Jean was the first woman in her family ever to be diagnosed with breast cancer. When her daughter Tina found a lump six years later, surviving officially became a family tradition.
Jean and Tina's Story
"It was devastating."
Jean: I found out in April 1998 from having a mammogram. I went through surgery immediately, and then I went through chemo for about eight months.
Tina: I'd take her to the treatment, and she has to take a shot before hand so she doesn't get sick and it makes you a little loopy. Every time she would sit there and look at the nurses and say, "You know I have the best three daughters."
Jean: My surgery was a long one. They did the mastectomy on my left side. My right side was too big so the surgeon reduced my right side, and to reconstruct my left side he pulls part of my stomach up to make my left breast.
Tina: Then he said, "Now that tissue still thinks that it is stomach fat so it is going to gain and lose some weight."
Jean: That was a long day, especially for my three girls. I may have had an option of doing a lumpectomy, but at my age I said, "Get rid of it, I don't want any cancer."
Tina: During chemo, I never saw her get sick. She would never tell me if she was sick. I would say, "How are you feeling?" and she would say, "A little tired." She never told me the truth.
"You found out the hard way."
Jean: When Tina found out that she had breast cancer, that was even worse for me than when I found out because when something happens to your kid, that is bad.
Tina: We were grocery shopping when my phone rang, and it was my doctor. All I remember him saying was, "Honey I have bad news." I couldn't tell my mom, so I had to have my sister tell her, and she just called me crying, blaming herself. I sat in the living room that night and in my head I had everything in the living room given away. Then I said, "Stop. This stuff isn't going anywhere for a long time." That's when I changed my attitude. I got a sense of humor about it. Having a sense of humor helped a lot.
"I can't believe that there isn't someone out there who hasn't been touched by breast cancer."
Tina:
After my first year as a survivor, I thought, "Wouldn't it be nice if I could have a little benefit and maybe raise $1,000 and keep it in Northern Kentucky, for breast cancer patients?" People don't realize all the American Cancer Society can do. If you are in the middle of treatment or if you have a doctor's appointment and you don't have transportation, they will arrange that for you at no cost. They have wigs that they will give to you no questions asked. They have Ensure, Boost. They have prosthetics. They have it all there.
This October, we had the benefit, called Friends and Families for a Cure. I was scared to death, but we had 60 door prizes and silent auctions for vacations, footballs autographed by some of the Bengals, teeth whitening, tattoos, pontoon rental, so much stuff. But the best thing of all was that I was able to raise enough to give the American Cancer Society a check for $5,000 yesterday.
Jean: And this was just her first year at it. She really did good.
Tina: All of the money is going to go towards treating breast cancer patients in Northern Kentucky. We're already planning for next year.
