Deb

Deb
Diagnosed at age 30, 13-year survivor
Y-ME Match Counselor

"People call the Hotline and they have just learned they have metastatic disease, and they are really scared. I have been living with metastatic breast cancer for nearly 7 years, and for me, this is a chronic disease."

Deb had just turned 30 years old when she learned she had breast cancer. She and her husband had been thinking of starting a family, but that plan was sidetracked by the diagnosis. Deb had a mastectomy, followed by hormonal therapy. Everything looked good. Her doctors took her off the therapy and gave her the go-ahead to consider getting pregnant. But the cancer recurred almost immediately. Pregnancy was not an option, but as Deb says, she went into "battle mode."

She has been battling breast cancer every day for the last 13 years, and metastatic disease for nearly 7, through several recurrences and multiple treatments. It hasn't slowed her down much. She works full time, scheduling her chemotherapy appointments so she can recover over the weekend and most Mondays she’s back at her desk, ready to do her job. She has also taken advantage of her own company's resources to help her keep looking good.

"I'll get these strange things that happen to me – to my eyelashes, or skin, or fingernails. I don't want to let these side effects get me down, or look like I am falling apart. I always know that I can walk into a Walgreen's store and the people there will help me figure out something so I look and feel okay about myself. If someone helps you that way, you just feel better all over."

Deb has applied that principle to her own life and her role as a Y-ME counselor and match counselor for women who are diagnosed with metastatic disease. "It's overwhelming to learn that you have metastatic cancer. People are so scared when they call me. They ask me if they are going to die. I tell them that no one knows how much time any of us have, that we all have to make the most of whatever time we are given on earth. Life itself is a gift, and as hard as it is to believe, cancer can be a gift too, because having cancer makes you really appreciate life, really live your life every day.”

“I tell my callers to find the things in their lives that bring them joy. If you let cancer get your spirit and your soul, it will win."

Deb and her husband, whom she describes as remarkably supportive, have made that philosophy a reality for the last 13 years. "He won't let me feel sorry for myself," she says. "If I am tired or down, he gets me up and out." In addition to work, Deb and her husband bike, hike and travel together. "For me," she says, "Staying active is really the best way to take my mind off the fear, to mentally get my life back under control.”