Staying Positive with a Triple-Negative Diagnosis
Roni Fox-Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Survivor
Roni Fox knows first-hand what John Lennon meant when he said, “Life is what happens while we’re busy making other plans.” Married with two children, and a nurse for 15 years, Roni decided to obtain her Nurse Practitioner degree. Everything was going according to plan, then in March 2010 she noticed a lump in her breast. Roni made an appointment to see her doctor but thought, “I’m only 41, what’s the hurry?”
In early May, she learned masses like hers were 99% benign. Still, she decided to have the lump removed. Two weeks later the final pathology results revealed she had hormone-negative breast cancer. “At first, I wasn’t too upset because I thought I’d be spared chemotherapy, but it was “triple-negative” breast cancer which means it doesn’t have hormone or HER2 receptors. I had to have chemo.”
In August, Roni lost her job, underwent a double mastectomy with reconstruction and began chemo. “Once all of this sank in, I went from feeling on top of the world, to feeling victimized,” admits Roni. “My new career was just getting started. I kept asking, ‘Why me?’” Even on the drive to the hospital, Roni remembers the mounting anger but she was still ready to do whatever it took to get through treatment.
Through prayer, Roni’s anger subsided but she still struggled with fear. She wanted to learn all she could but she found much of the information only made her more fearful. Then Roni’s mother told her about The Wellness Community – Arizona (TWC-AZ) and two weeks after her mastectomy she turned to TWC-AZ for support. She attended her weekly support group throughout the 16 weeks of chemo and still attends because it is the “high point of her week.”
“People tell me that I am brave. The truth is, we all do what we have to do; even when it sucks. Maybe it’s true that life is what happens when we’re making other plans, but that’s okay because my support group always makes me feel good and I have come to care deeply about the others. I’m grateful beyond measure.”