Kathi

In spring of 2003, one word changed my life: cancer. I was diagnosed with Stage IIB breast cancer and began a journey that continues today. At first, my life was taken over with learning about breast cancer and getting through treatment. Throughout the process, I had numerous tests and scans--too many to count! I had two lumpectomies with six months of chemotherapy in between, and capped it off with bilateral mastectomies in November 2003. I am continuing with endocrine therapy to reduce the chances of a recurrence. I also had genetic testing and prophylactic surgery to reduce my risk of ovarian cancer.After completing active treatment, I began to think about life as a cancer survivor. I am not one of those people who will tell you that having cancer was a gift, but given the reality that I had cancer, I wanted to make something positive out of that life-changing experience.I chose to use my experience to offer information and support to others who face this frightening disease, and so I became a certified Reach to Recovery volunteer through the American Cancer Society, a certified peer counselor on the national hotline for the Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization, and a volunteer staff member at Infinite Boundaries retreats put on by the Breast Cancer Recovery Foundation. I add my personal story to the cancer risk reduction presentations that the Breast Cancer Family Foundation provides in middle and high schools throughout northeast Wisconsin.I also work to eradicate breast cancer through the advocacy efforts of the Wisconsin Breast Cancer Coalition (WBCC), the National Breast Cancer Coalition (NBCC), the Susan G. Komen for the Cure, and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN). I have attended the NBCC annual advocacy conference and participated in lobbying with our members of Congress in Washington, D.C and state legislators in Wisconsin’s capital. As part of ACS CAN I was a delegate to Light the Capitol for Hope in Madison in October 2005, an Ambassador to Celebration on the Hill in Washington, D.C. in September 2006, and a representative to the National Leadership Summit and Lobby Day in September 2007.These activities provide a way for me to continue to fight cancer, not only in my own life but in my community and on the larger stage. Cancer has changed me, inside and out, and the woman I am now is not the woman I was before. I lost my hair, I lost my breasts, but I didn’t lose my life! I grieve the loss of normalcy that I had, but now I have a new focus in my life. Along with lowering my stress level by leaving my teaching career and joining my husband in retirement, I am enjoying the freedom and flexibility to pursue my interests. Although cancer is not a gift, each day is, and so I am making the most of the present.