Patsy Johnson

 

 

Hi. Good morning. I'm Patsy Johnson, and I'm a 30 year breast cancer survivor. In saying 30 years of survival just makes me be more proud to be part of this breast cancer awareness video that Brighton is so generously doing. When I was diagnosed, there really wasn't a Susan G. Komen foundation. At that point, I had no one really to turn to and talked to except my doctor, who didn't really offer a lot of information that is now available. But certainly it said we're going to do a mastectomy because you don't need to worry about this later on in life. And those words did prove to be true. I guess I was really at the time unaware of how meaningful that would be.

The night before my surgery, my mother phoned to let me know that a classmate of mine who had just finished this path, wanted her to tell me that this would not be the worst thing that ever happened to me in my life. And I thought at the time that's very cold comfort. But, you know, she turned out to be right. The ladies from the American Cancer Society could not have been more gracious and more helpful along the way. They let me know I was not dying with cancer.

I was just momentarily living with it. This became my mantra. I did take a lot of comfort in those words. Over the years, I've unfortunately witnessed too many of my friends go down the same path. I felt it was incumbent upon me my duty, but more my pleasure to help be, one of their greatest cheerleaders, to see them alone.

And if I inspired one person to remain positive, then I've won. Thank you for listening. Go get a mammogram.