October 6, 2011
2009 was a difficult year for Stephanie Scott of Wichita, Kansas who was diagnosed with
stage three breast cancer at the age of 35.
Stephanie received her diagnosis one year after her father lost his battle with
colon cancer. She was all too familiar with the ugly face of
cancer after seeing her father struggle to survive. When she was diagnosed, Stephanie was determined to not give up without a fight.
"I was terrified when I was first diagnosed. I knew that cancer at that age was going to be very aggressive and that I had a battle ahead of me,” she told
Kakeland news.
Cancer Spreads to Lymph Nodes
The aggressive cancer had spread to a dozen and a half lymph nodes around her chest and underarms. She underwent surgery to remove the 18 cancerous nodes. The six months following, Stephanie endured physically taxing chemotherapy in hopes of ridding the cancer from her body.
After surgery and chemotherapy, her cancer was in remission. A month later, she attended her first
Race for the Cure.
Cancer Survivor and Advocate
Since her survival of breast cancer, Stephanie has been an active volunteer involved in organizing the Race for the Cure. She has used her story of loss and pain to educate others on how to prevent breast cancer or how to
survive the disease if they’ve been diagnosed.
"As young women, we have the opportunity to prevent breast cancer by the way we eat, by exercising, by doing things that I should've been doing more of before and I'm now doing," she said advocating that women take control of their health.
Her advocacy for breast cancer and dedication to the cause earned her the
Quilted Northern Soft and Strong Champion for this year’s Race for the Cure. Stephanie’s battle with breast cancer has afforded her more opportunities than she thought possible, which she is grateful for.
"I felt that they [Race for the Cure] took me under their arms and wanted to get to know me as a person. For the first time, I felt like I was a part of something," she told reporters.
"I feel like I'm more active in the community, obviously with Komen, and with that, is a desire to get to know more people and get out there and make more friends. Have a happy life," she said. As a woman who
survived breast cancer and watched her father slowly slip away from colon cancer, Stephanie spends her time celebrating others’ survival.
Breast cancer affects women of all ages, but the
rates of survival vary. It’s important to know if you are at risk and how to treat the stage of breast cancer you may have been diagnosed with.
