PROFILE
Debbie Halpin The Greatest Warrior by Sarah Leslie Gagan Preparation by Fire “My whole life was preparing me to do this, all my experiences absolutely prepared me for this. And you know you’re doing the right thing when it brings such joy.” These are the heartfelt words of Hopestone Director Debbie Halpin, and this is her story. Born in upstate New York, the eldest of 3 children, Debbie loved to dance and dreamed of becoming a ballerina. She was introduced to cancer at the age of five, when her father was diagnosed with breast cancer. She recalls standing in the hospital room with her mother and two younger siblings as she overheard the doctor say, “about three months.” She didn’t fully understand the gravity of the prognosis, but clearly remembers her father unzipping the oxygen tent surrounding him, telling the doctor, “I’m going to see my three kids grow up and finish school, and then and only then will I go somewhere.” He left no room for discussion as he zipped up the tent. Debbie’s father overcame breast cancer, and lived to survive malignant melanoma, lymphoma, and then, at age 39, he became the third person in the United States to be diagnosed with angiosarcoma. He survived one year following a leg amputation, and lived to see all three of his children graduate, exactly as he had set his heart and mind to so many years before. Debbie’s father was only one family member to battle cancer. Cancer also visited the lives of her mother, brother, grandparents, cousin, and several extended family members — and eventually Debbie herself. At age 34, through an early mammogram and ultrasound, a tiny tumor was found in Debbie’s breast. Through the quick response of a close family friend who was a breast oncology surgeon, the pinhead sized tumor was removed and no further treatment was required. However, while Debbie remained cancer free, she began to have indescribable aches and pains throughout her body which worsened to the point of being immobile and barely able to walk. After months of diagnostic testing, she
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b Monthly | MARCH 2020
