Have You Heard??? Pink Hope Edition

The Pink Hope team!

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of doing a boutique photoshoot for the Beyond the Ribbon sponsor of this year's Pretty in Pink Foundation's Walk of Champions. Pink Hope is a post-mastectomy care boutique offering all kinds of services and products for women after they've had a mastectomy.



They were so knowledgeable and it was clear their whole team is dedicated to providing compassionate post-mastectomy care in an intimate and feminine setting.

They are still working to get the word out in the breast cancer community about their services, so I wanted to do my part in spreading the word. I really wish I had known they were around after I had my surgery. If you or someone you know has had or is having a mastectomy, please share Pink Hope with them.

Jada and Sara were so welcoming, explaining what they do and how they help women navigate the post-mastectomy care terrain. I was there to take pictures of 4 of Pretty in Pink's champions that are walking in the show this year. Jada and Sara made us feel right at home. They showed us around the store and pointed out some really great products they carry (like bras with pockets to hold drain bulbs after surgery, prostheses, hats and scarves, bathing suits, t-shirts, and lots of beautiful bras). Sara walked us through how they perform a fitting and showed off their feminine-glam dressing room.

Jeff, the owner, came by and told us about how he, as an amputee himself, opened a prosthetics business (Atlantic Prosthetic Services, right next door to Pink Hope) and started noticing that women had no other choice but to come to a bustling store, with no privacy to get fit for breast prostheses.

With genuine care for what these



women really needed, Jeff decided to branch out and open Pink Hope. Their intimate and beautifully feminine boutique caters to women's needs at a time when women really need a comfortable and caring environment, one that reminds them of how beautifully feminine they still are, even after their breasts (an overpowering symbol of femininity in our culture) are gone.

Bravo to Jeff and his team for being innovative and empathetic! Please help me spread the word about this great store! And don't miss out on the Pink Hope t-shirts! Jeff's trademarked saying is on the back: Let's call it Can'tcer!  Love it!

Visit their website for location, hours, and other contact info. Their About Us page has the detailed story of how they came to be.

Catching Up

Wow. I didn't realize it had been so long. I guess that's the wonderful thing about it; Life went on.

I'm settling into my new job. A new semester is in full swing with my first job. Family life is as busy as ever, and I'm wholeheartedly trying to live up to my promise to make the most of each day.

In case you are wondering, my parents are doing well. Bob is going for his follow-up visit in a few weeks. It doesn't seem like CLL is interfering with his life at all. Mom started chemo (daily by pill) and her platelet counts are finally down. Let's hope and pray they stay that way. She handled side effects well and is sticking to her chemo regimen. Nothing gets my momma down! I recently joked with Dr. Kotz that Cape Fear Cancer Specialists ought to name a wing after my family with all the business we've brought them.

My daughter had a rough stretch of illness; a cold that morphed into pneumonia, followed by back-to-back UTIs/kidney infections and 4 different antibiotics. We're headed to Chapel Hill for a renal ultrasound and a visit with her surgeon. He wants to be sure that nothing's gone wrong with her duplicated renal system. Please send all your positive vibes and prayers this way. We're hoping to hear nothing more is wrong.

As for me, there's still the pain issue... and some crazy thing that's happened to my hand twice. I'm really good about wearing my compression sleeve and that seems to keep the lymphedema under control. I wasn't pumping for awhile (daily pumping hurts the little bones in my hand), and the sleeve seemed to be enough. That is, until one Friday when I was cooking dinner. I looked down at my hand and it was grayish/white (like there was no blood at all), cold, and two fingers were completely blue. I immediately took my sleeve off, but it took a couple of hours (yes, HOURS) to get my hand to warm up and not look like it was about to fall off. It was still pale the next morning, but nothing like it had been. My physical therapist, who returned my text at 9pm on a Friday night (!!!! wow, right?!?) said she thought it could be a circulation issue. Luckily, everything resolved and I was ok. 2 weeks later, it happened again. Not nearly as severe, but man is it crazy to look down at your hand and it's not the color it's supposed to be!

The pain issue is still prevalent. I have some pain everyday, but I can usually handle it without much difficulty. There was a week in early January I thought I might lose my mind. I hurt so badly. I would joke that it was faster to name the body parts that didn't hurt rather than the ones that did, except it's just not funny. More recently, I've had some bad pain days, but they are interspersed with better days. I'm managing. Dr. Kotz took me off the Tamoxifen for 3 weeks to see if that was the cause of my pain. Musculoskeletal pain is a known side effect for most of the drugs in its class. In a way, I was hopeful the pain would completely resolve and we could just switch meds and be done. I say "in a way" because not taking the tamoxifen is practically as scary as taking it. If I don't take it, the cancer is likely to come back. If I take something else, I risk brittle bones and a lower efficacy rate. But taking it could've been the reason for all the pain (and other side effects). In my case, the pain didn't go away. Now I'm back on tamoxifen and I still have NO answers. Great, right?!

Dr. Kotz has recommended a pain management clinic. I always thought pain management clinics were for people hooked on pain pills who needed other alternatives to manage chronic pain. Turns out, that's not entirely the case. Dr. Kotz explained that the field of pain management emerged from anesthesiologists who wanted to use the pain-free benefits of anesthesia without the effect of sleep. Now, pain management clinics offer a unique blend of mainstream medical approaches with complementary approaches, like acupuncture, massage, vitamin C infusion, chelation therapy, etc... Dr. Kotz, a scientist to the core, seemingly a man who doesn't believe in it unless he can verify it happened in a lab said that he's sent patients to this clinic he was sure they wouldn't be able to help, and they have helped. So, I'm very hopeful!

In terms of the re-reconstruction, I'm still on the fence. I'm so unhappy with how my reconstruction looks and feels. I can't stand being uneven and lopsided. The spasms are really terrible. But the thought of more surgery weighs on me heavily. I'm trying to be patient and just see what happens. I'll have to keep you updated!

I will end this on a happy note. I've been working out with a trainer 2x/week since October. Her name is Angie Oakley (and I hope she doesn't get mad I put her name out there, but if you need a trainer, you need to check her out!). Angie is so invested in my journey to build strength, lose weight, and generally get well. I can't begin to rave about her enough. She watches me so closely, she can tell when I'm hiding the pain. She works hard to find alternatives to exercises I can't do so that I get the same benefits. She has been patient and motivating and encouraging. I adore her! And guess what.... I've lost inches (had to have 4 pairs of pants altered significantly because they were about to fall off me), the numbers on the scale are dropping slowly, and I am definitely stronger. Remember when I said I couldn't open a bottle of water on my own? I can totally do that now! And more. So many women in my position will tell you how hard it is to build strength and lose weight after chemo and radiation and surgery, surgery, surgery.... But I'm here to tell you that progress, though excruciatingly slow, is POSSIBLE. And, that there are people out there who genuinely care and are invested in helping you reach your goals!

I'll post again soon and let you know what's going on with pain management once it starts!
Ciao for now!

Pinktober Profiles: Beth Teel

Here's the next fantastic profile in our series, collaboratively written by my Brunswick Community College Eng 111 students as part of their service learning "Profile of a Survivor" assignment. Many of these students are still in high school, participating as part of the Early College High School program. They are taking college level courses in addition to their full course load of high school classes, and many are involved in extra-curricular activities as well. In order to raise awareness of what breast cancer is really like right here in our community, these students collaborated to write profiles of 7 incredible survivors from our community. I'll share their writing with you all week long.

Support Through the Storm

Guest Contributors: Dylan Blanton, Bailey Campbell, Mallorie Cole, Kaitlyn Dove, Dezarae Lehman, Claire Longshore, Shelby Mathis, Valerie Renna, Skyler Watson

When Beth Teel first found out she had breast cancer she didn’t know what to do, no less how to act. Her initial reaction was confusion because she did not know how or why she got breast cancer. No one in her family had ever been diagnosed with breast cancer, or any type of cancer at that.  She began to shake, and feel uneasy as this information sank in and didn’t know what step to take next.

Beth knew that one of the hardest parts would be telling her family: Her husband, sons, and daughter meant everything to her, and this news would break their hearts. When she did tell them, it was no surprise that they rallied around her with support, willing to do anything to help Beth get through this. At her first doctor’s appointment all three of her sons showed up unexpectedly to surprise her, and she broke down in tears. There was no doubt her family would be her rock through it all.

At her appointment, her oncologist told her that her right breast was filled with a nine centimeter long tumor (For a visual reference, a 5cm tumor is comparablein size to a lime. Beth’s tumor was almost twice that size!). Despite the bad news, Beth knew she was very blessed to have had one of the best and most involved support groups to help her through her breast cancer journey.

Beth's son shaving her head.

Beth wanted to get a lumpectomy to just remove the tissue around the cell but realized that a lumpectomy wasn’t going to be enough. Although she didn’t want to get this procedure done, she soon made the decision to get a mastectomy, to remove both breasts entirely. Her breasts were part of her body and getting rid of them was a hard decision to make, but it needed to be done. As she had this procedure done, the doctors found cancer in her lymph nodes, so all of the lymph nodes in her right arm had to also be removed. Chemo meant the loss of her hair, and although it seems like just hair to you and I, it meant losing more and more of herself in Beth’s eyes; First her breasts, and now her hair! She didn’t understand why this was happening to her and wondered if she was ever going to get better. Chemotherapy made her very sick. She experienced horrible bone pain. Overall, she just felt like she was dying. Her biggest challenge throughout chemo was getting through the physical pain. It was hard for her to understand how some people could make it through chemo feeling fine, yet every session made her feel terrible. It was discovered that she was highly allergic to the Leukine shots she was given. She would vomit, had trouble breathing, and even ended up with Shingles which are incredibly painful. Beth was reaching her breaking point.

Leukine is injectable medicine, classified as a colony stimulating factor, which forces the body to produce more white blood cells in an effort to help the patient undergoing chemotherapy defend against infections during their weakened state. One of the most common side effects of these medications is severe bone pain, because the medicine forces the bone marrow to hyper-produce white blood cells.

Surgery had meant the loss of her breasts. Chemo caused her to lose her hair and she suffered through incredible pain throughout her treatment. Now, Beth would face 39 radiation treatments. Three of the radiation treatments included “boosts,” which meant Beth had to have extra exposure of radiation to the places in her breasts where the original tumors were to further reduce any risks of recurrence. Radiation burned her skin, and made her susceptible to a staph infection. There were constantly new obstacles. For Beth, it felt like every step toward finishing treatment led to more pain and suffering.

Beth raising awareness with the
support of her loved ones.

The burns from the radiation treatments caused her burned skin to weep, or discharge, at random times. When she showed her doctors, they were shocked at how badly burned she was. She was put on IV fluids and antibiotics, and then hospitalized for a week due to the damage of the radiation. Somehow through all of the obstacles, Beth did not sink. Her faith in God, which had grown even stronger throughout this experience, and the support from her family helped her get through each obstacle.

 Although cancer has negatively affected Beth’s life and her family’s lives, they have found ways to embrace the situation. Spreading awareness through presentations, telling Beth’s breast cancer story and holding on to a family bond that can never be broken are some of the ways that Beth and her family try to make the best out of a bad situation.  Her children and even their friends took her to appointments, went to every surgery, and helped her up when she was down. In addition to the support from her family, Beth also had support from her doctors who treated her as more than just a patient. They did everything they possibly could to ensure that Beth would overcome this setback in her life. Although Beth would sometimes feel discouraged, she was overwhelmingly happy to have so much support. When she felt like giving up, they gave her the strength to keep fighting.

Beth, with my daughter Charlotte,
 at PIPF Pink Fashion Walk
Fundraiser 2015. They are
SO beautiful!

In life, it usually takes tough situations to really figure out the lesson you are supposed to learn. Beth Teel’s breast cancer journey has taught her a lot, more than she would have imagined. She says that “the hardest thing about breast cancer was not knowing what to do.”  Some of the most important lessons she has learned have been to rest when you need to rest and to be aware of your body and research everything. Beth was asked, what she would tell someone who was newly diagnosed with breast cancer. Her answer was “to have someone by your side who has had cancer.” She says that although everybody’s journey is different, it's encouraging to have someone to talk to that is experiencing similar issues and that can give you advice when you are unsure of what to do. Beth says to listen to other people’s good thoughts and have a good support system.  Beth is excited to have celebrated being a breast cancer survivor for the past four years. Beth says “do not have bad days, have bad moments.” Her perseverance through these constant obstacles teaches us all that with a great support system and a positive attitude, we can overcome so much. 

Pinktober Profiles: Angie Smock

Here's the next fantastic profile in our series, collaboratively written by my Brunswick Community College Eng 111 students as part of their service learning "Profile of a Survivor" assignment. Many of these students are still in high school, participating as part of the Early College High School program. They are taking college level courses in addition to their full course load of high school classes, and many are involved in extra-curricular activities as well. In order to raise awareness of what breast cancer is really like right here in our community, these students collaborated to write profiles of 7 incredible survivors from our community. I'll share their writing with you all week long.

Trusting Her Faith

Guest Contributors: Heather Hennessy, McKenna Spillane, Alexis Thorpe

Angie Smock is a beautiful, fearless woman who has dealt with a lot of stress in her lifetime. The issues started when her mother passed away in 2003. Then, a year later, Angie’s father passed away.  The loss of her parents was devastating, and it wasn’t the end of Angie’s journey with hardships. In 2010, Angie went for her baseline mammogram, which was standard protocol for 40yr old women at the time. The mammogram was negative. Early in 2011, that would all change.

In October 2015, the American Cancer Society released an updated recommendation regarding screening for breast cancer. They have changed routine screening to begin at age 45, instead of 40, and assert that everyone can forego the manual breast exams performed at their annual visits. Currently, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists recommends beginning mammograms at age 40. The American Cancer Society thinks mammograms should start at 45, and the US Preventative Services Task Force claims that age 50 is more appropriate. Given the confusing landscape of recommendations, it seems vitally important, now more than ever, to know your family medical history, and to communicate with your doctor about what’s best for you as an individual!

In February of 2011, Angie was in the shower when she noticed that the side of her breast was caving inward. This strange occurrence led Angie to her doctor, who ordered another mammogram. The mammogram revealed a tumor that “looked like a jellyfish” with tentacles. When the radiologist came out to speak with Angie, an unusual practice, she asked him if he thought it was cancer. He told her, without the benefit of pathology, he was willing to bet his life that on this being a malignant tumor. Feeling scared, Angie returned home and sat on her bed. Right then, an audible voice came to her, though she was alone in the room. Angie recounts, “God gave me a bible verse. God gave me John 11:4.”  When she looked up the verse in the Bible, she found that John 11:4 states “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the son of God may be glorified through it.”  This moment gave her a new sense of hope. She had known God was carrying her, but now she felt sure He was going to protect her, and she knew she would be alright.

Angie went to the doctor with her fearless attitude and mindset saying, “Okay, what are we going to do next?” The first opinion was to get a bilateral mastectomy. A second opinion recommended a lumpectomy because the chance of recurrence was the same whether she just removed the lump or the whole breast. Angie decided on having ACT chemo, followed by a lumpectomy and sentinel node biopsy which was positive and led her surgeons to remove 16 positive lymph nodes. A small lesion was also found on Angie’s brain. After surgery, Angie would continue to have chemotherapy.

In June of 2011, while she was still undergoing treatment, her doctor requested she get another mammogram. Usually, this testing is done after treatment is completed, but Angie’s doctor was concerned about how quickly her tumor had grown from nothing to a stage 3B cancer. This mammogram revealed another lesion in her breast. God was surely watching over her, protecting her with every step. Angie’s doctors then had to change the chemo cocktail she was getting to battle the change to her diagnosis. This change caused a debilitating side effect; dementia. In between treatments of this new potent chemo cocktail, Angie would mistake her niece Darian, who was one of her caregivers, for her mother who’d passed away years ago. Angie would mistake her husband for her doctor. She couldn’t be left alone, and since her husband had to work, she would go to Kenny and Elizabeth Barnes’ home (they’re the founders of Women of Hope) for “babysitting.” Her bouts with

dementia would put her in a near child-like state that was confusing and scary. Thankfully, faith, time, and medicine together would get her through treatment. As of May 2015, she has finished chemotherapy and is now cancer free. Her diagnosis has taught her to never take life for granted. She learned that every minute counts and to live life to the fullest every day. So, that's exactly what she's doing.

Pinktober Profiles: Andrea Duley

Here's the next fantastic profile in our series, collaboratively written by my Brunswick Community College Eng 111 students as part of their service learning "Profile of a Survivor" assignment. Many of these students are still in high school, participating as part of the Early College High School program. They are taking college level courses in addition to their full course load of high school classes, and many are involved in extra-curricular activities as well. In order to raise awareness of what breast cancer is really like right here in our community, these students collaborated to write profiles of 7 incredible survivors from our community. I'll share their writing with you over the next week.

A Healthy Outlet Changed Everything 

Guest Contributors: Bailey Campbell, Mallorie Cole, Skyler Watson  

In 2004 Andrea Duley moved to North Carolina from California never expecting to battle cancer soon after the transition. Her mother had passed away from ovarian cancer, her father had battled lung cancer, and her brother had cancer too.

            That April, Andrea went into the doctor's office for her annual mammogram, which is how she found out that she had a mass in her breast. When Andrea first found out she had cancer she was in shock.  She wanted to know everything she could about the cancer because it was in her nature to work to understand and research. 

Andrea at her heaviest, post-treatment

After the lump was found in her breast, a biopsy, which is when a small amount of tissue is taken from the mass and then examined under the microscope to look for abnormal cells, was done to determine if the mass was cancerous and if so, what kind of cancer it was. After that she had a lumpectomy which removed the lump and some of the tissue that surrounded it. Andrea chose not to have chemotherapy because the recurrence rate was less than 50 percent. After her surgery she endured 35 days of radiation, which targets any cancer cells left in the body.

After completing radiation she started to gain a lot of weight because of the side effects of the medicines. She knew she wasn’t herself, and she felt that there needed to be a change because she did not want to live an unhealthy lifestyle anymore. She knew then that she had to make a change for the better, so she started to watch what she consumed and ate more healthy foods. She also started working out consistently to become fit and strong.

Thoughts of cancer and recurrence can become all-consuming. Working out became Andrea’s way to escape thinking about her cancer all the time.  Exercise was her outlet and what kept her going through this journey. Working out also helped her to become stronger in her fight against cancer. She believes that becoming a healthier person contributed to her speedy recovery. She found out when she made a switch to the healthier lifestyle, it helped her get through cancer with a more positive mindset and outlook on life.

            In May 2015, nearly a decade after her first experience with cancer, she found a black and blue mark under her arm. She was concerned so she went to her doctor.  The strange mark led to testing, which resulted in her second diagnoses of breast cancer. This time around she took the BRCA test, which came back positive, and led to her decision to have double mastectomy which removed both of her breasts. Her healthy lifestyle continued into her second round of cancer. Before she had her surgery she ran a 5K, which really showed her dedication to her healthy lifestyle.

            Andrea had many obstacles that she had to face as she went through treatment and life after cancer. She remained grateful for her family, for life, and for how far medicine has come.   Even though her life was hard she made decisions that not only benefited her mindset through treatment but also her physical health. The decisions she made have impacted her life tremendously, and long-term. Her decision to become healthier not only helped her have a positive outlook but helped her during recovery because she was much stronger and healthier. Andrea learned from cancer that everyone should always have an outlet. She says, “You need to have something that can take your mind off the things when you're going through a rough time.” Andrea stated "You need to have an outlet because without one you constantly think about the cancer.” 

Pinktober Profiles: Christine Judd

I'm so excited to share the next profile in our series, collaboratively written by my Brunswick Community College Eng 111 students as part of their service learning "Profile of a Survivor" assignment. Many of these students are still in high school, participating as part of the Early College High School program. They are taking college level courses in addition to their full course load of high school classes, and many are involved in extra-curricular activities as well. In order to raise awareness of what breast cancer is really like right here in our community, these students collaborated to write profiles of 7 incredible survivors from our community. I'll share their writing with you over the next week.

Stronger Than They Gave Her Credit For

Guest Contributors: Jalen Booker, Heather Hennessy, Amber Mingeaud, Justice Parham, McKenna Spillane, Alexis Thorpe, Maggie Yang

Christine Judd’s journey with breast cancer began in 2012. She noticed she had a rash under her arm so she went to the doctor. The doctor said they were 99.9% sure that she had a cyst, and advised her to treat it with Primrose Oil. Four months later, Christine and her family were getting ready for their family trip to Disney World, but the ever-present rash under her arm became very itchy, hard, and swollen. Being in the sub made the rash burn intensely, so Christine decided it was time to go back to the doctor. Just days before her wedding anniversary and family trip to Disney, Christine was set up for a mammogram, ultrasound, and MRI. The tests revealed she had a large mass in her breast and 4 inflamed lymph nodes.  Her doctors advised against travel, wanting her to get a needle biopsy as soon as possible. When her breast surgeon wasn’t able to schedule for that week, Christine chose to travel with her family, spending much of their vacation suffering from the painful, itchy rash and the stress of the unknown.

She returned from her trip and immediately had the biopsy performed. On her 2^nd wedding anniversary, Christine was told she had stage 3B Triple Negative Inductal Carcinoma.

Stage 3B breast cancer is described as “cancer that has extended beyond the immediate region of the tumor, and may have invaded nearby lymph nodes but has not yet spread to the organs.” Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) is among the most difficult breast cancers to treat because of the way it (doesn’t) respond to chemotherapy.

When Christine was told she had cancer she felt sad and wanted to cry, but she told herself she was going to be successful and keep moving forward. At that point, Christine had to mentally prepare herself for the uphill battle she was about to embark on. She learned all that she could about this aggressive, triple negative breast cancer. Hard times were just around the corner, but she refused to let it get her down.

Christine’s treatment plan included 6 rounds of a chemotherapy referred to as “TAC” (Taxotere, Adriamycin – also known as the “red devil” in the cancer world, and Cyclophosomide). She also endured a lumpectomy to remove the mass from her breast, axillary node dissection to remove her lymph nodes, and 30 rounds of radiation.

The possible side effects from this chemo combination include: risk of infection, bruising and bleeding, anemia, bladder irritation, discolored urine, buildup of fluid, feeling sick, tiredness, sore mouth, taste changes, diarrhea, constipation, hair loss, numb or tingling hands or feet, skin changes, nail changes, changes in the way the kidneys and liver work, sore eyes, muscle and/or joint pain, and headaches, among others.

Christine experienced many of the side effects from her chemo treatment, including loss of her hair, early menopause, weight gain, and pale skin. One of the hardest moments during her treatment came when her white blood count fell dramatically, increasing her risk of infections. Her doctor recommended she stay away from children and certain foods that could contain certain types of bacteria. Staying away from children was extremely hard, because Christine had a family to take care of. Therefore she was forced to wear a mask because she did not want to be confined in a hospital room during her treatment. Her last chemo treatment caused her blood sugars to rise, which led to convulsions. It was an enormous stroke of luck that she did not end up in a diabetic coma. As a result, Christine had to endure insulin injections in her stomach, and started a walking and exercise program to lose the weight she’d gained during treatment.

About a year and a half after she finished her treatments, Christine was feeling very anxious and ill. She was fearful her cancer had returned because TNBC is very aggressive. She simply wanted to make it to the two year mark with no recurrence! When she went to her doctor, she received some unexpected news. She was pregnant! Christine was very surprised to found out that she was having another child. Her doctor’s warned her that her body was probably not strong enough to maintain the pregnancy, that she wasn’t likely to carry to full term. Christine proved them wrong! In her words, “Nobody tells me what I can’t do!” In fact, at 39 weeks, Christine had to be induced! She delivered Whitney, a healthy, beautiful, MIRACLE, baby girl.

Once again, diabetes struck because her pancreas was still too weak from the chemo and the steroids. Through Christine's illness she was determined to be successful. Her strength and the support of her family and friends helped Christine survive through the cancer, the diabetes, the miracle pregnancy, and even nursing with one breast! Christine says, “You’ve got to run with it.” And she did! She ran with everything that was thrown at her. Christine’s advice to all cancer survivors and patients around the world: “Live your life.” 

Pinktober Profiles: Toni Whitaker

I'm so excited to share the next profile in our series, collaboratively written by my Brunswick Community College Eng 111 students as part of their service learning "Profile of a Survivor" assignment. Many of these students are still in high school, participating as part of the Early College High School program. They are taking college level courses in addition to their full course load of high school classes, and many are involved in extra-curricular activities as well. In order to raise awareness of what breast cancer is really like right here in our community, these students collaborated to write profiles of 7 incredible survivors from our community. I'll share their writing with you over the next week.

Defying All Odds

Guest Contributors: Kaitlyn Dove, Claire Longshore and Valerie Renna

Did You Know?  As many people may know, breast cancer is very common in women. Over 232,000 females develop this disease every year and about 40,000 die from it. Men can develop breast cancer but this sickness is about 100 times more common among women. Health is a major factor in the occurrence of breast cancer, along with genetics and obesity. Overweight women, and women who produce (and consume) high levels of estrogen are more likely to produce higher levels of estrogen which “feeds” many types of breast cancer cells. After a woman discovers that she has breast cancer, she then visits an oncologist who specializes in the study of cancer. There are three different types of oncologists, medical, surgical and radiation. Depending on the patient's plan of treatment, he or she visits one or all of the different oncologists.  These doctors suggest popular treatments such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation.

Toni Whitaker was an all-around strong and healthy thirty-four year old woman. Toni had gone through some major traumatic events including a total of four miscarriages and one stillbirth over the course of five years. She was told that she would never be able to have children and although that discouraged her, physically and mentally, she always had a positive attitude and was grateful for all of the things in her life. Toni worked hard at maintaining a healthy lifestyle including playing tennis, eating right, and running on a daily basis. Toni was healthy, married for five years and all around very happy, until one day in the shower she noticed that her breasts were unusually lumpy. Although Toni hated to think about it, she knew what this could mean. She explained to her husband what she had discovered and scheduled a visit with her primary doctor, who then sent her to an oncologist.

At the oncologist it was standard procedure to take a pregnancy test even after she explained to her doctor that there was no way possible that she could be pregnant. Toni’s doctor came in and told her that he had good news as well as bad news. The doctor explained his good news was that she was finally pregnant. The bad news was that she, in fact, had breast cancer. That’s right. In that moment, Toni found out she was pregnant and had breast cancer. According to Toni, in the 1980’s treatment for pregnant women with cancer was unheard of . The doctor explained to Toni and her husband that she could not undergo chemotherapy and radiation because of her pregnancy. They knew there was no way they were terminating her pregnancy and asked the doctor to examine other possibilities to get rid of the cancer. After some discussion, Toni was told about an experimental medication available through a trial in Boston. There were risks in taking the medication, particularly for pregnant women. In order to receive this medication, her supportive husband drove to Boston from Connecticut every two days for a supply. Toni was warned; while taking this medication, there was a possibility she would not live more than six months and that if her child survived she would likely be born with serious disabilities.

Toni never once let this news bring her spirits down. She maintained a positive attitude throughout this journey despite all of the possibilities and set-backs. She carried her child full term and delivered a completely healthy baby girl! Toni’s daughter is now thirty-three years old and is living a perfectly healthy, normal life. Toni also beat the odds and those six months have turned into twenty-nine years.  

No stranger to health problems, despite a healthy lifestyle, Toni late suffered a heart attack. Three years ago, Toni also had a recurrence of her breast cancer. Now, as before, she chooses to live day-by-day and she does not dwell on what happened yesterday. Toni positively says “if you are worried about tomorrow you miss out on today.” Throughout her journey, she has done some serious positive-thinking as well as trusting her faith. She strongly believes in the power of prayer, because of the miracles God has given her. Toni believes that although her faith was strong before her diagnosis, it had gotten stronger throughout her journey. Toni’s ability to defy the odds and to do so with such a positive outlook is incredibly inspiring. To this day, Toni is very excited to still have the opportunity to accomplish all of her goals and dreams. Her next journey: zip-lining in Australia within the next year!