When the opportunity was presented to be a Pink Together Survivor Ambassador I did not hesitate to get involved.  What a great honor!!!  To be in a position to inspire another person through my journey means the world to me.  It’s my turn to help others.  I know my experiences offer insight to someone newly diagnosed.

I have been serving and promoting breast cancer awareness for numerous years. We have a community of survivors that reach out to newly diagnosed women in the Houston area to help as they go through the process of surgery and treatment decisions.  It is helpful to have someone to talk with especially regarding the various reconstruction options.    I am also a supporter of Susan G. Komen and have been raising funds for the Houston Chapter through my team Molly’s Posse for numerous years.  I remain committed until we find a cure.

People often say you enter a sorority when you are diagnosed with breast cancer.  I can say this is true for me.  When I hear of others getting this news, I feel it in my heart because I know what’s ahead.  Your heart goes out to them….  I want to share the knowledge from my two breast cancer experiences with others.  I know the desperate feeling of needing to meet other survivors.  It is a powerful feeling to know your life will go on.

My experience as a Pink Together Survivor Ambassador has been wonderful!  I encourage anyone who is considering getting involved to go for it!   From the day we arrived in Minneapolis for a wonderful dinner to meet the entire Pink Together Team it was a great experience.  I will share a funny……  We’d been told to be prepared for very cold temperatures - so being from Houston I prepared for COLD temperatures.  Apparently I brought the Texas heat with me!  It was unseasonably warm!  Seriously, we had such a wonderful time and I will treasure the memories forever!

In closing, I believe in the Pink Together community will continue to grow and pass any expectations!!

Molly

Being a Pink Together Ambassador has certainly given me the opportunity to help spread the word about the Pink Together Community, as well as how important it is that we continue to try and fund research to find a cure. The awareness that has been generated just by friends and family, across the country really is inspiring. People reaching out to you, and showing how much they care, it touches your heart.

It also has made me aware of other ways that can help, like participating in local events for Breast Cancer. I find that I have a need to do this for my daughter, my sister, my cousins, for women I haven't met yet. You find yourself wanting to help make the way for the next one easier somehow.

So having all this brought out front and center, has given me the chance to be able to do these things, and it is all possible because of this great community we have called Pink Together. Thank you again for giving me the chance to "give back" somehow and make a difference. I will never forget this experience, as long as I live.

Jackie Uhl

During my treatments I received a ton of flowers, greeting cards and many prayers. To know that just one person was out there thinking of me and saying a prayer meant the world to me.

After many chemo treatments I ended up in the hospital with Neutropenic fever, so I only left my house for doctor’s appointments or to be admitted in the hospital. I felt very isolated from everyone. Receiving a message of “Hope” is so critical when you are in this position. I am so thankful that Pink Together is here for this very reason. I look at the messages of inspiration I am receiving right now here on this site…. and I am extremely overwhelmed. This is powerful….

I was also inspired to know and feel that with each drop of chemo flowing through my body - I was ensuring the cancer was gone. There is a sense of security while being treated - fighting off the enemy – making sure it never returns!!!

Inspiration felt in another way was when I shaved my head. This may sound strange but when my hair started to fall out from chemo…. I was traumatized; you can never be prepared for this to happen. Once my sister encouraged me to let her shave my head I was then able to look at myself in the mirror and smile. This is one area you can take charge of!

Molly Bee

As I began my journey, as so many have done before me, I remember looking ahead and wondering if all my plans, that I had so carefully made, were going to happen at all. I had signed up for my motorcycle safety class; getting my license was very important to me. I had just purchased my second Harley Davidson, a Lowrider, and I wanted to make sure I had all the knowledge I could before going farther than just around town.

My Daughter had her wedding planned for August 2007. We had a lot of things to do. You can only imagine, given it was a month after chemo had finished. All this was swirling around, and I was wondering how much help I was going to be. Would I have to cancel my class?

Then I started to look no further than the day I was in and make sure I found one good thing, every day that made me smile. The "little things" meant so much more now. The visits I had with my children, an impromptu ride on the bikes for lunch, or just sitting under the stars at night with my family and friends, while at camp up north in the Adirondack Mountains.

The smile I see while playing with my godson Andrew, and a big ball of play-doh, or laughing when his little brother tries to eat it.

I would set little dates of accomplishments, then plan a little celebration for them. I passed my class, got my Class M license and went on to take a long ride with some very cherished friends to Tennessee, to ride the "Dragon Tail" U.S. Route 29. 318 curves in 11 miles, and I did it on my own bike.

My daughter’s wedding went on without a glitch, it was beautiful. She took off her veil during a dance at the reception, so I took off my wig, and we had a ball! Just focusing on the "little things" made all my fears fade into the background. I decided that the disease may have control of a few things in my life, but I was going to make sure it didn't take any more than that.

Let the little things be what inspires you every day--your family, your friends, and making memories with them. When you come down to it, that is all that matters really.

Go out and find your little "good things" every day, and life will be precious. :)

~Jackie

There were a lot of things that helped keep me motivated as I was going through my breast cancer experience. Most of all, I was inspired by my own love for my friends and family. The moment I found out that I had breast cancer, I realized that nothing mattered to me as much as the people I loved — being able to have them in my life and being in their lives.

Life was instantly so much more precious once there was a possibility of losing it. And that’s not to say that I didn’t feel grateful to be alive before my diagnosis, or that I didn’t feel happy enough with my life, because I did, and I was. But once I experienced the feeling of worrying about whether or not I would live, the idea of complaining about virtually anything, and the idea of allowing small things to stress me out, suddenly felt ridiculous to me.

The support of the people in my life also helped a lot. Visits from loved ones, phone calls, emails, cards and flowers all helped to brighten my spirit. The plans that I’d made for my future prior to my diagnosis also inspired me. I wanted very much to still be able to do the things I’d planned on doing. The goals I had in mind for my future glimmered in the distance, and they, too, helped keep me looking forward.

To those who are newly diagnosed with breast cancer, my message to you is to have faith in yourself and your strength.

Finding out that you have breast cancer is mind-blowing and completely terrifying, definitely. But my experience taught me that I was capable of being stronger than I ever imagined I’d have to be.

I believe that the best thing you can do to help yourself get through the difficult experience of a breast cancer diagnosis and treatment is to latch onto hope and determination and don’t let go.

As I was approaching my mastectomy and then going through recovery, amid the sadness and fear, I focused on how much I loved my life and the people in it. I knew without a doubt that I had to fight as hard as I possibly could to put cancer behind me.

So my message to anyone who’s newly diagnosed is to believe in yourself. It’s okay to be scared and strong at the same time. Draw inspiration and determination from the many forms of love in your life, and refuse to give up.

Jackie Uhl

“Pink Together community” says it all… When I was diagnosed with my first breast cancer at age 33, I wanted to find others who had been diagnosed at a young age. Not having a history of breast cancer in my family, I was so desperate to meet or talk with other survivors to help me get through all the challenges and decisions any woman has to face, but especially young women -- the surgeries, chemo, radiation, and hair loss. I wanted to know the answers to so many questions: am I going to survive, which surgery to choose, when will my hair begin to fall out, how chemo could affect me long term and if it would hurt my chances of having children.

In 1997 there just wasn’t any place to find young survivors…until now. 12 years later things have truly changed --- Pink Together is a “community” offering hope and a wealth of information for all ages. There are so many stories and each one provides that “if she can do this, then I can” feeling!

I would have to say thank you to so many. My husband was my rock, my strength to draw on, when I had weak moments. He saw the torment I was going through, while trying to decide on what treatment would be best. After deciding on the mastectomy the second time around, he could see how hard it was thinking of what lay ahead for us, for me. He helped me feel good about my decision, made sure that I knew how much he loved me, and that this wouldn't change anything. They weren't removing my heart, which was what he fell in love with.

My children have always been my little cheerleaders, and they kept me in a positive state of mind through everything. They already knew Mom would walk through fire for them, and they wanted to make sure I knew they would do the same.

Having a good support system is necessary in helping cope with a diagnosis. There are days you are going to just say to heck with it. They will carry you on, give you the strength to push on.Help keep you in a positive state of mind. That is half the battle I think.