It’s that time of year for the annual Komen More Than Pink Walk, and to be honest I wasn’t sure if I was ready to be a part of it this year. But I feel like my mom’s story deserves to be told.

My mother never had any super abnormal mammograms throughout her life, but she missed a couple of the yearly ones due to the pandemic in 2020 and 2021. She found a lump in 2022 and was ultimately diagnosed with a very rare, very aggressive, meta plastic breast cancer and was in stage 3 at diagnosis. 

When I say rare, meta plastic breast cancer, or MBC, accounts for less than 1% of all forms of breast cancer. But she received amazing support and care, had a mastectomy, went through a round of chemo, lost her hair, and a round of radiation. She received the all clear the day before Thanksgiving in 2023. She was cancer free; it hadn’t spread. She had beaten breast cancer. 

Unfortunately my mom ended up getting pneumonia right after Thanksgiving and passed from complications from that on December 16, 2023. But what we tell everyone she was and will always be a breast cancer survivor. 

I saw first hand what it means when people say someone is “fighting a disease”. It really is a fight. A horrible, ugly fight. I have done my own research and I fully believe that while my mom’s tumor wasn’t detected right at its formation, it was found early enough and removed early enough that the cancer didn’t spread. 

We all know or have known someone affected by a breast cancer diagnosis. Before my mother’s diagnosis, my beautiful Aunt Trish was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer, or TNBC, which is also pretty aggressive, harder to treat, and has a high risk of metastasis. But today, she thrives and is cancer free for 5 years! 

So while there is no cure yet, those that are fighting it need to have the hope that there one day will be. We can support the fighters by being educated in the risk, the importance of early detection and access to various treatments and high-quality care. All of which Susan G. Komen works toward. By participating in this walk in October, we’re not only showing support to those fighting this horrible disease and their loved ones, but we’re getting the world one step closer to a cure. 

I may have lost my mother, and it’s still pretty raw. But no one can ever take away the fact she beat cancer. She was my fighter and this October I will be celebrating her. 

I invite everyone to join me this October. Join me in the fight to rid the world of breast cancer in all forms. Join me in celebrating the survivors and supporting the warriors currently in the fight. Join me in celebrating my Aunt Trish being cancer free. Join me in celebrating and honoring my mother. Any donation will help, and you’re more than welcome to join me and team at the event. 

One step at a time will get us one step closer. 

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