Today's Woman Breast Cancer Awareness 2012

oman

ToDAy’sW

2012

B r e a s t C a n c e r S u p p l e m e n t

The Mask Comes Off Breast Cancer Survivors Get Real

It’s Okay to Have a Pity Party

sponsored by

How to Help Someone with Breast Cancer

all Photos by Melissa Donald

2012

B r e a s t C a n c e r S u p p l e m e n t

IT’S OKAY

TO HAVE A PITY PARTY…

By Katina Griffith

On December 6, 2011, I heard the words no woman ever wants to hear: “You have breast cancer.”

I instantly went numb and blank. The first people I called were my mother and father because I just needed to hear their voices.

The next day, my family and I went to the doctor’s office to talk about options. The only thing I could say was, “I’m just 38 years old.” All kinds of questions went through my head, such as, ‘Am I going to die?’ and ‘How am I going to tell my niece?’ As the doctor was talking, he sounded like Charlie Brown’s teacher: “Wha, wha, wha.” I felt like I was hit by 10 Mack trucks and gutted like a fish.

The following days were filled with tests and more tests. I retreated into myself. I didn’t want to talk to anyone; I just closed myself up and didn’t move from the couch. My family and friends were hurting just as much as I was. “If I could take it for you, I would,” my mother told me, “but I can’t, so I’m going to be by your side every step of the way.”

My father sat in the chair and just went into a ball because he’s always been able to fix things for me, and this time he couldn’t. My brother just cried, ”You’re my sister, and I don’t want anything to happen to you.” My grandmother, aunties, uncles, cousins, and grandfather were all dumbfounded also. My close friends were shocked because it happened to me.

I found myself crying and praying all day, every day. Doctors’ offices and insurance companies would call, and I would tell them, “I already talked about it one time today, so you will have to call back tomorrow.”

After about two weeks, I woke up one day and said, “If you’re going to pray about it, don’t cry. And if you’re going to cry, don’t pray.” At that moment I had instant peace, and I knew everything was going to be all right. From that day forward, I could talk about it more than one time a day without crying. I decided I was going to define breast cancer, not let it define me. I asked God to show me the correct thing to do, and He did.

As weeks followed after the diagnosis, I had surgery, and God continued to answer prayers. All my lymph nodes were clean, and I was in an early stage! On February 14, I found out I didn’t need to have chemotherapy or radiation. All I could do was give God praise! Like many, I thought you automatically did chemo with breast cancer. But through all the research, much advancement has been made toward curing breast cancer. I just take a pill a day for the next five years.

It’s not just an older woman’s disease; men and younger women can get it, also. That’s why it’s very important to know your body and do breast self-exams. I’ve always done self-exams because I have a family history on my mother’s side. That’s how I found my lump and brought it to the attention of my doctor. Yes, it’s a scary thing, but it’s better to know and do something than not to know and let it get worse.

No one knows how you feel hearing those words, so don’t let anyone tell you what they would do. You have to do what you feel is the right thing for you. What’s good for one person might not be the right thing for another. It’s okay to have a pity party for yourself, but don’t stay there too long, because God will give you the strength to get through your valley. Throughout all of this, I’ve had God, faith, family, and friends. If you would have asked me a year ago if I could get through breast cancer, I would have told you, “No.” But, God gave me the strength and courage to fight and WIN this battle.

www.iamtodayswoman.com

I

www.facebook.com/todayswomanmagazine

I

@todayswomannow

3

2012

B r e a s t C a n c e r S u p p l e m e n t

When You have to keep going

By Tricia Hussung

B

eing diagnosed with breast cancer can be an earth-shattering experience. As survivor Pat Fullen puts it, “Your world just stops.” However, Pat says that a cancer diagnosis makes it very important to continue living life in a normal way. “I tried to keep things as normal as I could so I wouldn’t dwell on what could be,” she says. “You’ve got to continue on, or I would have lost it. Trying to live normally while in treatment can be difficult, but Pat knows from experience that it is possible. So do survivor Tammy McDaniel and current patient Stacey Madison. All three women have insights and ideas about how to “fake it till you make it” when dealing with breast cancer. PAGE 6

>

(left to right, above) Tammy McDaniels, Pat Fullen, Stacey Madison

4

Today’s W o m a n

I

Oc t o b e r

www.iamtodayswoman.com

~

www.facebook.com/todayswomanmagazine ~ @todayswomannow

2012

B r e a s t C a n c e r S u p p l e m e n t

You can do a lot to keep your life normal during treatment. One thing all three women agree on is that it’s important to continue working as much as you can. “I worked every day except for the days that I had chemo,” Tammy says. Stacey went to work when she could as well: “The first time around, I could work during treatment, so that’s what I did to keep normalcy.” Pat adds that the accountability of working was good for her. “Knowing I had to work kept me going,” she says. Stacey, who was diagnosed for the first time when she was 29 years old, was planning a wedding while battling cancer. “If you are planning a vacation, go. I was planning a winter wedding; I got married.

You have to not let the cancer take away your joy,” she says.

Stacey also suggests pampering yourself. She says, “Get manicures and pedicures. You have breast cancer, but you can still be pretty. You can still put makeup on every day. That’s me, being strong in my high heels.”

Tammy says she used self-encouragement to keep going: “There was a lot of self-talk when I would wake up in the morning and just not feel like fighting. I would lay my head against the door of the bathroom and tell myself that I could get through it.” She adds that staying involved with her kids’ activities helped, too. “Jackson, my son, was into baseball, and I went to all of his baseball games,” she says. All three women list support groups and getting involved in breast cancer awareness as keys to staying strong as well.

One of the big reasons to “fake it till you make it” while in treatment for breast cancer is so you can be strong for others. That was definitely the experience of Pat, who says that her daughter struggled: “I needed to be strong for her. My mother had breast cancer as well and passed away from it, and both of us having it was really hard on my daughter. I took care of her while she was taking care of me.” Tammy also felt the need to protect her children. She wouldn’t let them accompany her to chemotherapy treatments. She says, “I wanted them to feel my strength.

I tried to talk to them and let them know what was going on. I wanted to let them know that we were strong and together, that we could get through it.” Stacey says the most important thing is to be strong for herself. “I am my own strength. I don’t want to lose myself in it. I’ve always been a positive person. I’ve always been on the go. I’m not going to change my whole life for cancer,” she says.

Even though there were people in their lives to be strong for, Tammy and Pat say that some of those same people gave them the strength to keep going. “My daughter and my husband made me strong,” Pat says. “Really, family was what made me strong. I wanted to see my grandchildren grow up, graduate, all that. I wanted to be there.” Tammy had a similar experience. She says, “I attribute most of my strength to my faith in God and in being close to Him. And of course, the support of my friends in my church and my family. They all went through it with me.”

Trying to live normally helped these women deal with breast cancer. All three say doing the things they’d always done was an important part of surviving. As Tammy puts it, “Keep telling yourself you can do this every single day, and pray for strength. Somehow, you get it.” Staying strong has many benefits, she continues, one of which is inspiring others. As a teacher, her experience with cancer affected her students in a positive way. “I’ve gotten cards and letters from them years later telling me that I taught them how to be strong and that there’s nothing that you can’t work through. My bad experience had positive effects on their lives,” she says. For Stacey, it was all about finding a new normal. “You definitely fake it till you make it. Cancer takes enough away. Don’t let it take more,” she says.

“There was a lot of self-talk when I would wake up in the morning and just not feel like fighting.

I would lay my head against the door of the bathroom and tell myself that I could get through it.”

6

Today’s W o m a n

I

Oc t o b e r

2012

B r e a s t C a n c e r S u p p l e m e n t

What She

NEEDS FROM YOU

By Tricia Hussung

Close friends and family are People are quick always key to a cancer patient’s support system, all three women to offer love and say. “My friends were fantastic in giving me rides to and from the support when they hospital, and they made meals for me and my family,” Eileen says find out that a friend about her own cancer experience, or loved one has which began in 2008.

Support from husbands and been diagnosed partners is also much needed: “My husband was there at my beck and with breast cancer. call through the whole thing,” (C ar ds Barbara says. Esterlena also cites ar e a great start !)

Sometimes though, her partner as an important part of her support system, saying that her it’s hard to know boyfriend was there for her through everything. exactly what to do or say. What When it comes to what you can do to help and support women who are dealing with breast cancer, Esterlena says that having does a friend who is dealing with someone to talk to really helped her. “A true friend can listen without saying a word and let you get yourself get through it. Listening is breast cancer really need from you? important,” she says.

f o g n i k n i Th YOU

Local survivors Eileen Krueger, Barbara Gardner, and Esterlena Berry have all experienced breast cancer firsthand, and they have advice and insight to offer about what a coworker, family member, or friend can do to truly give help and support.

Esterlena, who was diagnosed with breast cancer for the first time in 2006, says people in her workplace were incredibly helpful when she decided to continue working during treatment. “While I was going through chemo, the people at Ivy Tech did all they could to improve my situation,” she says.

“They cooked for me and made sure I didn’t go hungry; anything they thought I wanted.”

Barbara says people outside of her family reached out to help her. “It was a happy surprise to find out that people who I wasn’t particularly close to were willing to sacrifice and help me out,” says Barbara, who found out she had breast cancer in 2003. She relates one particular instance when a friend of her daughter’s brought two quarts of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream to her house as a surprise treat.

Distract me. Get my mind off of it.

Don’t make it all about cancer.

8

Today’s W o m a n

Barbara cites distraction as something she really needed from her family and friends: “Distract me; get my mind off of it. Don’t make it all about cancer,” she says.

She talks about a time when a friend really helped her think about something different. “My friend’s daughter had a concert one night, and she called to ask if I wanted to go. It was so nice that she thought enough to pick me up and drive me to her daughter’s concert for a night out,” Barbara says. “I wanted to talk about and experience things other than cancer and hospitals.”

Friends and family can also keep things at home running smoothly. That is something Eileen valued. “Having someone to come over and just spend a little time with you and help you with any projects around the house was great,” she says. “I couldn’t even do laundry, after my mastectomy. I couldn’t lift anything. My friends helped me with laundry and just that small thing made a big difference.” Eileen adds that her husband also helped her learn to let the small stuff slide: “My husband was very helpful in getting me to let go of things I felt I had to hang on to. He was really good at saying, ‘take a little time off, let someone step in and help you.’”

All three women list rides to and from the hospital, grocery store trips, cleaning, and cooking meals as things they needed from their support systems. PAGE 10

>

I

Oc t o b e r

2012

B r e a s t C a n c e r S u p p l e m e n t

What Not To Do As far as what not to do, Barbara and Eileen had some helpful hints.

Barbara says pity was unhelpful. “People who looked at me as if they knew I was going to die — I was feeling self-pity enough for myself,” she says. “The people who looked at me as though I had not changed and nothing was wrong with me — I liked that much better.”

Eileen says talking about another family member or friend’s experience with cancer isn’t good either. “The worst thing that a person can do is tell you some kind of horrible story about a relative or friend of theirs that had cancer,” she says. “People want to make a connection with you, but when you have to hear about somebody’s uncle who just died of the disease you’re battling, it’s really the pits. It makes you feel worse. That’s the big, number-one no.”

Above all, these women who say empty words and vague offerings to help are not something a cancer patient needs. Barbara says, “It wasn’t people who said things, it was the people who did things. Volunteer and say specific things, like ‘I’m going to Kroger, what do you need? Be a little bit insistent instead of just saying generic statements like, ‘I’ll do anything you need.’ Reinforce it with a call or a knock on the door.”

Eileen agrees, saying that specifics are key. “Be really specific about what you can do and what you will do and when. Make specific arrangements for rides for chemo on specific days, not empty words that leave the planning and reaching out to the patient,” she says.

No matter how you reach out to support the person in your life who is battling breast cancer, the most important thing you can offer is love. “As far as emotional support, it was nice to know that people love you,” Esterlena says. Barbara agrees: “Just offering to help is a blessing, or sending a card with kind words.”

Knowing they have the love and support of those around them is important for a breast cancer patient’s physical and emotional health when everything in her world is changing “The woman really is the person running the household, whether she’s a wife or a working mom or a stay-at-home mom or whatever she does,” Elieen says. ”I think when suddenly you’re not able to do the kind of stuff that you want to instinctively do, it shakes things up emotionally. That’s why help is important, people reaching out to tell you it’s okay.”

It wasn’t people who said things, it was the people who did things.

The worst thing that a person can do is tell you some kind of horrible story about a relative or friend of theirs who had cancer.

Esterlena Berry Eileen Krueger

10

Today’s W o m a n

I

Oc t o b e r

2012

B r e a s t C a n c e r S u p p l e m e n t

Getting Real

about breast cancer

By Jessica Smith makeup By isidro valencia MAsks provided by The Kentucky Opera

You’re facing weeks of chemotherapy. Changes in your body. Possibly losing one or both of your breasts or your hair. When people ask how you are, the fact is that you can’t always tell them the truth. But these five survivors agree: it’s absolutely crucial to your recovery and healing to find that special person or group to be honest with. To break down with.

To take off the mask with.

To get real with.

PAGe 14

12

Today’s W o m a n

I

>

Oc t o b e r

Ronna (left) gets real with her friend,

Stephanie.

Ronna Nichter, 42, and Stephanie Hardin, 41, get each other.

Like a lock and a key. They can communicate with just a few words.

They’re not related, but they connect on a deep level of spirituality, as well as through their mutual hobbies of photography and horses.

They’re sisters from another life, as Ronna says.

And when Ronna was diagnosed with stage one breast cancer last summer, Stephanie stayed right by her side through the double mastectomy, chemotherapy, and radiation that followed, even when other friends pulled away.

“Stephanie was there to listen and let me talk,” Ronna says. “I wasn’t able to do that with a lot of people because they weren’t comfortable. People didn’t know how to react to me. For me, that was the biggest support and the best medicine I could have.”

Stephanie and Ronna talked on the phone almost daily, even while competing to hear each other with their children in the background.

“Ninety-nine percent of the time, I could feel her energy was more positive than I ever thought someone with breast cancer could have,” Stephanie says of Ronna. “We both agreed that this was meant for a reason, this journey. I guess it was so she could know what it felt like and reach out to others going through the same thing.”

Ronna says she didn’t feel anger or pity herself upon her diagnosis. She chose instead to wear bright pink wigs to chemo treatments and document each step of her journey through videos

she created and shared on Facebook. She can even say she thinks of her cancer as a gift because she’s learned so much from having it.

One such joy Ronna experienced through her cancer diagnosis was the half-hour compilation of her videos, photos, and Facebook updates Stephanie created for her.

“The video was something from the heart,” Stephanie says. “It was the most emotional project I’ve ever done in my life. I don’t know how many times I quit working on it in tears.”

Together with another close friend, Laura Beane, Ronna and Stephanie created thesedontdefineme.com, a website following Ronna’s story and featuring Stephanie’s video.

Ronna is now cancer-free, has undergone full reconstructive surgery, and works to reach out to other women with breast cancer. She’s raised money for multiple cancer research and support societies. She’s also being trained to be a volunteer for Friends for Life and is a survivor spokesperson for Susan G. Komen for the Cure. This month, she and Stephanie will participate together in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure on Ronna’s team, Ronna’s Ribbon Racers.

Ronna and Stephanie hope to spread Ronna’s message of staying positive through cancer.

“I don’t plan to be quiet any time soon,” Ronna says, sharing a knowing smile with Stephanie. PAGe 16

Stephanie was there to listen and let me talk, For me, that was the biggest support and the best medicine I could have.

14

Today’s W o m a n

>

I

Oc t o b e r

Adriana gets real with her husband,

Michael.

The phone rang in Adriana Meneghetti’s Middletown home on Halloween day in 2008.

The 54-year-old case manager at OmniCare had gone in for a routine mammogram a few weeks before. She’d made sure to take care of herself after her grandmother, aunt, and cousin had each battled breast cancer. She was doing everything right. But somehow, she knew immediately the news on the other end of the line wasn’t good.

Her mammogram had come back positive.

“I had to be strong — that was the first thing in my mind when he said it came out positive,” Adriana says. “I got a piece of paper and a pen and said, ‘Tell me what’s going on.’ When I finished writing, I broke down.”

Adriana immediately called her husband Michael, who was at the store at the time. After he’d rushed home, the two both started crying.

“Michael’s first words to me were, ‘You’re not the first person or the last person to have breast cancer.

You’re a fighter, and I’m going to be here for you, no matter what. We’re going to fight this together,’” Adriana says. “That’s why I say he’s my rock.”

With Michael’s support, Adriana did fight. She had a mastectomy in December and hormone therapy and reconstructive surgery after. She says Michael never missed an appointment and was there to talk through all her anxieties — even the physical changes of her body.

“[When you have a mastectomy,] initially it’s anger at how your body looks,” Adriana says. “You’re disgusted with the way you look.

When Michael says to me he still loves me no matter what I look like, he’s looking at the woman, not her body.”

Michael, a 20-year Army veteran who teaches Junior ROTC at Louisville Male Traditional High School, empathized with his wife’s struggles.

“You’ve got to look at what goes through a woman’s mind, having her breasts removed and scars,” he says, wiping away tears.

“It doesn’t change the person. It’s tough, but it’s just being there when you love someone.”

Adriana was pronounced cancer-free after her surgery in December. She and Michael enjoy golfing and reading together, and they both recommend that other cancer-fighting couples find a solid support group for help and encouragement. Adriana also volunteers with the American Cancer Society, Friends For Life, and Gilda’s Club Louisville, where she hopes to reach out to fellow Hispanic cancer patients.

Michael’s support and love have carried Adriana far. In her volunteer work, Adriana tells other women battling breast cancer the same thing Michael told her that day in 2008: “You’re not the first person or the last person to have cancer. You’re not alone.” PAGe 18

You’re a fighter, and I’m going to be here for you, no matter what. We’re going to fight this together.

16

Today’s W o m a n

>

I

Oc t o b e r

Brenda (right) gets real with April and her support group.

Brenda Crenshaw is a fountain. The 64-year-old gushes with truth, vibrancy, and humor. She’s straight-up honest with you, transparent as glass. She knows cancer is a tough subject, but she doesn’t waste time trying to make everyone else understand — she gets real with her Gilda’s Club Louisville support group.

“At Gilda’s Club, they take the good, the bad, and the ugly,” Brenda says. “If I wanted to cry, that’s accepted. If I wanted to laugh, that’s OK. When we hug, it’s a genuine hug. The group — they really help me.”

Brenda was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006, only three years after her mother passed away from the same disease.

“I was mad at God for taking my mother,” Brenda says. “Three years later, here I come with cancer. Then I realized that just because I have cancer does not mean a death sentence. So, I looked at it as a learning experience.”

Brenda says her change in perspective was a result of her relationship with God, and when she found out about Gilda’s Club through a pamphlet at her radiation oncologist’s office, she knew He was directing her path. “[Gilda’s Club] is so good that when I get my mammogram results in the mail, I take it to the group and open it there because they’ve been there, done that, and they understand,” Brenda says. “If I open it at home with my husband, he’ll say, ‘You’ll be all right,’ and pats me

on the head. He’s very supportive, yet Gilda’s Club really knows the ins and outs. So, it was a godsend.”

Brenda’s support group meets each week at 633 Baxter Avenue for dinner with other cancer patients and survivors, along with their spouses and children. A separate discussion time with the other patients follows. The organization is named for American comedian, actress, and Saturday Night Live original cast member, Gilda Radner, who died from ovarian cancer in 1989.

It was through Gilda’s Club that Brenda met April Auspland, who is currently fighting brain cancer and is now Brenda’s close friend. Both women are quick to point out each other’s strengths and grin at each other’s jokes. And both agree that getting real with the support group is crucial to their ability to cope with cancer.

“It helps you to heal and in the healing process,” April says.

Brenda went through radiation treatment, chemotherapy, and a mastectomy after her diagnosis, and she’s now cancer-free. She gives back to Gilda’s Club by volunteering at health fairs, and she hopes to retire in a few years and possibly tutor elementary school children.

“For some people, cancer scares them,” Brenda finishes. “You have to reach out and get people to come to you.” PAGe 20

If I wanted to cry, that’s accepted. If I wanted to laugh, that’s OK. When we hug, it’s a genuine hug. The group — they really help me.

18

>

Find out more about Gilda’s Club at www.gildasclublouisville.org.

Today’s W o m a n

I

Oc t o b e r

www.iamtodayswoman.com

I

www.facebook.com/todayswomanmagazine

I

@todayswomannow

19

Sisters

Amy (left) and Bridget get real with each other.

Amy Dawson Hamm and Bridget Dawson Stansbury are sisters — close sisters. They finish each other’s sentences, interject reminders when the other is telling a story, and tease each other. They share parents, three brothers, memories of travels across the world, a love for exercising, and something else — victory against breast cancer.

Bridget was working as a radiation oncology nurse at Baptist Hospital East, helping cancer patients through chemotherapy. It was a few weeks before Christmas in December 2003. When she was asked to come back in for an ultrasound after a mammogram, Amy accompanied her to the hospital. “[The nurse] kept scanning and scanning, and then she got the radiologist,” Bridget recalls. “I knew then I had cancer, that something was wrong. It was surreal — I’m taking care of these cancer patients, and now you’re telling me I have cancer?”

“When you’re first diagnosed, it’s the fear of unknowing: Will this be my last Christmas?

My sister was my support.”

Bridget, now 49, is thankful her treatment didn’t require chemotherapy, only a mastectomy and reconstruction. Through the support of Amy and her immediate family, Bridget was pronounced cancer-free after her surgery just before Christmas in 2003.

But cancer struck again in 2006 when Amy felt a lump in her breast while showering.

“We found out it was grade three, an aggressive kind,” Amy, 56, says. “Bridget and I had two totally different types of cancer, even

though we were sisters. But every chemo treatment I went to, every doctor’s appointment, Bridget was always right there by me.”

When Amy found out she would need four rounds of chemotherapy in addition to a mastectomy and reconstruction, Bridget accompanied her to pick out a wig. The sisters had a shaving party at Amy’s house, where their brothers shaved their heads in support.

“When I was diagnosed, Bridget had already been through it all,” Amy says. “I was so confident and positive that I was going to make it through because I saw her go through it.”

Amy and Bridget both agree that being able to turn to each other helped them fight back when cancer threw a punch.

“At times, you mask whatever you’re feeling and go on and do what you need to do — that’s the way women are,” Amy says. “You don’t want to burden anyone. You don’t want the sympathy or to feel like you’re the victim.

When I talk to Bridget, I can talk differently because she’s my sister and she’s been through it.”

Today, both sisters are cancer-free. Amy volunteers with Friends for Life, and Bridget continues to help other cancer patients through her nursing career at Baptist Hospital East. The two will participate in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure together on October 13.

“It’s brought us closer,” Bridget says of she and Amy’s fight with cancer. “We do everything together. We’re best friends and sisters and survivors.”

I was so confident and positive that I was going to make it through because I saw her go through it.

20

Today’s W o m a n

I

Oc t o b e r

2012

B r e a s t C a n c e r S u p p l e m e n t

20

Celebrating

Years/looking back

1991 — 2011

By Kim Kerby

B

reast cancer: Two simple words. But it can feel like the world is crashing down around you. These two simple words change lives, and Today’s Woman has met and featured incredible women survivors from around the Kentuckiana area.

Becoming aware is the first step. For more than 10 years, Today’s Woman has played a role in keeping women informed about prevention and support with its special breast cancer awareness supplement.

In our October 2000 issue, we focused on how breast cancer affects the lives of people and provided resources for those October 2000 who have been diagnosed with the disease.

In later issues, the breast cancer supplements grew in length, themes developed, and messages from survivors became common in the October issue. The 2008 theme, 30 Rules 30 RULES About Surviving Breast Cancer, wasn’t about photo Rules About Surviving Breast Cancer shoots. The issue Keep it normal.

Find people to 1990 help you keep featured advice it together. My faith in God from survivors of and a wonderful …live life as support group. if it may be My husband was breast cancer; they the last day my caregiver and or last chance he did a great to experience shared personal job! an adventure, a special stories, advice, tips, sunset, a hug from a Prayer! grandchild. and secrets. The most common 3 4 advice from these October 2008 women was to create a strong support system, be positive, be thankful, do research to know your options, and take time to cry. And remember you are not alone.

For the 2011 breast cancer supplement, Keep On Dancing!, we Breast CanCer supplement 2011 stole several of the usual feature stories from Today’s Woman and redesigned each one to breast cancer awareness. This little sister was dressed in pink and she was Keep On determined to let our readers know the facts and how they too can get involved.

First Things To Do After The Diagnosis Page 3

TWOM0908BreastCancerSupp3

30 RULE #

RULE #

1

2

BREAST CANCER S u p p l e m e n t 2008

4 RULE #

Worked as much as possible to make things as normal as it was before. Laughed as much as I could. My fourth grandson was born on my fiftieth birthday during my third chemo treatment — what a wonderful gift. I knew things would be better. Life is a circle of birth and death and you remember. (I believe we have a purpose and I haven’t completed mine yet!)

— Susan Murphy-Mattingly, 56, 7-year survivor

3 5 RULE #

RULE #

– Kathy Backherms, 55, 11-year survivor

— Liz Fulton, 52, 7-year survivor

Being thankful that I am alive for my children and family.

— Debbie Robinson, 57, 5-year survivor

— Alicia Cleveland, 31, 1-year survivor

Sherri Hall, a 15-year survivor of breast cancer, is our cover model.

Makeup by Holly Oyler Photos by Ewa Wojtkowska Text by Cheryl Stuck and Anita Oldham Styling by Anita Oldham and Tiffany White Design by Kathy Bolger

w w w. i a m t o d a y s w o m a n . c o m

today’s

woman

9/19/08

7:02 PM

Page 4

BREAST CANCER S u p p l e m e n t 2008

about surviving Breast Cancer

RULE #

Keep a journal

“When I started my journal, it was to write down things I didn’t want to tell my family.

It was my secret little world.

At the time, it was a release for me. But after I started writing things down, I thought it might be a help for someone someday, mainly my daughter.”

— Dorothy Carter, 70, 18-year survivor

From Dorothy’s journal:

May 25

July 5

Nov. 2

I had a mastectomy and also lymph nodes removed. No one in my family has had breast cancer, and I don,t know anyone that has been through what I am about to go through. I feel so alone.

Because of the chemotherapy, I noticed for the first time today that my hair is coming out. I am so depressed, but thankful to be alive and to see another day. My hair will grow back.

I have one more chemotherapy treatment after today. My family has been so wonderful and helpful and so understanding of my many moods.

To help other ladies,,, I am now a ,,Reach to Recovery volunteer.

I have met so many wonderful ladies. We will remain friends for life. Going to a support group helps.

“Family and special cousins made sure I laughed everyday.”

7

— Debbie Robinson, 57, 5-year survivor

9

8 RULE #

Breast Cancer Supplement

RULE #

gh

7:02 PM

Lau

9/19/08

CONSIDER GENETIC TESTING

TWOM0908BreastCancerSupp3

Congratulations on 20 Years

“Having a positive attitude is half your battle. Breast cancer is not a death sentence.”

— Missy Huff, 36, 5-year survivor

RULE #

“Breast cancer was always something that I was very conscious of, because of my family history, but with a busy workload and family commitments, everything else comes before you do. I was not doing regular breast self-exams.

It had been about a year and a half since I had a mammogram. I found the lump one day in the shower. It was stage 2 and later when my daughter (Alicia Lutz) was diagnosed, I learned that I have genetic breast cancer.

Knowledge helps us overcome our fears, the more you know, the less fear you have.”

— Jean Melton, 61, 14-year survivor “My mother (Jean Melton) was a breast cancer survivor, and we lost my grandmother to ovarian cancer. My grandmother’s brother survived breast cancer and my grandmother’s sister had ovarian and breast cancer and died. I was diagnosed at 35 and a cousin was also diagnosed at a young age. We knew it was because of breast cancer in the family, but I wanted to know for sure and asked for a genetic test, which is a blood test. Finding out that my cancer was genetic has empowered us. It made a difference in my treatment. I also used the information with my daughters, now 23, and 18. They have both had genetic tests done and were both negative. It can’t skip a generation so when it stops, it stops. At least in my arm of the family tree it stops with me. So thank goodness, my daughters don’t have to worry about that.”

— Alicia Lutz, 42, 6-year survivor

O C T O B E R 2008

Dancing!

MEDIA SPONSORS:

WAVE 3 and The Max 102.3

Living with Breast Cancer What Really Helps You Cope

Contributing Sponsor:

Melissa Etheridge Shares Her Battle

Breast Cancer Supplement 2011 Breast CanCer supplement

22

sponsored by

Blades

OCtOBer 2 0 1 1

Today’s W o m a n

I

Oc t o b e r

www.iamtodayswoman.com

I

www.facebook.com/todayswomanmagazine

I

@todayswomannow

23