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  • What Needs to Be Done About the Rising Rate of Advanced Breast Cancer in Young Women

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Tigerlily in Action

  • Thank you for visiting Tigerlily Foundation. It is my hope that here, you will not only find information and resources, but that you will also find the helping hands of friends, the warmth of sisters and the love of many who have walked and still walk the path that you are on. It is my hope that through this journey, you will reclaim your life, your strength and your spirit – remembering that you are beautiful, strong and can be transformed – not because of, but in spite of breast cancer.

    -Much love always, Maimah

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If I survived, you can survive.

This is Kate Anderolttola’s Story

It’s true what they say about “the call” – you never forget it. It was 4:45 p.m. on Friday, February 17, 2012, when the phone rang at work. My doctor told me the results of my breast biopsy: “It’s not benign.”

Looking back, that moment felt like the scene in a movie when the actor stands still, but everything else just spins around them, out of control. Two weeks earlier, doing a self-exam, I felt a lump, but it wasn’t supposed to be anything. I was 35, the mother of a 5-year-old daughter, who is the love of my life, and engaged to be married. I had completed three walks to raise money for breast cancer charities. It didn’t make sense. However, I quickly learned I had no choice but to make sense of it all. In the weeks that followed, I was poked, prodded, scanned and, as I told my friends, had numerous people “go to second base” with me as my treatment plan took shape. I soon learned I was battling stage 2 triple negative invasive breast cancer. Triple negative was a new term to me. It didn’t sound like a medical term; triple negative sounded like the name of a WWE wrestler who emerges from clouds of smoke, hoisting a championship belt above his head, before someone hits him with a folding chair from behind. I felt like the wrestler, getting hit from behind. But I also had a crowd of people cheering for me to get back up on my feet. March 15, 2012, was surgery day, and I had a bilateral mastectomy. By the first week of April, I started eight rounds of chemotherapy. Between surgery and my first round of chemo, I found out I carried the BRCA gene mutation. I felt knocked down again, but refused to stay down. Someone told me, “Cancer won the battle now you win the war.” She was right, and I declared myself a “survivor-in-training.” To say life took an unexpected turn on the February 17 is an understatement. Life presented an unwanted challenge but also offered me a new perspective. I have learned many things through tears, laughter, quiet moments, long talks, time with loved ones, and chance meetings with strangers. A few of these things are:
  • My mom saved my life. We lost my grandmother to breast cancer at 53. From a young age, my mother taught me to know my body and be an advocate for my health, including doing breast self-exams. All of us need to encourage our loved ones to do the same and to be aware.
  • I have one nagging question that continues to define my struggle with cancer: Why would I be given a gift as wonderful as my daughter, only to potentially be taken away from her? This thought brings up a range of emotions, but it also helps me shape how I want my daughter to see me and how I want to be seen as she grows up. Me not being here isn’t an option. So, I cherish every moment with her. Her laughter is like music and watching her play or sleep is more beautiful to me than any great work of art or Oscar-winning movie.
  • I now know the power of words, kindness, and laughter--all are free, but valuable enough to get you through the worst of days. I feel the rush when someone who loves me holds my hand in a moment when I need it but didn't have to ask. I am overwhelmed by the unconditional love of my parents and family who let me walk through their door, burdened with fear, and then let me walk back out, having passed all of my worry to their shoulders. They take that burden without complaint.
Everyone dreads the word cancer, myself included. I am confident research will some day find a cure, but, in the meantime, it is education that will save lives. As a survivor-in-training, I want to share my experience in hopes that someone else can triumph from “the call.” Cancer opened my eyes to the important things in life. It taught me that hair grows back, so hold your head high and be proud. Most importantly, it taught me that breasts don’t define a woman, but using our hearts to their capacity to love others and to be loved is a gift.
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If I survived, you can survive.

This is Misty Simon's Story

I was diagnosed at age 30 (exactly 3 years ago on Jan 17th, 2007) with invasive breast cancer. There was no family history, I was healthy and thought I'd done everything to protect myself. I underwent a mastectomy which revealed positive lymph nodes. I was pretty lucky and it was only 2 out of 28 and there was no evidence of cancer anywhere else. I ended up being Stage IIB, Her2 neu +, ER/PR-. I am a nurse and full time mom and wife. At the time of diagnosis my kids were 3 and 15 months. It was so hard to not be able to pick them up or explain mommy's boo-boos.

After healing, I had 4 rounds of AC, twelve weeks of Taxol and one year of Herceptin. I was so tired, but I continued to work part-time because I refused to let cancer take anything else away from me. We were so blessed with friends who drove me to treatments, made us dinners and watched the kids. I was also very blessed to have a loving, supportive husband who always thought I was beautiful and even shaved his head before I lost my hair so the kids would be used to a bald parent! Now, let's not forget the radiation and burns! Later I had reconstructive surgery and have been enrolled in a clinical trial to test biphosphinates in their role in preventing future bone mets. Now I go for scans every 6 months. I hate having had breast cancer, but God blessed me in many ways and I feel very fortunate to be where I am now.