The month of October is quickly approaching. With that being said it’s also Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Unfortunately, all of us know a person who has been diagnosed with this awful disease. Be it our mom, sister, aunt, grandmother, cousin or friend, it affects us all! What’s scary is that the more you hear about it, the more the age of the person affected seems to be getting younger and younger. The statistics are staggering!
That’s why The Cowboy Lifestyle Network is supporting Wrangler’s Tough Enough To Wear Pink Charity. We encourage you to go their site www.ToughEnoughToWearPink.com and see what you can do to offer your support to help this cause and spread the awareness about breast cancer. It can be something simple, “Like” their Facebook page, host an event or when you’re out at the store, pick up a bottle of Purple Cowboy, the Official Wine of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. When a bottle is purchased, a contribution goes to Wrangler’s Tough Enough To Wear Pink Charity.
Another reason why The Cowboy Lifestyle Network is supporting Wrangler’s Tough Enough To Wear Pink Charity is because if affects one of their own…me.
In a nutshell, here is my story…
Nobody wants to be told they have cancer, but that was the news I received June 9th, 2010.
With cancer being prevalent on both sides of my family; my mother and two aunts all being breast cancer survivors, I always kinda had a feeling in the back of my mind that the “Big C” may come knocking on my door. After having my annual mammogram and a biopsy my family and I went of vacation to Pinetop and Greer, Arizona…I received the phone call.. “You have stage II ductal Carcinoma Breast Cancer.” I was numb. Talk about a deer in the head lights.. “What do I do? Who do I turn too? What kind of procedure? What about chemo? Am I going to die? Do I keep this private and too myself or do I share it with the public? I don’t wanna have a ‘pity party’.”
After discussing this news with my family, The CLN family, my AZTV Co-host, Pat McMahon, Producer, Laura Holka, National Breast Surgeon, Dr. Jay Harness and EmPowHer CEO, Michelle Robson, I decided to share my story to the public. I thought, if I could help just one person get through what I was about endure, than going public about this would be the way to go.
On July 27th, my 44th birthday, I had a bi-lateral double mastectomy. Why wait for the other shoe to drop? If we’re gonna take one, take both and start all over with reconstruction. Three weeks later, I was back on the McMahon Group gearing up to get my port in to start chemo. After 18 weeks of injecting chemo poison into my body to kill off any cancer cells that may have escaped during surgery, losing my hair, pumping up my expanders for breast reconstruction and having other funky side effects happen to me, I am finally rounding the corner of this marathon. All of my doctors told me that this is not a sprint but a marathon…take it one day at a time.
Today, I am on the drug Tamoxifin and have completed breast reconstruction. This journey has taught me to live each day to the fullest and to take nothing and nobody for granted.
People I have never met before have approached me, written letters, called and have emailed me stating that sharing my story, empowered them to get a mammogram to check for breast cancer. Early detection is key, don’t be afraid, just DO it!
Thank you for allowing me to share my story.
Carpe Diem!
CLN Community & Event Sponsor
