More than 3.8 million people in this country are survivors of breast cancer, but every 13 minutes, a woman will lose her life to it. Military spouses Victoria Warren and Shannon Summa and Air Force Master Sergeant Laura Speranza know this reality intimately. Though each has had a different breast cancer journey, they are all part of a community of fighters battling this disease in the military health system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Victoria Warren<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
In early 2017, Victoria \u201cVicky\u201d Warren, 64, wife of retired Marine Master Sergeant James Warren, made an appointment for a mammogram. She felt obligated since she had avoided the annually recommended procedure the two years prior. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After, she was asked to return to the office for a second mammogram.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t expect something like that to happen to you,\u201d she said. \u201cI thought they screwed up the picture.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But that wasn\u2019t the reason she was called back. After the second mammogram and a subsequent biopsy, Vicky was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer. She began six-months of chemotherapy treatment. Though it was challenging, she said she felt lucky that it didn\u2019t hit her too hard. \u201cIt was probably a 4 out of 10,\u201d she added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
At first, Vicky received four drips, one after the other, and spent entire days in treatment. For a year, her appointments were every three months. She\u2019s now approaching her first six-month appointment. After that, she\u2019ll have appointments every two years, then every five years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The fight has taken its toll on Vicky. She lost her hair and underwent multiple plastic surgeries as a result of removal of tumors. She said she found it interesting after losing her hair, that people noticed. \u201cThey don\u2019t really stare, but they give a little more support, or acknowledge the struggle you\u2019re going through.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vicky\u2019s vivacious personality shines through with the thing she says is the most important advice to anyone suffering from cancer. \u201cMy advice is to have a good sense of humor,\u201d she said, adding, \u201cbecause if you don\u2019t, you are not going to make it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But, a sense of humor wasn\u2019t the only thing keeping Vicky going. \u201cThe care I\u2019m receiving from WRNMMC\u2019s Murtha Cancer Center is outstanding. It\u2019s a first-class facility with top notch doctors and nurses. I know everyone feels that way, but I know that I have received the best care that is responsible for me being alive today and in the future,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Laura Speranza<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNothing can prepare you for a cancer diagnosis,\u201d Air Force Master Sergeant Laura Speranza, explained. \u201cYou don’t have time to process your feelings. Things move so fast with appointments and treatment.\u201d She was diagnosed in March 2018. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After a morning shower, Laura felt a lump in her breast. She called her duty station and made an appointment. She remembers being told that unless there was discharge or blood, it was probably nothing. Laura persisted and called WRNMMC. She was referred to the Breast Care Center for a mammogram for a diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound. Soon after, she was diagnosed with early stage breast cancer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The period before treatment was overwhelming. Laura said she felt \u201cbombarded with information and suggestions from well-meaning people.\u201d During this period, she met others at her treatment sessions and through activities offered to patients. It was the first time she bonded with other cancer patients. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Laura chose to begin her treatment with chemotherapy. She later had surgery and radiation. Her doctors told her some people breeze through chemotherapy, and Laura thought that because she was young and in good shape, she\u2019d be fine. She was not. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every day, she went through treatment in survival mode. \u201cI didn\u2019t feel like a brave warrior, even though those were the messages being sent to me by family, friends and society,\u201d she said. Watching stories of patients thriving made Laura feel like a failure. They were climbing mountains, running marathons\u2014but she couldn\u2019t even get out of bed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It wasn\u2019t until her oncologist insisted that those survivors were uncommon outliers and that Laura was handling her journey like most survivors. She felt better but annoyed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI felt that society just wants to portray cancer and treatment as a minor obstacle,\u201d she said, \u201cand that everyone should be able to power through this experience.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She decided to join the \u201cLook Good, Feel Better\u201d program, which brings in hair and make-up artists to help patients look and feel their best. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCancer can make you feel ugly inside and out,\u201d she said. Even with no hair and gray skin, she puts on makeup the way she was taught in class, and, just for a moment, she \u201cfeels beautiful again.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Laura said cancer has put everything in perspective. She has learned to \u201clive in the moment, practice gratitude and be more compassionate.\u201d Most of all, she said, she has learned to love life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shannon Summa<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Taking charge of a situation is second nature to Shannon Summa, who met her husband, a member of the Navy, at a luau in Hawaii. After their marriage, she learned to take charge of herself and family through the many moves to duty stations around the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy husband was at sea a lot,\u201d she said. \u201cI was home with three kids and in a foreign country for most of their young lives. You just take care of what needs to be taken care of, deal with the worry and fear later.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This was a good blueprint for Shannon to follow when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. A routine mammogram showed questionable results. She returned for another, then a biopsy. A week later, it was confirmed: Shannon had breast cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Treatment included lumpectomy instead of a mastectomy, and Shannon underwent chemotherapy and radiation. She began three-months of chemo one month after her lumpectomy and radiation about twenty days later. \u201cI was very proactive,\u201d said Shannon. \u201cI wanted to get it all going so that I could move on with my life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Through this process, Shannon learned that she is tougher than she realized, and that cancer is just one of life\u2019s many obstacles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI really think being a Navy wife had something to do with my toughness,\u201d Shannon said. \u201cI had brief moments of \u2018Oh my God, I have cancer,\u2019 but then you have to keep moving in a positive and pragmatic way, throw in some spiritual faith, and problems are easier to face.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shannon only has good things to say about her experience at WRNMMC. \u201cFrom the beginning it was positive,\u201d she said. One of the great things Shannon experienced was participating in the Look Good Feel Better Program, which she had learned about from orientation in the Oncology Department. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The program was \u201ca safe place to be bald and have no eyelashes because all the participants had cancer, were confused about what to do with their new look, and a little self-conscious.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shannon said the program was fun, positive, friendly and a lot of laughs. \u201cWe were strangers but were there for each other because we understood\u2014for the most part\u2014what we were each going through. It was very worthwhile!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These three women took on an enemy attacking them from the inside out. Their experiences were different, but they are united in their war against breast cancer. It is a fight that millions deal with every year, including other warfighters and their loved ones. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Leonardo DRS is donating $10,000 to the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine (HJF) to support Look Good, Feel Better program in Bethesda, Maryland. <\/p>\n\n\n\n