Moving Forward

Kelly’s Story

In the spring of 2020, I had a great friend that was diagnosed with breast cancer, and being that I was 41, I thought I was taking good precautions by scheduling a mammogram. On Good Friday in 2020 I received the dreaded phone call: I had breast cancer. I didn’t panic, I just looked at my husband and said, “I have to beat it.” From that moment, everything moved so quickly; MRIs, more biopsies, multiple doctor meetings. The hardest part of the diagnosis was telling my children. They were 6 and 7 at the time and really didn’t understand. The first thing my oldest daughter said was “‘mommy, are you going to lose your hair?!” My response was, “my hair will look better than ever because I will have a beautiful wig and you can help me pick it out!”

Keeping it together for my children was the hardest part.

I tried to go on as normal while developing a treatment plan. After extensive research, I decided to have my surgery and treatment at Moffit Cancer center in Florida. Just two years later, I am celebrating being cancer free and counting my blessings everyday. My children suffer from anxiety and still worry about me constantly, but we are working on that and seeking counseling.

All in all, we are blessed and fortunate to be here!

Moving forward, I do my best to give back by helping women that are newly diagnosed. I also offer to pay for mammograms for friends that can’t afford them.