LIFE STORIES

Surgery, radiation, hormonal therapy, more surgery, no job – the cancer battle is draining, and the treatments are rough and harsh. Although my breast cancer is Stage 1, complications are coming out of the woodworks. Approximately 18 months after my breast cancer diagnosis, I hear the dreaded “C” word again. I am told that now there is a 90% chance that I have lung cancer. Part of lung is removed, at least the news was better than I could hope…no cancer! Yay! Since that time a couple of years ago, another tumor has been found, and I had it removed. I was again so grateful that I did not have cancer. Because my breast cancer diagnosis happened in such an unusual way, it compelled me to help others who were diagnosed with cancer.

I needed better ways to understand this, and how to deal with it, and I wondered how I could help wage the war on breast cancer. I started meeting other survivors and attended a support group or two, but I needed and wanted to do more. I started finding out about other avenues that were available to me. Advocacy, education, and awareness are areas that called out me. I understood the issues, and since I was living through cancer, these were the areas where I felt I could make a difference. I decided to focus my efforts within the poor, underserved communities in Metro Atlanta, where the lack of education is rampant and breast cancer rates are high, to become one of the faces and voice of a breast cancer survivor.

I stared my journey by volunteering as a Patient Navigator with the Avon Foundation Communication Education and Outreach Initiative. This gave me the opportunity to work in the communities where resources were lacking, by providing low-cost or free mammograms, demonstrating how to do Breast Self-Exams, and educating and promoting breast cancer awareness.  Next, I sought to become a board member of Georgia Breast Cancer Coalition Fund (GBCCF).  Advocacy was one of the main goals of GBCCF, along with securing breast cancer funding from Congress. As a member of the National Breast Cancer Coalition (NBCC) contingent, we went to Washington, DC and spoke to our elected congressional members about the need for continual breast cancer funding. I attended the NBCC’s annual Advocacy Summits, and later became a Project Lead® graduate.  This led to my being nominated as a Peer Reviewer for the Department of Defense (DoD) Breast Cancer Research Program (BCRP). My good friend (who is now deceased) always told me, “Fran, you are so passionate about this. Your voice needs to be heard with those who are working to end this disease.” To have the opportunity to meet with scientists, researchers, and medical professionals and review applications for breast cancer funding would be such an honor for me and become something that I will treasure always.

Volunteering as a peer reviewer provided insight into the breast cancer realm that I had never been exposed to before. It has been very humbling having worked with the some of the brightest minds in the world; they graciously allowed me talk about the impact of breast cancer, the treatments, and the impact of lifelong effects within the breast cancer community. Everyone respected what I could bring to the table as I had the experience no one really wants…being a breast cancer survivor. They listened when I explained how we all need to work in halting the deaths, despair, and destruction that breast cancer wreaks. Having the researchers, scientists and panel members tell me my statements made an impression and impacted their decision process, remains as some the proudest moments in my life!

Eighteen years later, I am still a warrior in the fight against breast cancer. I appreciate all of my fellow advocates – especially the researchers who continuously labor and expend extraordinary efforts in the labs, to fight in this war against breast cancer. I continue to keep in touch with the researchers, scientists and others who work so tirelessly behind the scenes, facing uphill battles to get grants, resources, and financial backing to do the work that they are so passionate about! I feel so blessed and appreciative of the opportunities I have been given serve on breast cancer panels, serving as one of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation as one of their ambassadors, and to inform others about the importance of mammograms and self-breast exams. I remain committed to helping do my part in this fight, along with so many others such as the CDMRP, Susan G. Komen, Dr. Rakesh Kumar and his BCYW Foundation, Dr. Geeta Upadhyay, and all of the breast cancer advocates…together we are making a difference!