A counseling center in Wise County celebrated its first anniversary of doing something good for cancer patients, and a local artist brought flowers to celebrate.

Artist and childhood cancer survivor Olivia Bennett painted a vibrant canvas full of flowers that now greets patients and staff at the Tough Enough to Wear Pink Counseling Center in Decatur.

The center offers families and patients dealing with a breast cancer diagnosis up to 12 counseling sessions with licensed therapists at no charge.

During the first year, 56 cancer patients have been served.

Decatur-based footwear company Twisted X donated $1.2 million in December 2020 to bring the Tough Enough to Wear Pink flagship center to life.

It is part of the Wise Health System’s Center for Emotional Wellness that opened three years ago. It see an average of 150 clients a month including those in a program for First Responders who’ve been through critical incidents.

A Bolton cancer survivor has shared her inspirational story after spotting an unusual symptom. Kirsty Naylor, of Westhoughton, has now been chosen as the voice for Cancer Research UK’s Race for Lifes.

The 36-year-old mum-of-three became concerned and booked a phone appointment with her GP in September 2020 after noticing her right nipple was inverted. Aged only 34 at the time, she did not think this could have been cancer.

Strict Covid restrictions were in place at the Royal Bolton Hospital, meaning Kirsty had to undergo an ultrasound and mammogram alone. She then received the shock news that she had breast cancer after two tumours were found during the scan.

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Kirsty had to have her right breast removed and says she spent Christmas 2020 in fear for her future. She began chemotherapy treatment in February 2021 but initially reacted badly to this, developing neutropenic sepsis.

She spent long times alone and very weak in hospital, with partner 46-year-old Dale Young rallying to look after their three girls, Ella, 16, Evie, 6, and Eila, 4. Kirsty’s mum had to move into the family home as she spent so much time in hospital.

Kirsty Naylor
(Image: Cancer Research UK)

Kirsty finished her chemo around 12 months ago, but her journey did not stop here. She faced radiotherapy in July and is still sometimes left unable to walk due to the chemotherapy.

As well as this, she will need an annual mammogram plus will take the drug tamoxifen for the next decade. Kirsty is also receiving an implant every four weeks to stop an early menopause.

Cancer survivor Kirsty Naylor from Bolton who has been chosen as the voice of Cancer Research UK Race for Life events
(Image: Cancer Research UK)

“When they told me I had breast cancer, I didn’t take in the news at first. But when I walked outside my legs turned to jelly. I couldn’t drive home and I had to get someone to come and pick me up from the hospital,” Kirsty said.

“I was in shock for some time. I felt sheer panic at telling my family the news. It was as though the whole experience was happening to someone else and not to me.

“My three girls have been absolutely fantastic. It’s been particularly challenging for my eldest. My youngest two didn’t really know what was going on. They wanted to help and look after me. But were most concerned about me losing my hair!”

Kirsty is now using her story to encourage as many people as possible to enter a Race for Life and fund vital cancer research. She has banded together 14 friends to take part in a race this Wednesday (May 18) at Haigh Hall in Wigan, raising £400 already.

Kirsty had to endure months of chemotherapy
(Image: Cancer Research UK)

Her story has been made into an audio recording which will be played to all participants near the start line at Cancer Research UK Race for Life events in the North West and the rest of the country. It is one of six recordings that will be played across the UK to inspire participants.

Kirsty added: “I hope my story will help connect with people in the moments before they set off on the Race for Life course. It’s a privilege to have the chance through the audio recording at Race for Life events to thank the amazing people who are fundraising to support life-saving research.”

Kirsty had an appointment with the GP after spotting an unusual breast cancer symptom
(Image: Cancer Research UK)

Jane Bullock, Cancer Research UK’s spokesperson in the North West, said: “We are incredibly grateful to Kirsty for her support and know that her story will make an impact on participants when played on stage at the beginning of Race for Life. Sadly, cancer affects all of us in some way. Whether people are living with cancer, taking part in honour of or in memory of a loved one with cancer or signing up to protect their own children’s future, everyone has a reason to Race for Life. So we’re asking people across the region: “Who will you Race for?”

“Our Race for Life events are open to all. For some people, the Race for Life is literally a walk in the park. Slow and steady still wins. For others, it’s a jog. Others may opt to push themselves harder, taking up the challenge of the 10K distance and even pushing for a new personal best time.

“We’re looking forward to welcoming people of all ages and abilities. Race for Life will be fun, emotional, colourful, uplifting and an unforgettable event this year.”

To learn more about Race for Life, visit raceforlife.org.

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MARION, Iowa (KCRG) – Crossfit mom Colleen Grote was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in April of 2021.

“It was really scary. The goals went from how can I excel at the gym, and what’s my next PR lift going to be, to am I going to be alive tomorrow” Grote said.

Despite the chemotherapy treatments and two surgeries, Colleen never missed a workout at Crossfit 151 in Marion.

“I would go do chemo in the mornings, and I would make it a point to come to the gym afterwards, and just keep my body moving,” Grote said.

Colleen participated in the CrossFit Open and finished in the top 10 percent in her age group in the world, but it was much bigger than that.

“I can hopefully have other women realize they don’t have to give up their fitness goals and stop pursuing those goals when they’re diagnosed with something like breast cancer. Cancer isn’t fun, but they can keep doing the things they enjoy, and find the community to support them and lift them up throughout that process” Grote said.

Copyright 2022 KCRG. All rights reserved.

The chief acknowledgment is to the participants, the project staff and the China National Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and its regional offices for assisting with the fieldwork. We thank Judith Mackay in Hong Kong; Yu Wang, Gonghuan Yang, Zhengfu Qiang, Lin Feng, Maigeng Zhou, Wenhua Zhao, Yan Zhang and Zheng Bian in China CDC; Lingzhi Kong, Xiucheng Yu and Kun Li in the Chinese Ministry of Health; and Garry Lancaster, Sarah Clark, Martin Radley, Mike Hill, Hongchao Pan and Jill Boreham in the CTSU, Oxford, for assisting with the design, planning, organization and conduct of the study.

Consortium

On behalf of the China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB) collaborative group. Group members include the following:

International Steering Committee: Junshi Chen, Zhengming Chen (PI), Robert Clarke, Rory Collins, Yu Guo, Liming Li (PI), Chen Wang, Jun Lv, Richard Peto, Robin Walters;

International Coordinating Centre, Oxford, England: Daniel Avery, Derrick Bennett, Ruth Boxall, Ka Hung Chan, Yumei Chang, Yiping Chen, Zhengming Chen, Johnathan Clarke; Robert Clarke, Huaidong Du, Zammy Fairhurst-Hunter, Hannah Fry, Simon Gilbert, Alex Hacker, Mike Hill, Michael Holmes, Pek Kei Im, Andri Iona, Maria Kakkoura, Christiana Kartsonaki, Rene Kerosi, Kuang Lin, Mohsen Mazidi, Iona Millwood, Qunhua Nie, Alfred Pozarickij, Paul Ryder, Saredo Said, Sam Sansome, Dan Schmidt, Paul Sherliker, Rajani Sohoni, Becky Stevens, Iain Turnbull, Robin Walters, Lin Wang, Neil Wright, Ling Yang, Xiaoming Yang, Pang Yao;

National Coordinating Centre, Beijing, China: Yu Guo, Xiao Han, Can Hou, Qingmei Xia, Chao Liu, Jun Lv, Pei Pei, Canqing Yu;

10 Regional Coordinating Centres:

Guangxi Provincial CDC: Naying Chen, Duo Liu, Zhenzhu Tang. Liuzhou CDC: Ningyu Chen, Qilian Jiang, Jian Lan, Mingqiang Li, Yun Liu, Fanwen Meng, Jinhuai Meng, Rong Pan, Yulu Qin, Ping Wang, Sisi Wang, Liuping Wei, Liyuan Zhou;

Gansu Provincial CDC: Caixia Dong, Pengfei Ge, Xiaolan Ren. Maiji CDC: Zhongxiao Li, Enke Mao, Tao Wang, Hui Zhang, Xi Zhang;

Hainan Provincial CDC: Jinyan Chen, Ximin Hu, Xiaohuan Wang. Meilan CDC: Zhendong Guo, Huimei Li, Yilei Li, Min Weng, Shukuan Wu;

Heilongjiang Provincial CDC: Shichun Yan, Mingyuan Zou, Xue Zhou. Nangang CDC: Ziyan Guo, Quan Kang, Yanjie Li, Bo Yu, Qinai Xu;

Henan Provincial CDC: Liang Chang, Lei Fan, Shixian Feng, Ding Zhang, Gang Zhou. Huixian CDC: Yulian Gao, Tianyou He, Pan He, Chen Hu, Huarong Sun, Xukui Zhang;

Hunan Provincial CDC: Biyun Chen, Zhongxi Fu, Yuelong Huang, Huilin Liu, Qiaohua Xu, Li Yin. Liuyang CDC: Huajun Long, Xin Xu, Hao Zhang, Libo Zhang;

Jiangsu Provincial CDC: Jian Su, Ran Tao, Ming Wu, Jie Yang, Jinyi Zhou, Yonglin Zhou. Suzhou CDC: Yihe Hu, Yujie Hua, Jianrong Jin Fang Liu, Jingchao Liu, Yan Lu, Liangcai Ma, Aiyu Tang, Jun Zhang;

Qingdao Qingdao CDC: Liang Cheng, Ranran Du, Ruqin Gao, Feifei Li, Shanpeng Li, Yongmei Liu, Feng Ning, Zengchang Pang, Xiaohui Sun, Xiaocao Tian, Shaojie Wang, Yaoming Zhai, Hua Zhang, Licang CDC: Wei Hou, Silu Lv, Junzheng Wang;

Sichuan Provincial CDC: Xiaofang Chen, Xianping Wu, Ningmei Zhang, Weiwei Zhou. Pengzhou CDC: Xiaofang Chen, Jianguo Li, Jiaqiu Liu, Guojin Luo, Qiang Sun, Xunfu Zhong;

Zhejiang Provincial CDC: Weiwei Gong, Ruying Hu, Hao Wang, Meng Wan, Min Yu. Tongxiang CDC: Lingli Chen, Qijun Gu, Dongxia Pan, Chunmei Wang, Kaixu Xie, Xiaoyi Zhang.