Photo By Jennifer Scales | Cassandra Birch (left) and Tammy Finney (right), three and 12-year breast cancer...... read more read more
“Chemotherapy was the worst experience in my life, compared to my experiencing natural childbirth,” Tammy Finney said during the closeout Breast Cancer Awareness Month program, Oct. 31, at the William Jennings Bryan Dorn VA Medical Center in Columbia, S.C.
Finney, a 12-year survivor of breast cancer and chief of Voluntary Services at Dorn VA, along with Cassandra Birch, a three-year survivor of the same, spoke to a packed audience of men and women.
Birch began her diagnosis with the concern from her mother dying at the age of 30 from brain cancer. So when she reached the same milestone, she went to see a doctor, even though she had felt lumps for more than a year.
“The lumps were really not a bother to me, but I just wanted to get them checked,” Birch said. “I felt it was better to know than not to know.”
Once the results were in for Birch, she underwent a double mastectomy with double propalactic breast surgery.
This was the first-time Birch shared her story to any public audience, and she urged everyone present to do their monthly checks.
Finney who is also a registered nurse spoke of being a mother with a family and profession who sort of bypassed getting an exam after her own mother was diagnosed.
“I had to be careful how I explained this diagnosis on me to my family because they tended to feed off my emotions,” Finney began. “At a low point in my recovery, my three year-old son came to my bed to ask if there was anything he could do for me. I was so weak, all I could do was to ask him to ‘pray for mommie when you go to bed.’ His response was, “Mommie, I’m going to pray for you right now and began by saying ‘God, please make mommie better’.”
Finney’s epiphany came and she recalled God’s promise to never forsake his children. “Today, I am blessed to be here,” she said.
Even though pink is synonymous with breast cancer, Finney told the audience to associate the letters in the word as a mantra to carry from this day forward: Providing Individuals with Needed Knowledge.
| Date Taken: | 10.31.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 11.02.2017 17:48 |
| Story ID: | 253925 |
| Location: | COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 87 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Dorn Breast Cancer Awareness speakers continue to survive Big "C", by Jennifer Scales, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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