence only improves outcomes if patients and providers are able to understand and apply it. We have to be able to articulate that to our patients in a sense that it’s palatable for them.”

Hodges said that when her advanced health assessment students are asked in role-playing scenarios to just take health histories, they almost always revert to the nurse’s role of patient advocacy and education, which Helton exemplifies.

“Anybody with ‘nurse’ in their title is different from other providers. We sit down and we listen. We are more about prevention than treatment. If I can prevent a person having a heart attack, that’s a win,” Hodges said.

Younger generations may have a hard time with one-on-one interactions, Skipper said, so using Instagram and TikTok to help with patient education is necessary. And even if they don’t know the person in the videos they can connect with what another human is experiencing.

Helton said the purpose of her life has always been to help people. After she started treatment, Helton leveraged her online community to support a T-shirt fundraiser for the Pretty in Pink Foundation, which helps the underinsured and non-insured with their own breast cancer battles. In a few short weeks she raised more than $3,000.

Teaching — in the classroom or through TikTok videos — is another way to help.

“I’m reminded every day how much worse things could be. Yes, this kind of sucks right now, but I have this entire village that I didn’t even know existed,” Helton said.

One of those villagers she’s known nearly all her life, from elementary school on, but the two had fallen out of touch. Recently she received a package from that friend filled with sour, tart things, which help with the nausea and loss of taste.

“She lost her sister last year to liver failure, and when we were really little she lost her other sister to cancer and within the last couple of years, she lost both of her parents,” Helton said. “I haven’t seen her in years; there just are givers in the world, people who exist to help others. I don’t think of myself as a role model but I would love for people to think that I’ve given everything that I have.”

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