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YOUIN ARE THEENOUGH. PINK BY NICOLE BY HEROUX WILLIAMS I PHOTOS BY NSP STUDIO ANGELA DUNCAN & DEBB CHAPMAN
I had been receiving free samples of In The Pink products through a company Hip Hemp for several months, essentially as a test agent from late 2016 into 2017. The founders had decided by feedback which three oils made of natural ingredients, essential, and hemp oils they would produce for sale. After 6 surgeries for reconstruction years after a mastectomy, finances were slim for purchasing and freight costs. I found the company was actually very close to home and hoping to save on the shipping charges, I gave them a call. Angela answered and shared that it was not a retail facility but, she invited me to stop by. So, in October of 2017 I walked into a warehouse of two companies with very stocked shelves and Hip Hemp looked like it was on the roll. We chatted about the products and how I was invited to try them when I visited the owner, Mary Jane Haake, at her tattoo studio. Reconstruction can take you just so far with surgeries and there are ways to create the illusion of “normal” covering scars and or artistic decoration. My plastic surgeon had suggested this and referred me to MJ to explore at the very least a 3D tattoo of a nipple. It had been breast cancer and as we looked at examples of her work and talked, she asked about the additional ramifications, loss of estrogen, menopause, vaginal dryness, and my experiences. She then shared she was starting a company of all natural ingredients including essential and hemp oils for women dealing with these same issues. And she sent me home with a sample of the perles to use nightly for the vaginal dryness and oils to use as a lubricant or moisturizer for my skin. Using these products began to make a difference for this woman in her early 60s 248
ROCHESTER WOMAN ONLINE : DECEMBER EDITION 2021
especially since I am also a swim instructor. If you’ve repeatedly spent long hours in a pool, you know what I’m talking about, and it might be true for you too as a competitive or general lap swimmer. Something to consider. I walked into the warehouse to make the purchase and to meet Angela, the representative of the company and as “they say” she was (is) the chief cook and bottle washer. If you follow this magazine, you have previously met Angela. I do not know where this came from except maybe thinking I needed another part time job, but before I left, I told her she was going to need me. Self -promoting is not usually in my wheelhouse. She acknowledged the company was possibly looking to hire in the coming new year. However, a few weeks later, she called to ask if I was serious and would I come in for an interview. As of last week, I hit my 4-year anniversary and am so thankful for a job that has helped me weather many things including the pandemic. Other jobs disappeared. The breast cancer showed its ugly face in 2000. I had noticed a slight shape change in my left breast and have always described the intuitive feeling as gray. At 44 I wasn’t overly worried but called to set up a mammogram nevertheless which was scheduled for August 17th. I was at the front counter of Sellwood Pool here in Portland Oregon when I received a call. I crouched down to hear better as the nurse relayed there was an abnormality, and I would need to have another round of tests. It was fortunate that I was already low to the floor because for a moment my knees were not holding me. Calcifications were found and could not
possibly have caused the change in the shape of my breast. I was very fortunate this was caught so early even though everything that followed still had to happen. So, if you understand that gray intuitive feeling about anything involving your body, relationships, your family, or anything else…pay attention! This was very specific for me although I realize some of the other examples may take time for clarity. Yes, I would need to see a surgeon and that was arranged for early September. A funny thing about how vivid parts of that day remain twenty-one years later.My male friend at the time went with me to the appointment and seemed a bit “off”. I could not determine if he was troubled for me and what my circumstances would be or if he was troubled for himself. I had heard stories of folks not being able to cope with their partner’s disease. We had time after the appointment to go for a ride and I took him for a hike to a waterfall on the Washington side of the Columbia Gorge. It would put us among trees and near water which would temporarily ease the newfound turmoil. The hike started out great and both of us enjoyed the welcome of the trees. He was mostly on the road with his job and seldom had time for a visit in a forest. The day had so many twists to it. Somewhere in the hike his conversation changed to mostly about his first wife and missing the family unit of being together. I empathetically let him talk but he seemed to be taking this to a deeper level. Eventually, however, I wanted to say “enough already”. Did I mention that I had seen a surgeon that morning about cells that looked ominous, and a biopsy was needed, in some ways changing my life forever??? Sarcasm can be so cathartic!
