Survivor Stories

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Survivor Story: Bonnie Chizek

My name is Bonnie and I am a two-time breast cancer survivor. I was diagnosed in 1992 and in 1994 at ages 44 and 46. I was a single mother with 3 kids and I had just had the best blind date ever (he married me after my double mastectomy). I had a lumpectomy and radiation the first time and a double mastectomy with no reconstruction after the second primary diagnosis. My mother had bilateral breast cancer diagnosed in 1991 at age 69. At the urging of my two daughters, I had gene testing for BRCA 1 and BRCA2. I tested negative. But my two daughters remained diligent about breast examinations and mammography.

In 2004, my 36 year old daughter Jill decided to have a prophylactic double mastectomy with reconstruction. After a negative mammogram, negative ultrasound and negative gene testing we fought to have an MRI. Breast cancer was found on the MRI. Surgery was scheduled and recovery was long but successful. In April of 2009, Jill was told she needed a hysterectomy. Her surgeon told her because of her breast cancer he would remove her ovaries. Jill fought this and, because she didn't have the gene, she felt safe. The doctor won and the ovaries were removed. The final pathology showed stage one ovarian cancer. This doctor had saved her life.

Continue reading Bonnie's story here.

Survivor Story: Leanna Natale 

Just months after my 30th birthday, I was diagnosed with triple positive, stage two breast cancer.  My daughter was a few months shy of her fourth birthday and my son had just turned two.  My husband and I own a chiropractic clinic that was just getting off the ground. 
 
It is never a good time to receive such news, but it seemed as though this was a particularly difficult time.  After a few days of crying and being overwhelmed with all of the what-ifs and worst-case scenarios, I finally got it together and started on the path towards remission.

Continue reading Leanna's story here.

Survivor Story: Keela Gurley

When I initially started supporting cancer survivors and research in 1997, I did it because I was proud of all those who sacrificed themselves through clinical trials to help others. I never thought that I would be diagnosed with cancer: I just knew I need to support the cause.
 
In 2006, I asked my doctor for a mammogram because I had a lump and leaking from my right breast. She told me I was okay. By 2008, I had seen my doctor several times and expressed my feelings but each time she told me I didn’t need a mammogram. I noticed the lump had gotten bigger and the nipple discharge had become more frequent; I demanded a mammogram in August 2008. While my doctor agreed and told me it was probably nothing( I had a benign lump removed in 1999 and I just had a lumpy breast), I figured I was okay, but better safe than sorry. 
 
Continue reading Keela's story here.  

Survivor Story: Dale Crowley

“You have breast cancer.”

It’s a diagnosis that women dread hearing and is all too common, although it was slightly different with me because I was a 38 year old man. Back in late 2008, I started to notice an occasional wet spot on my shirts. For a few weeks, I didn’t think anything about it. Then I noticed that it was always the same spot. My right nipple was leaking a clear serum-like fluid. My doctor looked at it and recommended further testing. And here’s where the indignity kicked in. Believe me when I say that there is nothing more emasculating than being a five foot ten, 240 pound man with a shaved head and tattoos who has to sit in a pastel, pink ribbon-decorated waiting room -- awaiting a mammogram.  So, after a ton of tests – I was told I had breast cancer.

Continue reading Dale's story here.