Breast Cancer Stories Continued:
"Terry Lee" Churchill: (Her story will soon be on there.)
"A life well lived is a precious gift
Of hope and strength and grace
From someone who has made our world
A brighter, better place.
It's filled with moments sweet and sad,
With smiles and sometimes tears,
With friendships formed
And good times shared
And laughter through the years.
A life well lived is a legacy
Of joy and pride and pleasure,
A loving, lasting memory
Our grateful hearts will treasure.
(Missed by Allison, Bobbi, Dean, Clay, Brian, Nicole, and many wonderful friends.)
Vicky Yrjanainen: "Our Mother, Vicky Yrjanainen, was diagnoised with Stage 4 Inflammatory Breast Cancer on December 22, 2010. She didn't tell anyone until December 28th. She walked through Christmas witha cloud over her shoulders and no one knowing except her. She helped through the Christmas dinner quietly and in deep thought. She smiled as much as she could that weekend to protect our happiness and keep that holiday free of stress.
Her Doctors appointment was set for that following Monday. All of us three children (Nina, Bo, and Trish) were able to attend along with her parents to hear of the Doctor's prognosis and treatment plan. It was a sureal moment for everyone. Walking those steps to the acceptance was hard for all of us.
After the appointment, Mom shared a precious piece of time with us. Reminiscing of loving moments and her electric tickle-toe candy kisses she gave us while being tucked into bed. The hours spent together seemed to drift along like minutes and seconds. The finality of the evening drawing to a close will be ingrained in our minds forever.
We said goodbye, and Mom wanted us to feel comfort and peace with her diagnosis. She shared her very personal and heart warming secret with us. Every time she was in a rough patch in life, she had her own mantra that would keep telling herself. She told us to "Think Sunshine." Things will start to turn around soon. Just "Think Sunshine." Then she engulfed all of us with the biggest group hug ever made. That was when we decided that our financs weren't going to cover any of her added expenses, and we needed to plan the "Think Sunshine Benefit."
The "Think Sunshine Benefit" was held on March 24th, 2011 at Clyde-Ironworks. There was a sea of Turquoise "Think Sunsine" T-shirts in the room. The Circle of Hope Booth, Music, Kid's games, Chique Boutique, Silent Auction Candy Booth, and Bake Sale. It was so much fun seeing the smiles and happiess on everyone. Even more importantly, Mom was able to attend. She felt loved by so many. It was a beautiful day, and a nice start for her care. Most imporantly, it was celebration of her lfe.
The Circle of Hope helped with their support in so many ways. Donations, advertising, a solid shoulder to lean on, and speaking at the event. Peggy Anderson, of Circle of Hope, helped out in more ways than she will ever understand. The support kept coming afterwards, too. I really do not think our family could have gotten through this without her.
The road ahead of her was hard and fierce. She orginally tried the natural alternative methods until she found herself in the hospital with pneumonia. She was then told that her cancer was too aggressive for her treatment plan, and she decided to try chemotherapy.
Chemo was tough on her body, but that Finlander had so much Sisu (Inner will and powerfut perseverance). She roughed out the sickness and everything that came with it. She never showed her pain.
Tammy Miller Graves Story: "I am 37 years and a breast cancer survivor. I was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 33. I believe my fertility treatments played a role in my breast cancer along with a family history of breast cancer and other cancers. I have the BRCA2, genetic breast cancer gene."
"I celebrate life each day because of my husband Ryan who helped me through the sorrows, joys, and disappointments in life. He is my real supporter. My three children, Alayna, Michael and Collin were very much a part of my healing."
"I would say, know your family cancer history and risk factors. You may not be able to change the risk factors but you can be more aware of cancer in your family. For women grouped together in every age cateory 1 in 8 women will get breast cancer. For women ages 30-39 years of age, 1 in 229 will get breast cancer in the next 10 years. Young women do get breast cancer and especially if there is a family history.
"My message is know your family cancer history."
Tammy Copp (Miller) Graves to the left.
Colleen Hasforth's Story: "I am a 57 year old, and I discovered my breast cancer one month afer my 50th birthday. There was no history of breast cancer in my family."
"I had gone in for a diagnostic mammogram the first week in July, and I was terrified. My husband was at the cabin waiting for me when I thought I was going through a routine screening mammogram. We were surprised a week later when I was told I had breast cancer by a surgeon. I was scheduled for surgery in six weeks. My husband and I walked out of the clinic, and I looked at my husband and said," "I am not waiting 6 weeks." "We decided to see my oncologist, told him what the new surgeon had said. I had my surgery scheduled for the next Thursday. My husband told me everything would be okay; we went home and cried together."
"After I had surgery, I found out that I had Stage 3C, and it was within a milimeter of my chest wall. They took all the lymph glands from right arm, many positive. If I had waited 6 weeks, I would not have been here to enjoy my daughters wedding or my granddaughters birth."
"My oncologist was the most caring doctor, and he kept my family up to speed with all my treatments. I thank the Cancer Center at SMDC for caring for their patients with the compassioin that patients deserve."
"I am now a 7-year breast cancer survivor, cancer free. I do all the sports I did before I was diagnoised with cancer, I bowl with the opposite hand and am doing quite well with that. I also golf."
"I have 4 sisters and a great number of nieces, and I encourage them to have their yearly mammograms. This came as such a surprise to me that I don't want them to go through what I did."
"My message would be that if you are diagnosed to have your treatments early if you have aggressive breast cancer. Time is of the essence."