LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Roughly a month after having a double mastectomy, Kentucky's Lieutenant Governor Jacqueline Coleman is back at work.

While in the homestretch of her re-election campaign with Gov. Andy Beshear, Coleman had her first mammogram in September at 41 years old. The results sounded alarms for her doctors. 

"I was automatically at higher risk." Coleman said her mother, aunt and cousin all had cancer. "Given the family history, it was almost like I was waiting for the news, and that's a scary feeling."  

After the initial results, she required more in-depth screenings including MRIs and biopsies. "Getting the news that something was wrong, and I was going to have surgery was hard," she said. "I have a three-year-old. I didn't want to gamble." 

From September to the November election, Coleman said she was busy and focused on the campaign. She made a plan to schedule the surgery as soon as the inauguration was over. 

"The time in between getting that news and knowing what my journey was going to be like was the hardest window of time," she said. "We were constantly going and busy and on in front of folks, and this was in the back of my head. It really was like a rollercoaster of emotions." 

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Kentucky's Lieutenant Governor Jacqueline Coleman with her husband and daughter Evelyn. (Image courtesy Lt. Governor's office) 

Coleman made the difficult decision to have a double-mastectomy. The five-hour surgery was Dec. 18. She later shared that her post-surgery reports came back clean.

"I feel like I beat the clock," she said. "There's no way you can go through the that process without wondering 'what if.'"

Coleman returned to work this past week. While she said she's feeling more like herself again, she still doesn't have full range of motion in her arms. 

"It's not a walk in the park, that's for sure," she said. 

"The hardest part if this from a physical standpoint is I couldn't pick up Evelyn and having to explain to her 'mommy has a boo boo, so don't jump on her,'" she said. 

Coleman said she's grateful to have this health scare behind her, but she will have another surgery between March and April. She expects to make a full recovery and watch her daughter grow up. 

"That's exactly what I wanted to be able to do. I thought about being there for Evelyn and how unfair it would be to her if I wasn't here, and that really helped me be confident in being aggressive in combatting this health challenge." 

Her message to women is to listen to their doctors and schedule their mammograms. 

"Stop putting that off. Schedule that appointment, and get it done. It's something that could save your life," Coleman said. "Listen to your body, and listen to your doctor." 

"Prevent. Prevent. Prevent. That's so much better than having to react to a challenge," she said. 

Coleman believes that if she had put her mammogram off, she may not have had the good news that she has gotten. 

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