Before March 5th 2017 I thought a Breast cancer survivor was a woman who had breast cancer and did not die from it. Boy was I wrong! Survivor doesn't give justice to what it is we really overcome. It's more than just not dying,it's about surviving the mental abuse that cancer will put you through, have you questioning&second guessing every decision you once were so sure of, it's about surviving the emotional abuse that to often leave you feeling crippled, but with no crutches, it’s about surviving while everything you once knew about yourself is being taken by an unseen imposter that confusingly,is you! it's about surviving through every life changing surgery, some so painful that at times you forget how to breath, praying for it to at least lessen just enough to catch your breath pain free for just a moment, but over time the pain does lessen unknowingly strengthening the way that we will view ourselfs, becoming proud to wear our permanent badge of honor, worn so beautifully becoming so much more than just our scars. But that won’t happen until we overcome everything we once never Thought We could, like having my breast removed, possibly having my ovaries removed and put on hormone therapy to stop the estrogen in which fuels my cancer, left me asking " if you take all of that from me, than how will I ever feel like i a woman again?" Being a survivor is the moment we are handed the pen in which our oncologist gives us and we are told to place our signature on a form (before we are given chemotherapy) stating that we understand that chemo will kill some of us. For me Being a breast cancer survivor doesn’t have anything to do with whether I survive or not, It’s the possibility that maybe, just maybe because of the fight in which I'm fighting today it will give my children and your children a greater possibility to never have to wonder whether they will lose their fight to breast cancer because we already fought that fight for them🖤

Corean Foley
Cortez, CO