Things we don’t know about breast cancer
No, I don’t have breast cancer and I don’t know what it is to experience it. However, I have personally been working with Susan G Komen for years to help raise awareness by holding different events of my own or partnering to help with their events.
Throughout the process I have met so many interesting women and men who have shared their stories of survival. It is so inspiring to say the least, to hear about their uphill battles. It’s scary to actually see and meet this many people who have been affected by the disease. And that’s why team yochecka hopped on board to help in the #raceforthecure.
In putting this team together I knew I’d be able to raise awareness amongst my personal friends. Some of my friends do not understand how exercising and eating right are some of the preventatives you’ll hear from most doctors and survivors. While putting my team together I realized, I did know someone that was a survivor. That was Tonya Walden, who I had just met a year ago, through a friend.
Tanya Waldon shared her personal story to me and I knew I had to capture it somehow. She was diagnosed with breast cancer 5 years ago when she asked her doctor about a bruise under her arm that wouldn’t seem to go away. She went for a biopsy and sure enough it was breast cancer. Tanya said that radiation is extremely harsh on your body and it burns your skin. These are things we don’t know about breast cancer and how it effects the body. The other thing I thought was interesting, was when she mentioned that aluminum deodorants can cause breast cancer. Ah ha! I knew it! I personally had taken myself off of aluminum deodorant because I was experiencing fibrotic cysts in my breast around menstrual time. She continued on to share that after her 6 weeks of exhaustion through radiation, her doctor said she would have to take a pill for the next five years to prevent the cancer from coming back. But of course, like every other pill this one had side effects that would affect some of the other organs in your body. Tanya decided to go to a holistic doctor who told her to eat right and stay away from meat and sugar. That year, she went full on vegan and never looked back.
Tanya Waldon is a 5 year survivor and proud owner of Tees by T atl, where you can get the best t-shirts made for your schools, recreation teams, family, employees, and more. Most of the funding goes back into all of her bills that have piled on while fighting breast cancer. Tanya shares, that had she known what she knows now, she would have had a mastectomy. Watch the video for a glimpse of Team Yochecka’s experience at the Susan G Komen #raceforthecure.
