First, I would like to say what an honor it is to be a 2025 nominee for the Women in Blue campaign for the Cancer Awareness Foundation. In March, I will wear blue in awareness of Colon Cancer, and will help raise money for this incredible organization.

My story . . .

Although I have not had any family members who have had colon cancer, sadly, cancer has been a part of our family for a long time.

Cancer first showed up in our family on my mom’s side in Newfoundland, Canada. I was not there to be a part of their journey, but I lost my grandfather to prostate cancer, my grandmother to stomach cancer, several cousins to breast cancer, and several uncles to cancer as well. I also lost two uncles on my dad’s side of our family to cancer.

Being born and raised in Montgomery, and having always been in sales since I graduated from college, I often traveled Carmichael Road and would look over at the Montgomery Cancer Center, see the parking lot full, and would think how thankful I was that I did not have to walk those halls.

However, in January 2016, cancer hit home for me when my dad was diagnosed with melanoma cancer. And we found ourselves in the halls of the Montgomery Cancer Center. Unfortunately, his melanoma was found too late and it had already spread to his lymph nodes. A year later, it spread to all of his organs and throughout his body. We lost my dad to this vicious disease in May 2018 after being on Hospice for a year. When I hear people complain about scars from having skin cancer removed, I say, “be proud of those scars and that I’m so thankful that they detected it early enough to save their lives”! I encourage all to have regular screenings for skin cancer!!

It was in 2018 that I learned about the Cancer Awareness Foundation from my dad’s nurse practitioner, Jennifer Conner, and I’ve supported the foundation ever since! They do amazing things for cancer patients right here in our area including transportation for treatments, nutritional counseling, being an advocate for their patients, and so much more. All donations stay here locally!!

In February 2020, my mom discovered a tumor on her breast. Stage IV. She was 84 years old, very healthy and full of life. She always had mammograms, but her doctor stopped sending her for them once she turned 80. And with the recent loss of my dad (her husband of 61 years), we weren’t even thinking about it. Again, too late. Her breast cancer had already spread to her lymph nodes as well, and quickly spread to her liver. So at that time, she was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer, non-curable. However, the Montgomery Cancer Center did an amazing job with her minimum treatment, until June 2024 when it eventually spread to her lungs, stomach, abdomen, and other places. We lost her five weeks later. It was the hardest journey of my life. Watching loved ones suffer and die from cancer is beyond describable. And the grief is so real.

As a result of my family history of cancer, my doctor did the BRCA2 gene testing on me in 2019 and I was negative, and now, due to my mom’s breast cancer, I go every 6 months rotating between mammogram and breast MRI, and am thankful for that. I also have skin checkups and colonoscopies. Again, early detection is the key to survival!

In 2023, I lost two very dear friends to cancer as well. My dear friend Liz Wuokko from metastatic breast cancer (after having been in remission for 6 years), and my beautiful friend and real estate broker, Kitty Wasserman, who had ovarian cancer that spread to her liver and to her stomach. That was so horrific, and was also by her side until the end. Something and someone I’ll never forget!

These are the ones that I personally was on their walk with thru their cancer journeys. But I have had so many friends and their family who have suffered with all types of cancer. Unfortunately, way too many to mention, but you know who you are!! Some survived and some did not. My heart always breaks when I hear the dreadful word “CANCER” and prayers go up immediately. I have to add that my husband, Jimmy Baker, is, by the grace of God, a cancer survivor from 2013. I wasn’t a part of his journey then, but I am now, and I am so grateful that he still has his regular screenings!

With all this said, with early detection, cancer is so curable and we have to be an advocate for our own health! Please make sure that you take the time to take care of yourself and get regular check-ups and screenings.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story . . . a very difficult story to write. In the month of March, as part of the Women in Blue for the Cancer Awareness Foundation, you will hear from me, as I ask you for donations to support this cause that is so near and dear to my heart!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart!!