Impact- Activist



Once I was a listener and now I am involved.

Dad died of cancer and I became The Nurse of Hope for the American Cancer Society and I went out a spoke about cancer. My twins put on a fundraiser by riding their bikes with others from Meadville to Cochranton and at that time the boys were 10.

This was a major undertaking but their grandpa had been a major figure in their lives as I was divorced when they were 3 and had moved back to the Meadville area to be close to family.

Dad was important to them and they wanted something they could do for grandpa.

Ron and I had married and dad was there for that but he was not there when David was born although he did know I was pregnant. He died before David was born.

I was deeply involved in the Cancer Society at that time and with the addition of other children, work and going to school at night, the dedication and time waned.

I had a family to raise. I remained constant in my interest but the time was spent in other ways.

I changed jobs and continued my education and spent my free moments at kids’ activities and church and with friends and the time passed.

It is hard for me to believe that it was more than 20 years ago when this journey truly started.

I found myself working at the hospital and the diagnosis of breast cancer came and I reinvested myself towards being an active part of cancer with committees and groups.

Then the door opened just this year and I stepped up to become the Clinical Nurse Breast Care Educator at the Yolanda G. Barco Oncology Institute.

It seemed like the place I was meant to be.

I am reaching out to all aspects of the community to bring education and training to women of all ages. I am building programs and extending myself by being involved in other programs.

I find that everywhere I go; someone has been touched by the C word.

Breast cancer is not a group where you chose if you want to be a member. You just are.

During the time I was bald and visibly dealing with health issues, I would often have other women come up and hug me and welcome me into the sisterhood.

I ask each and every one reading this to become an activist in some small way. It may mean that you women will do your monthly self breast checks and yearly physicals and mammograms at the specified times, or that you men will remind them and also to be aware that men can get breast cancer as well. It may mean getting involved in a group and donating time and or money. There is something everyone can do. This is not going away anytime soon, but when you see a face you know that has cancer, it is your call to stand up and be counted.

We never know who will be the next, but it takes each and every one of us to help so that we can changes those faces.