Is there ever a good time to be told that you have cancer? Probably not! Bad times to receive dreadful news like this would include special days like a birthday or anniversary or holiday. This could put a damper on festivities for years to come! Ginny Kelley, Secretary III at the Mark Wilcox Center, remembers …
Category Archive: Survivor
Sep 16
Who your dollars help?
Leslie is one of over 400 uninsured, low-income women that were screened by the Florida Suncoast Affiliate funded grant at Sarasota Memorial Hospital in 2009. A substitute teacher at a special needs school in Sarasota, Leslie does not qualify for health insurance through the school board. So, when she was given a script at her well-woman …
Sep 16
Surviving for my sister
Brenda is a Race participant that is particularly interested in finding a cure for breast cancer. She is a two-time survivor who also lost her older sister to the disease, and the misunderstanding that once surrounded it. From her very first mammogram, Brenda was recommended for follow-up and was soon diagnosed with breast cancer. She …
Sep 05
Where your money is helping today
The Race for the Cure in Vinoy Park is a beautiful thing. The view, the energy, and the passion bring people back year after year to participate in our celebration of survivorship and to help us work towards a cure. But is it really possible for a $30 registration fee to help end breast cancer? …
Aug 26
Inspired by Elise
October 1, 2009 – The phone rings – the doctor is on the line – the only words I heard from the conversation: I am sorry the biopsy confirms you have cancer. The word CANCER echoes in my brain. Cancer is a scary word. I am hardly able to hear or focus on anything else …
Jun 29
Bald, Brave and Beautiful
I was bald from chemotherapy for almost seven months—something I never expected to have to endure in my lifetime. But what I have found, since my illness began, is that my perceptions toward baldness have changed dramatically. In July 2010, just a few months after being diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer and following a …
Jun 14
Race for The Cure: The Power of Pink by Nancy G. Brinker
The founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure Nancy G. Brinker has started a blog that will be hosted on The Huffington Post website. Here is a copy of her most recent post from 6/2/11. This weekend, some 40,000 men, women and children will take their places at the starting line near the U.S. …
May 23
Polk County Students Add Math to Philanthropy
At a school with at least eight survivors on a campus, it comes as no surprise that the nine students in Suzan Harrell’s Advanced Algebra with Financial Applications class at Traviss Career Center chose the Suncoast Affiliate as the beneficiary of a class project. The project, entitled “Modeling a Business,” was designed to teach the …
May 19
My Journey to becoming a member of the Florida Suncoast Affiliate chapter of Susan G. Komen and working my first Susan G. Komen event
In the spring of 2008 I went rock climbing with a friend in Tucson, AZ. I suffered a significant fall, ultimately hurting my neck and back. After weeks of physical therapy, I was finally able to see a chiropractor for an adjustment. The following morning I noticed a lump on my right chest bone. I …