I am a CEO who was diagnosed with breast cancer when I was 43 years old. I felt empowered when I turned to GenAI

Before I lived as a full-time cancer patient, my plate was full as CEO and board member of 8am, a fast-growing technology company based in Austin. I’m a mother of two active boys, ages 8 and 10, and a wife to an equally busy husband. We love traveling and finding new hobbies together. Cancer forced me to reprioritize everything, and life continued at full speed even if I wasn’t physically able to continue at the same pace myself.

I had to juggle running a company with over 600 employees and 217% revenue growth over the past years, while also finding a treatment plan for stage 2 breast cancer, and fast. The CEO is expected to set the pace. How can I do that when I’m taking the time to literally save my life?

Approach a cancer diagnosis with a CEO mindset:

Move quickly and defend yourself

As a new cancer patient, it has become clear to me that the time from diagnosis to treatment is really important for a successful outcome. I was told that if you are on treatment within 60 days, you have a 90% survival rate regardless of stage. However, appointments can take weeks to schedule and then require testing that also takes weeks. She pushed for quick appointments, fast-tracked biopsies and scans and clear deadlines for each stage of treatment. What I’m most proud of is my treatment timeline: from the day of my diagnosis, I completed surgery and started chemotherapy in about 60 days. I realized that no one would save me but myself.

It reminded me of my first days in the CEO chair; It’s scary and confusing to say the least. The same goes for sitting in a doctor’s office. I often found myself asking: “Where do I have the right to decide?” and “Where should I turn to experts?” The truth is that in the same way no two cancers are the same – no two cancers are the same. This means that although there are clearly defined treatment recommendations, there will be others that require judgment. Leadership requires decisiveness, and there could be no greater risk for me.

Self-care is not selfish

Since I turned 40 a few years ago, I started really investing in my health because I wanted to present to my family and company in the best way I could. This went away as soon as I started treatment – ​​the fatigue and intermittent nausea persist. I was surprised to find that the same practices I was using for my preventative health applied here as well. While I used to feel selfish taking time away from work and family for acupuncture and lymphatic drainage, this is now part of my prescribed recovery. It’s made me look at self-care completely differently, for me, for all my employees, and even for my family. It’s not selfish, it’s necessary.

Despite feeling physically weak and dealing with this new schedule, one of the biggest hurdles of all was facing the need to ask for help. This was very weak. I found myself asking for help with things I took for granted, like driving to appointments and tests and showing up on infusion days. Every chemotherapy infusion day is a long day because of the cold cap. I had to ask my husband and a small army of close female friends to come and support me for about 10 hours, which is not an easy request, especially since they all have jobs and families that need them. I needed to delegate work so I could focus on my health, rely on friends and family for ongoing physical and emotional support, and most importantly, be honest with myself about what I could and couldn’t do.

I’m now halfway through my chemotherapy treatment, and although I can see the end in sight, I’m realistic that the battle is far from over. After each infusion, I know I need to take the first week lightly, pay attention to how I feel and step up again in the weeks following the infusion, all while relying on my amazing team for support and coverage. I’m grateful that my business is doing well and that I have the ability to do this, but that’s a weak feeling too. It’s a risky thing to balance.

The strangest outcome of all is that I would feel lost if I didn’t have GenAI as a resource. While the oncologists were showing me the different pathology and genomics reports and discussing the pros and cons of the different treatment options, I remember coming home feeling completely exhausted and still on treatment. After all, I’m not an expert on oncology. I didn’t know what to do next, so I turned to GenAI for support. ChatGPT has given me the confidence to understand my own data, have informed, data-driven conversations with my doctors, and feel smart enough to ask the right questions.

This battle has taught me that leadership is not just about leading others. Sometimes, it’s about leading yourself through your toughest moments, trusting your gut and your team, counting your blessings, and using the technology available.

The opinions expressed in Fortune.com reviews are solely those of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or beliefs luck.