Breast Cancer Awareness 2012 by On-Line Publishers, Inc.

Monstrosities, Adieu

Survivor Story

Written by Rosalba Ugliuzza

Sherry Smith-Webber couldn’t wait to get her two “monstrosities” off her chest so that she could attend the opera on time. After years of being very large breasted, the 56year-old opera aficionado opted to get a bilateral mastectomy with no reconstructive surgery. Fresh out of chemotherapy since May and now taking tamoxifen, Smith-Webber is glad to have followed her instinct. “The doctor said that I would have had as good a prognosis if I had the lumpectomy, but I was a ‘triple B’ size. I’d always wanted a reduction, but I’d never do cosmetic surgery,” said the Hummelstown resident. “I always said that if I need to have any type of breast surgery, they were both going, and there would be no reconstruction either. I was very set on what I wanted.” Diagnosed in December 2011, she discovered a lump during a self-exam. In the past, SmithWebber has had four negative biopsies, but she knew that something was wrong. Time was of the essence as doctors at Penn State Hershey Medical Center performed the mastectomy in late January. She thought the cancer would put a damper on her opera schedule, but the surgery was such a success that by late February, Smith-Webber attended the last concert of Wagner’s Rain Cycle at the Metropolitan Opera in Manhattan. “The nurse at the Breast Center said they put on the front of my chart, ‘Get her to the opera on time,’” she said. “After having invested in 18 hours of opera, I was not going to miss the last one.” One of the hardest parts in her recovery was feeling tired at times, but Smith-Webber is thankful for the love and support of her husband of 32 years and their daughters. “I made it through, but it was hard,” she said. “But it does come to an end.” Breast Cancer Awareness 2012 – 1in8

Dear friends and colleagues, The cover of this special insert visually illustrates how many women will develop breast cancer in her lifetime, according to the National Cancer Institute. We can’t change hereditary factors, but knowing signs and symptoms, changing lifestyle behaviors that increase your risk, and taking advantage of early detection screenings may help to reduce your chances of developing breast cancer. Just as important, however, is doing monthly self-breast exams, noting any changes and bringing them to the attention of your healthcare provider. Finding out that we have breast cancer strikes fear in our hearts. Knowing there are qualified professionals that we can turn to that have the knowledge, experience, and expertise will help us through this most difficult journey. We are thankful to Penn State Hershey Breast Center for partnering with us to bring this essential information to you. They are the only nationally accredited breast center in Central Pennsylvania and have been designated as a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence. Through their continued research, exceptional medical professionals, and state-of-the-art equipment and technology, they hope you will look to them if faced with this life-changing experience. We are deeply grateful to the women who have shared their personal stories. They hope to give other women optimism. The support and words of encouragement from others, especially those who have lived the experience, may help us through challenging times.

Christianne Rupp, Managing Editor

Inside: 5

For the Love of Her Daughter In memory of her daughter, a mother is inspired to help women with breast cancer regain their self-esteem.

A Team Approach to Breast Health The Penn State Hershey Breast Center and Cancer Institute partner to create a more inclusive team for all patients.

Determining Hereditary Risk for Breast and Ovarian Cancer Are you or a family member at risk for HBOCS?

Triple-Negative Breast Cancer – Raising Your Awareness Find out more about this rarer, more aggressive form of breast cancer.

‘Mom, Don’t Cry – Your Soul Still Has Hair’ A woman’s journey reveals the definition of true beauty.

A supplement to BUSINESSWoman magazine 3912 Abel Drive • Columbia, PA 17512

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For The Love of Her Daughter Written by Lori Van Ingen

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earn money for research. I am turned off by that to this day. It’s not my cup of tea,” Bonnie said. But helping women with breast cancer get their self-esteem back was a fight Bonnie was ready for. So in 2008, Bonnie, with the help of her niece, Carole Trone, started the nonprofit Crickett’s Answer for Cancer. Crickett’s Answer for Cancer provides women with breast cancer with new, free wigs, mastectomy products, and lymphedema products, as well as massages, facials, and other pampering services “so they feel like women despite the loss of their hair or breast,” Bonnie said. Crickett’s Answer for Cancer has partnered with Wigs.com and LympheDIVAS to assist with wigs and lymphedema compression garments, she said. For other products and services, Crickett’s Answer finds a provider in the woman’s area and pays 100 percent of the cost directly to the provider. Crickett’s Answer began with two clients in 2008, but just three years later it served 200 women from across the nation. And in just the first three months of 2012, there were 81 women who were helped with $100 worth of products. However, due to a lack of funds, Crickett’s Answer for Cancer currently is only assisting pending clients. Should donations increase, it would again take on new clients, Bonnie said. Anyone wishing to donate to help women with breast cancer should go to crickettsanswerforcancer.org. All donations are tax deductible. “We will happily accept any monetary donation—$1, $5, $50, $500—so we can assist women with breast cancer,” Bonnie said. Fundraising events also are being planned. Details about upcoming events in which you could participate or offer support can be found at crickettsanswerforcancer.org.

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Crickett Julius was only 39 years old when she heard the dreaded words, “You have stage IV metastatic breast cancer.” Her 64-year-old mother, Bonnie Julius, was there with her, but didn’t know what those words meant. Crickett did. She knew she was terminal. It was a shock. There were no symptoms, and Crickett zealously lived a healthy lifestyle, was athletic, and did breast self-exams. About a week before Crickett was to take a vacation to Bermuda in June 2006, she began having stomach pains. Her mother thought it might be her gall bladder, so she suggested Crickett see a doctor before leaving on her trip. Her doctor sent her for an upper quadrant ultrasound and it was then that the tumor was found. After a second opinion, Crickett was given only weeks, or a couple months at best, to live. Even though she had accepted her fate, Crickett was determined to fight. And Bonnie was determined to help her. So she left her home and job in York, Pa., with her boss’s blessing, to go to Crickett’s hometown of Cleveland. While at the hospital for her chemotherapy sessions, Crickett would listen to meditation CDs and Bonnie would often chat with the other women also going through chemo. “They looked to me like they were totally lost. They didn’t have an ounce of self-esteem or femininity,” Bonnie said. “I knew my daughter was selfconfident. She had no hair, but she would have all her makeup on and earrings. She was sure of herself. But these women looked like they had lost everything.” Crickett lost her fight in October 2006. While mourning the loss of her daughter, Bonnie never forgot the other ladies she had chatted with and was determined to help women like them with breast cancer. “I had no thought of working to

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A Team Approach to Breast Health Written by Kim Klugh

breast nurse navigator Michelle Farnan, RN, MSN, OCN. She describes herself as a resource, providing education and support to women recently diagnosed with breast cancer. She steps in at the beginning and responds to questions like, “What should I do now?” and helps in the aftershock that can follow a diagnosis. She maintains communication and a physical presence with her patients from the initial stages all the way through treatment and recovery, serving as translator and knowledgeable guide through what can seem like a maze of confusion and fear. Additional team members for each newly diagnosed patient include a breast surgeon, a medical oncology doctor, and a radiology oncology doctor. These providers meet weekly at the same table to discuss treatments and make decisions as a team, thereby ensuring that an individualized treatment plan is developed for each patient. “For example,” says Farnan, “the surgeon and radiologist evaluate a case together, in the same room. After a diagnostic evaluation, which may or may not include an ultrasound, a patient is then scheduled to see a breast surgeon.” All of the providers have direct access to one another and to patient information in one facility, making the Breast Center unique in the Central Pennsylvania area. Farnan describes it as “real-time collaboration.” Another feature that adds to the Breast Center’s distinction is its NAPBC (National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers) designation, for which 27 criteria must be met. These criteria provide the assurances of quality

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In March 2008, Penn State Hershey Breast Center opened its doors at 30 Hope Drive in Hershey, Pa., as an additional outpatient building on the Hershey Medical Center campus. The Breast Center was the result of a collaborative vision shared by its co-directors, breast radiologist Dr. Susann Schetter and breast surgeon Rena Kass. The center focuses on early detection and screening. The goal is to welcome women (and men) into their care and to decrease anxiety from the very first mammogram through the journey of detection, diagnosis, and treatment, to cancer-free living. The Breast Center was designed to be a less clinical-appearing and a more non-threatening, familycentered location for those making that journey. From digital screening, diagnostic mammography, breast ultrasound, and MRI, to consultations, biopsies, and fineneedle aspirations, this 15,000square-foot facility houses an array of specialty breast-care services all under one roof. Consequently, the medical teams can deliver a patient-centered, comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach to each patient, providing advanced testing and treatment for both benign and malignant breast disease. The Penn State Hershey Breast Center includes the following teams: breast imaging, breast surgery, medical oncology, radiation oncology, plastic surgery, genetic counseling, integrative medicine, and a breast center manager. One of those essential team members for the center is

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The Breast Center was designed to be a less clinical-appearing and a more non-threatening, family-centered location.

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patient care and physicians striving to differentiate themselves as breast experts. They are one of the first breast centers in the region to receive this accreditation. According to the NAPBC website, the designation can be earned by a center if it “meets or exceeds quality standards established by the NAPBC, if it is evaluated every three years, and maintains high levels of excellence.” The Penn State Hershey Breast Center works with the Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute, enabling it to create a more inclusive team for all diagnosed patients. Weekly meetings are held with the Institute’s specialists as well and may include a radiologist, a pathologist, a surgeon, medical and radiology oncologists, nurses, and support staff. Farnan says, “This gives added assurance that you are being discussed.” The relationship with the Hershey Cancer Institute also affords access to clinical research trials and protocols on new cancer treatments, along with the latest radiation and chemotherapies. Another component of the Breast Center is its risk assessment program. As women age, the risk of breast cancer increases. However, if you are at risk for breast cancer due to heredity factors, you can receive counseling that may help you to either prevent breast cancer from occurring or detect it early when it’s most treatable. Genetic testing (if applicable) is also available for high-risk patients at the Breast Center. Encouragement is also offered through support groups at the center. A support group for breast cancer patients meets the first Monday of each month. A support group for children (CLIMB) who have a parent with cancer also meets at the center. Thirty-two women are diagnosed with breast cancer every day in Pennsylvania. The Penn State Hershey Breast Center reaches out to an entire community, with 20-25,000 visits a year. If you’re over 40, you can schedule a screening mammogram at Penn State Hershey Breast Center without a doctor’s referral. If the screening indicates the need for follow-up tests and possibly a treatment plan, the multidisciplinary team is right behind you.

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Determining Hereditary Risk for Breast and Ovarian Cancer Written by Kim Klugh

Although research shows that true hereditary With regard to HBOCS, board-certified genetics cancer is rare, it’s vital to your own health and counselor/medical geneticist Maria Baker, Ph.D., at Penn the health of additional family members to State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, says, “Knowledge determine whether or not you are at risk for is power. With it we can change the course with various Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Syndrome risk-management strategies and treat, if need be, at an (HBOCS). earlier stage with more curable rates.” Penn Baker, who State developed and Hershey coordinates the Breast Center Penn State Milton offers a cancerS. Hershey Cancer risk assessment Genetics Program, as part of the provides genetic initial process for counseling services determining to individuals who those at risk for are concerned HBOCS. about a personal Genetic testing and/or family may prove to be history of cancer. an appropriate Baker may be follow-up called upon for a consideration in variety of HBOCS order to cases with medical determine the oncologist Dr. presence of either Leah Cream, a BRCA1 or director of the BRCA2 (BReast hereditary risk CAncer genes 1 program of Penn and 2) mutation. State Hershey These two Breast Center, and From left: Robin V. Suess, MSN, CRNP, OCN; genes are the Robin Suess, Michelle Farnan, RN, MSN, OCN, Breast Center Nurse Navigator; most well-known MSN, CRNP, Leah Cream, MD, Medical Oncology; genes linked to OCN, who Maria J. Baker, Ph.D, FACMG, Genetic Counselor/Medical Geneticist breast cancer provides risk risk. The assessment and inheritance of one of these gene alterations, from either a follow-up across the continuum of care. mother or a father, substantially increases the risk for Baker says she works peripherally with the Penn State breast and ovarian cancers and increases the risk for Hershey Breast Center and tries to eliminate some of the other cancers as well. barriers for people when they initially meet a genetics

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specialist. If test results are not straightforward or are layered with complexity, Baker says she’s brought in by the Breast Center to offer consultation or genetics counseling. She may enter the process “early on or at the tail end,” depending upon a patient’s circumstances. For example, Baker references a case in which a mutation was expected to show up in a young woman. The woman’s test results came back negative, but another family member received positive results; Baker was brought in to help explore the possibilities of the “why” and where to go from those results. While genetic testing can determine whether or not you have a BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation, Next Generation Sequencing technology has enabled the development of multi-gene sequencing panels. “Testing,” says Baker, “has become much more efficient. We have options to look into newer tests that may shed light on other genes responsible for a hereditary predisposition to breast cancer within a family. These tests can help to make sure we’re not missing a mutation within a family.” The Breast Center provides a team of specialists to screen, evaluate, assess, and then establish the individualized care plan based upon each patient’s specific needs. If a risk is determined through assessment, there are risk-management options to consider. Baker says that surveillance can be started at a younger age by beginning mammograms at 25. If a genetic predisposition is apparent, then an annual breast MRI can be scheduled. Chemoprevention medications, like tamoxifen or raloxifene, can be prescribed to lower the risk of breast cancer; oral contraceptives can be prescribed to lower the risk of ovarian cancer. Some women consider

another option: prophylactic surgery, which is the removal of an organ or tissue that shows no sign of cancer in an attempt to prevent its development. Baker points out that genetic information is considered health information and is thereby protected by HIPAA— the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act of 1996—if one has group health insurance. Protection against genetic discrimination is also offered through GINA—Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008—for most asymptomatic individuals. According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, under Title II of GINA, it is illegal to discriminate against employees or applicants because of genetic information. In addition, under Title 1 of GINA, regulations that address the use of genetic information in health insurance are also issued. “Making the decision to pursue genetic testing is very personal,” says Baker, who wants to dispel the myths surrounding it. It can be expensive, but “most times we’re successful in getting insurance companies to cover the costs.” Sometimes the answers are not always clear-cut. Waiting upon the results can create anxiety, and she says it takes time to adjust to the test results, whether positive or negative. “Testing,” she says, “can also weigh heavily on siblings and parents.” Seeking information does not commit women to going ahead with genetic testing, but rather encourages them to make fully informed decisions. Identifying a hereditary risk could help prevent the occurrence of cancer altogether or aid in its early detection so that a treatment plan can be generated with the goal of restored health.

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Triple-Negative Breast Cancer – Raising Your Awareness Written by Leslie Feldman

This might be the first time you have heard of triplenegative breast cancer (TBC), but you wouldn’t be alone. Although not much has been publicized about it, this form of breast cancer is so named because the three receptors that successful breast cancer treatments target—estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors, and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)—are not found in women with this breast cancer subtype. The tumor is estrogen receptor-negative, progesterone receptor-negative, and HER2-negative, hence the name “triple-negative breast cancer.” It accounts for approximately 15 percent of breast cancers. What can be frightening about the diagnosis is that this form of breast cancer tends to be more aggressive than other types. It is more likely to spread beyond the breast and to recur after treatment. Five-year survival rates also tend to be lower for triplenegative breast cancer. A 2007 study of more than 50,000 women with all stages of breast cancer found that 77 percent of women with triple-negative breast cancer survived at least five years, versus 93 percent of women with other types of breast cancer. Who is Most Likely to Be Affected by TBC? As with any kind of cancer, specific groups of people are more likely to develop TBC. They include those before age 50 (versus age 60 or older, which is more typical for other breast cancer types), African-American and Hispanic women, and people with a BRCA1 mutation. When people with an inherited BRCA1 mutation develop breast cancer, especially before age 50, it is usually found to be triplenegative.

10 Breast Cancer Awareness 2011 – The power of touch

Treatment is More Difficult but Progressing For doctors and researchers, there is intense interest in finding new medications that can treat this kind of breast cancer. Since hormones are not supporting its growth, the cancer is unlikely to respond to hormonal therapies, including tamoxifen, Arimidex (chemical name: anastrozole), Aromasin (chemical name: exemestane), Femara (chemical name: letrozole), and Faslodex (chemical name: fulvestrant). Triple-negative breast cancer is also unlikely to respond to medications that target HER2, such as Herceptin (chemical name: trastuzumab) or Tykerb (chemical name: lapatinib). It can be scary to find out that you have a form of breast cancer that is often more aggressive than other types and isn’t a good candidate for treatments. But triple-negative breast cancer can be treated with chemotherapy and radiation therapy, and new treatments—such as PARP inhibitors—are showing promise. Researchers are paying a great deal of attention to triple-negative breast cancer and working to find new and better ways to treat it. Surgery is also an option. Based on other features of the cancer, such as stage and grade, a doctor will work with the patient to determine the best treatment approach. You also may wonder whether you should have more aggressive treatment, such as mastectomy rather than lumpectomy, or more chemotherapy treatments, or higher doses of chemotherapy.

“You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.” — Anonymous

It’s logical to assume that, since triple-negative breast cancer tends to be more aggressive, it should get more hard-hitting treatment. At this time, however, there is no standard recommendation that people with triple-negative breast cancer should have more aggressive treatment. Studies Focus on Chemotherapy Benefits Studies have looked at whether giving chemotherapy before surgery—called neoadjuvant therapy—may be a good choice for women with triple-negative breast cancer. A recent study of women with locally advanced triple-negative breast cancer found that for two-thirds of them, chemotherapy medications given before surgery resulted in no living cancer cells in the tumor when it was removed. Another study, published in 2008 by researchers at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, found that chemotherapy before surgery benefited some women with triple-negative breast cancer, causing all evidence of disease to disappear. For these women, survival rates were similar to those of women with breast cancer that was not triple-negative. If you follow the treatment plan that makes the most sense for your specific situation, while doing your best to make healthy lifestyle choices such as exercising regularly, limiting alcohol, and eating a healthy, low-fat diet, you’re doing everything you can to treat the cancer.

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Survivor Story

Mom’s the Word Written by Rosalba Ugliuzza

Breast Cancer Awareness 2012 – 1in8

When 36-year-old Maggie Pfitzenmaier discovered she had cancer, she quickly focused on one thing: being a mom. In 2010, Pfitzenmaier was six months pregnant with her third child when she developed breast cancer. Her priority was putting her unborn son’s needs first. “We chose to do the lumpectomy first and proceed with the other treatments after I had the baby because I wanted to make sure that he was healthy first,” said Pfitzenmaier. “I’m a mom so my priority was to make sure (my kids) were fine so I could get through it as best as I could.” The tumor was located near Pfitzenmaier’s heart. After the lumpectomy, she started chemotherapy when her youngest son, Trent, was 5 weeks old. By September 2011, doctors at Penn State Hershey Medical Center performed a bilateral mastectomy with reconstructive surgery. According to WebMD.com, breast cancer is the most common type of cancer for pregnant women in their mid-30s. Though pregnancy doesn’t cause breast cancer, the hormonal changes in the body during pregnancy can augment the tumor growth. In Pfitzenmaier’s case, the cancer was nonhormonal, meaning there was no increase in her hormones. Physically, Pfitzenmaier’s mastectomy proved grueling. “Mastectomy was hard because I couldn’t pick up my kids. I had to be careful—like I couldn’t even get a dish out of the cabinet,” she said. With the constant support of her loved ones, Pfitzenmaier, who has participated in the Tough Mudder race since her surgery, said cancer has made her stronger and credits her daughter Lily, 8, for making her see the positive side of her recovery. “She would come up with the most inspiring words out of anybody, which is very heartwarming,” Pfitzenmaier said. “She said, ‘OK, Mom, we are going to get through this. It’s OK, Mom, we are going to get a baby.’”

‘Mom, Don’t Cry – Your Soul Still Has Hair’ Written by Lauren E. Miller

Since you were a little girl, you started to download programs from commercials, movies, and magazines that defined your perspective of beauty and femininity: hair, breasts, body shape, eyebrows, eyelashes, etc. So what happens when you stand before a mirror looking at your image that no longer has hair, eyebrows, eyelashes, or breasts? On Jan. 10, 2006, one week prior to my final divorce court date with three children (8, 10, and 12 years old), I got a phone call that blew the doors open in the area of self-image: “Lauren, are you sitting down? You have invasive ductal carcinoma, grade three, stage III breast cancer.” In less than a two-year period of time, I experienced a divorce, a double mastectomy, 16 chemo treatments, an additional year of chemo, six weeks of daily radiation, and a MRSA staph infection, along with 12 surgeries due to thirddegree burns on my chest from the radiation/chemo combination. They grafted my back onto my front so now I really don’t know if I’m coming or going most days. I say this without any sense of victimization because all of this gave me the opportunity to practice what I teach in this world. As a worldrenowned stress relief expert, what better training than to go through two of life’s top stressors at the same time: cancer and divorce? I remember my 10-year-old son found me weeping in my room one day, and he put his little hands on my bald head and said, “Mommy, don’t cry—your soul still has hair.” Out of the mouths of Continued on page 14

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Soul Continued from page 13

realization that true, authentic beauty flows from the inside out, not the outside in, and it can’t be amputated. As the sheets came down after a week of inner prayer and reflection, I jumped back at the physical image I saw staring back at me. Bald, breastless, scared, and hairless, I remember saying out loud, “WOW! This is a wild experience! I can’t even tell if I am male or female from the waste up.” I then got about 2 inches away from the mirror and said, “There you are, Lauren. You are still in there, and from this moment on you are no longer defined by your outer appearance. Who you are is untouchable and beautifully created; God is with you. I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU! You are a cancer conqueror!” An attachment is an emotional state of clinging to the belief that without some particular thing, person, outcome, or situation, you cannot be happy. Reflect on those things in your life to which you have sold out your sense of identity and that have become an attachment. As you release your grip on your attachments in order to love, accept, and celebrate you, inner peace will become your close companion.

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babes come simple truths sent from heaven to wake you up to what is real, true, and beautiful. The world screams and God whispers. It is in moments like this that true inner transformation happens instantaneously. My son was right. My soul still had hair, even though physically speaking I was bald. I continually apply that expansive statement in my life: My soul still has the ability to love, even though I have been hurt in the past; my soul knows that God is with me, and therefore, all things are possible; my soul remains intact no matter what happens to my physical body; my soul defines my authentic beauty as created in the image and likeness of God, not the image in the mirror. This understanding freed me from the yoke of slavery to the definition of beauty as portrayed by the media, and once I experienced that freedom, I have never looked back. After my double mastectomy, I covered all of my mirrors for one week after my very wise mother shared an Indian practice with me that she thought contained a lot of wisdom: Mirrors rob the soul of its true identity. During the week that I was unable to see my physical appearance, I reconnected with parts of my personality that I believe got lost along the way as I dabbled in the drug of approval. Worrying “what will people think” is one of the great distractions that prevent women from resurrecting and confidently living out their own unique inner beauty and Godgiven talents. Losing my physical appearance was one of the greatest invitations back to my authentic beauty and inner strengths and abilities. The most wonderful thing about this discovery is the

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Mirrors rob the soul of its true identity.

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Lauren E. Miller is founder of Stress Solutions University, is an international speaker, an awardwinning international best-selling author, and she has received national and international media recognition. Utilizing StressSolutionsUniversity.com, bi-monthly Live Stress Relief Hotseat video calls, workshops, conferences, and 1:1 programs, Miller equips people with mindset skills and physiological techniques to destress their lives, regain inner clarity, and step into personal excellence. www.laurenEmiller.com

Living Life to the Fullest

Survivor Story

Written by Rosalba Ugliuzza

The American Cancer Society reports that each year, about 180,000 women are diagnosed with infiltrating ductal carcinoma, a common type of breast cancer. Diane Funston-Dillon was among those women. The news hit her like a ton of bricks, but the unconditional support of loved ones and the passion to educate other women about the disease have made her live life to the fullest. “Breast cancer has taught me so much: how to enjoy life and how much more I can enjoy life. There is a lot of life still out there for me,” she said. “I’ve learned that I can help another person through their journey from diagnosis through treatment and even to the end of their journey.” Funston-Dillon’s journey began in October 1996 when she was diagnosed at age 42. Her emotions initially delved into dread and terror. “I couldn’t think straight. My thoughts were all about dying. I had no risk factors,” she said. “I had a thousand questions, but was afraid to ask even one of them. I wanted to disappear or turn back time.” Funston-Dillon underwent a lumpectomy with axillary dissection followed by a mastectomy. Navigating through her chemotherapy treatments was difficult because it made her ill and it was unbearable to work. She found encouragement and empathy through a support group. Her family and friends were also very present in her recovery. “They cooked and made meals for me. They stayed with me after my surgeries and treatments so I wouldn’t be alone,” she said. “They were everything to me and so much more.” Funston-Dillon urges newly diagnosed women to never give up on their fight. “Facing breast cancer involves fear, distress, courage, and hope. Armed with knowledge, a positive attitude, and the will to survive, we can prevail, overcome, and even triumph,” she said. “We are in this together.”

The Monster Under the Bed Written by her son, Matthew Often, when I was a young man of five years, I thought I saw a monster under my bed. Darkness and fear panicked me, but Was it real? Was he there at all? As a child, I lied. Lied to myself and tried To pretend the monster was not there. Mom would hold me tight and whisper: “Close your eyes and don’t ever be scared.” Then I was an old man of twenty-five years When the phone rang and the monster became real. They said that inside of Mom, the monster resides. It used to take my courage; now it was stealing her. Straight from the days of yore, a valiant battle Between the monster and my mom raged on. Brutal. Vicious. A fight to the death. I couldn’t feel, and I couldn’t watch to see who won. As a man, I lied. I lied to myself and tried To pretend the monster was not there. Mom held me tight and whispered, “Close your eyes and don’t ever be scared.” As she did so heroically when I was five, Mom won the battle, just as she said. Now each day is precious, cherished by all.

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