Thriver (n.): a person living with metastatic breast cancer (advanced breast cancer or Stage IV breast cancer). It is incurable, but they are living with breast cancer, receiving treatments and thriving daily.
Meet Sandy Ann, a wife, mom, Go Jen Go grantee and breast cancer thriver. When you meet Sandy Ann you will feel her energy, her love for connection, and her deep love for her family and the breast cancer community. Go Jen Go has known Sandy Ann since early on in her breast cancer journey. We are honored to have watched her grow in processing her diagnosis and coming to a place where she is ready to share her story. Most of all, seeing her bring together breast cancer survivors and thrivers – helping them not feel alone, navigate their breast cancer journey, be a listening ear, and also help them find hope through her own experiences. Read as she shares her testimony of living with metastatic breast cancer and continuing to thrive daily.
Sandy Ann’s Breast Cancer Journey
My name is Sandy Ann and I am married to Chris and we have a 4 1/2 year-old daughter named Lily. When I was 37 years old, Lily was just a year and a half and I was diagnosed with stage IV her 2+ breast cancer. I went through chemotherapy to treat the cancer in my breast, lymph nodes and liver. I had a little bit of a break in treatment with being in remission, but then less than a year later, cancer had come back, but this time it was in my brain. I had to undergo full brain radiation and chemotherapy again.
Now, four years later I am so happy to report that all of my scans show no evidence of disease. We had a small scare this fall, but thankfully scans and biopsy came back that it was scar tissue from my surgeries. It has been a hard battle and I will continue this fight as long as I can. I still receive infusion treatments every three weeks and take an oral medication to prevent the cancer cells from growing. I cannot control this situation, but can only control how I respond to it. I’m thankful to God, my family, friends, and the community. Also, I am thankful to wonderful organizations out there that can help me through this battle. Go Jen Go is an example of an organization that helps local patients not just financially, but truly cares about their patients and continues to check in on them.
When I was first diagnosed, I was working full-time, trying to juggle married life and being a new mom, then cancer was added into the mix. I was missing a lot of work at the time and Go Jen Go helped me financially, which took a big load off. Some days I was worried I wouldn’t have enough money for gas to get to treatment or enough money to buy groceries, so I was very thankful to them for sending me money quickly through their Patient Assistance Program.
Navigating Cancer with a Young Daughter
Lily was under two when I was first diagnosed and not aware of what I was going through. But it’s amazing how in tune she was the second time around. Lily has seen mommy throwing up and although I had a movie on for her for distraction, she would still come and check on me and would bring me my cup of water and say here you go mommy this will make you feel better. When Lily turned three she was even more in tune, sometimes she would grab my head while we’re sitting and make me lay my head down on her shoulder and she would say random things like “mommy, daddy and I will take care of you.” It’s so crazy how much she has picked up and how compassionate and loving she is. I try to make life as normal as possible for her if I can. My hope for her is that one day, she will hear stories about me and know how strong I’ve tried to be for her and anyone else who needs a positive testimony. My other hope for Lily is that she will be strong like me and I see that at four years old she already is.
Go Jen Go Knows Cancer Affects the Entire Family
A cancer diagnosis affects the entire family and it has been hard having a young daughter. Some days I can’t play with her and need to rest. Go Jen Go understands this and has found ways to support the children and the entire family. Lily was blessed to be a recipient of their Mood Williams Camp Scholarship Fund. They got my family a membership to Discovery Place Kids for a year, which was very helpful because when I was too sick or tired to keep up with my daughter, my husband or a loved one could take her out so I could rest. And not being able to work full-time, we aren’t able to purchase memberships for our family, so this was a blessing.
Sharing My Testimony & Building Community
I appreciate all of the support Go Jen Go has given me emotionally as well. I love all the events that they host to bring survivors and thrivers together. I am now in a place where I am comfortable sharing my story and I will always say yes to sharing about the Go Jen Go Foundation. As I said earlier, this is not an easy battle but it would be a lot harder without the support of all of these amazing people in my life and organizations like Go Jen Go. I’ve been honored to share my story recently as part of the V109.1 Charlotte Community Connections with Janine Davis and with the Mix 107.9 Shine A Light On Pink campaign. If my testimony can help one breast cancer patient not feel alone, then I will continue to share my story and connect.
We are thankful for Sandy Ann sharing her testimony with the community, sharing what our foundation means to her, and helping others diagnosed with breast cancer find community and support.
Want to help support breast cancer patients like Sandy Ann? Make a donation to support our Patient Assistance Program or become a Jen’s Legacy monthly donor.