Green Living and our sponsors treated these ladies to a day of pampering. From manis and pedis to gift certificates galore, these ladies had a day to celebrate themselves!
TRACY VLIEGER
Meet Tracy—breast cancer survivor, wife, mother of three, and enrollment counselor for Grand Canyon University. Tracy was diagnosed via mammogram in May 2010 with stage one breast cancer. She is currently finishing her bachelor’s degree in international business at University of Phoenix and, after a pending graduation in January, she intends to complete a master’s in industrial and organizational psychology at Grand Canyon University.
In her words:
“I found out I had cancer after I injured my knee, and my primary care doctor encouraged me to have a mammogram since I hadn’t had one for years. Immediately following the scan my radiologist took a biopsy, and that following Monday confirmed I had stage one cancer. When I returned home I was in a state of fear and could not stop crying because I was really scared – during this journey you don’t know what is going to happen, and hope that it will be a good situation. I have a strong personality and am used to taking care of myself. I felt really guilty that I got sick and did not want my family to worry. However, when I had to tell the kids, I had to have my husband do it.
“I was very fortunate because I had a diagnosis of stage one cancer — no lymph node involvement with a recommended treatment of ‘spot radiation.’ This type of radiation treatment involves a space catheter being placed at the lumpectomy site by the surgeon, so later a different radiation balloon with a lead on the end can be placed. Even after several overwhelming doctor’s visits, I always kept the attitude of, ‘You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only option you have,’ and I firmly believe that whether some good or bad happens, we need to learn from it. The main lessons I learned were that there are special people who stood by me to lend moral support, and to own my state of health and be responsible for my decisions.
“To women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer, my advice is to learn about the illness and try to move forward with knowledge and not fear. Also, do not let doctors put you in a crisis mode; empower yourself with knowledge and at least you will feel like you have some type of control in an uncontrollable situation.”
WENDY SPIVEY
Meet Wendy — breast cancer survivor, single mom to two children, and a manager at Charles Schwab. She was diagnosed in June 2011 with type four inflammatory breast cancer, and recently completed chemotherapy. Wendy finished her MBA in May at Arizona State University, and enjoys yoga, creative writing, watching her sons play football, and all kinds of outdoor activities, which she intends to resume as she gains more stamina. She also looks forward to taking her sons on a Hawaiian vacation next summer, since her diagnosis caused this year’s post-MBA celebratory trip to be postponed.
In her words:
“One day I discovered I had a red rash on my breast and saw that my nipple was slightly inverted. Initially I thought it was a stress response to completing my MBA. After several days, it didn’t go away, so I went to see my doctor. She sent me directly to John C. Lincoln Hospital for a scan and a biopsy. Within two weeks I started chemotherapy.
“One thing that became clear to me while going through treatment is that the way you handle events in your life is pretty consistent, regardless of the magnitude of the situation. In other words, if you look at small challenges as opportunities, when presented with something big, you are likely to face that challenge in the same way.
“I learned a lot about myself throughout the journey. One thing that became apparent is I often don’t give myself enough credit. The truth is, we are so quick to marginalize our accomplishments and characteristics in an endless attempt at ’self improvement.’ Over and over again, people would tell me, ’You have such a positive attitude that you’ll be fine.’ Or, ’You will handle this the same way you take on everything else.’ I came to realize that I didn’t value those traits in myself the way others do. Hearing those traits called out by others over and over again gave me a new appreciation for my own unique strengths.
“I tried to be upbeat before I told my children and I tried to be upbeat about it myself and provide them with examples of people who have been through this. I wanted to let them know what to expect. I told them I will be tired, it’s only temporary, and I will be around nagging you many more years to come.
“My advice for women going through treatment is to look at this journey as a time to learn and grow. Be proactive, you’ll feel more in control of your life, listen to your body and be honest with yourself, let go of all the hang-ups of being independent, you do need the help, so let people, and, finally, appreciate every day. There’s nothing like an illness to bring what’s important into focus. Take some time to do things that you really enjoy and tell people how much they mean to you.”
At the event, Wendy gave us the quote of the day, “One good thing about chemo is that there is no need to shave your legs.”
Please visit our facebook page to view more photos of the event!
Special thanks to our beauty sponsors Pure Salon and Stella Bella and our supporting sponsors for making a day special and memorable for Tracy and Wendy.
