Gloria and Susan

Gloria and Susan
Susan - 3-year survivor, Gloria - 11-year survivor
Y-ME Board Members

“So often, breast cancer just hits people out of the blue."

It was Mother’s Day 2008. Susan was lying in bed. She was depressed and afraid, awaiting surgery the next day for breast cancer, thinking that this might be her last Mother’s Day. The weather wasn’t helping. It was pouring and the wind was howling. She turned on the TV – which happened to be carrying a live broadcast from the annual Y-ME Race at Your Pace.

Susan recognized the person being interviewed as Gloria, her spinning teacher, the high-energy woman who always counted down spinning sessions in Spanish. She didn’t know Gloria’s last name, and had not realized that she was a breast cancer survivor. Seeing her—and the thousands of other breast cancer survivors--who were there that day in the driving rain changed the way that Susan faced her disease.

“I thought to myself, if those people can be out there today walking in this weather, then I can get out there and spend this day with my family—and I can make it through this surgery and whatever is to follow. I got up and had a great day with my children and my family. I vowed that I would reach out to Gloria. She didn’t know it then, but she was my savior.”

Gloria Alvarez is a breast cancer survivor. She was diagnosed in 2000. She had a recurrence in 2007 that led to a mastectomy. Like Susan, on that Mother’s Day, she was facing surgery, in her case to reconstruct her breast.

“I got this email from Susan, saying ‘you saved me.’ What she didn’t realize was that our connection helped me too. Talking to her and supporting her through her treatment ended up being great support for me as well. She unknowingly did the same thing for me.”

Today, the two women remain connected to each other and to the breast cancer community. They share not only the love of fitness that brought them together, but also a deep commitment to helping other patients through their breast cancer journey. For both Gloria and Susan, Y-ME is the focal point of their efforts.

Gloria’s involvement with Y-ME began shortly after she moved to Chicago in 2004. She wanted to volunteer for a breast cancer-related organization. Her husband was working for McDonald’s, which has long been a major sponsor of the annual Race—so she started by joining Team McDonald’s for the event.

“The more I found out about Y-ME, the more I was hooked on their mission. I know how important research is, but I also know that there are people who need help today, and I wanted to be someone who made a difference for them.”

Gloria brought Susan to Y-ME, and it was a natural fit. Susan is a nurse practitioner specializing in lung diseases. Her years of working with patients who were struggling with serious diseases made her acutely aware of the need for support.

“I have seen so many patients just overwhelmed by a difficult diagnosis. It’s hard to make good decisions when you can’t think straight. I know the importance of having someone to talk to who can help you understand what is happening and provide emotional support.  For breast cancer patients, that support is so important.  Of all the organizations, Y-ME is the one that does it the best - the only one that is there whenever someone wants to talk to a survivor who has experienced what it means to have this disease.”

“So often, breast cancer just hits people out of the blue,” says Gloria. “One day, you’re a healthy, active person; the next, you’re a breast cancer patient facing a lengthy ordeal of treatment. It’s really scary. Y-ME provides that connection to a survivor who understands and is sensitive to all the emotional and physical challenges that come with a breast cancer diagnosis. Breast cancer is really a lifetime journey.”

Gloria Alvarez and Susan Corbridge now share another common bond. Both serve on the Y-ME Board of Directors, working to guarantee Y-ME is there to fulfill its mission of assuring that no one faces breast cancer alone.