Healing Beyond Adversity by Rising Together

Michelle Beck, Host of the “We Rise By Lifting Each Other Podcast,” speaker, author and advocate

I have been around breast cancer since I was a teenager; I watched as my grandmother was diagnosed, then again… and again, finally losing her life to it in 2008. Every year, I bought a pink ribbon shirt in October to support the cause and for over 15 years, I have had a pink leather heart and ribbon on my key chain. Not a day goes by that I do not think about her. Before I was diagnosed, I had no idea how life changing a diagnosis of breast cancer is even as I witnessed it. Now I know all too well.

Being proactive, I started getting regular mammograms at age 37. In 2012, I was 41 when I heard those dreaded words “You have breast cancer.” I was very lucky that it was caught early, stage 1, low grade and the “most treatable“ type. Yippee?? I went through treatment (lumpectomy, radiation and Tamoxifen) and moved on, deciding that I would just pack it away and deal with the emotions of it… never. Guess what? That was not an option as I was diagnosed just over 4 years later with a new primary diagnosis IN MY OTHER BREAST. I mean, really??

This time my head exploded with emotions of fear, anxiety, sorrow and depression. How was I supposed to deal with this AGAIN? Once I finished treatment (bilateral mastectomy with reconstruction, a full hysterectomy and projected 10 years of aromatase inhibitor meds) I found my HOW when I walked into a local support organization Breast Friends to volunteer. The amazing women there enveloped me in hugs, but also the knowledge that I am not alone in this journey. I was given support, that I had no idea that I needed, education and a community which I will always be a part of.

I spent 5 years at Breast Friends, a volunteer turned employee which led to me hosting the Breast Friends Cancer Support Network podcast for 2 years. I became a speaker, finding my voice as a patient advocate and learning that the informal blogs I was working on would one day become a book – coming out summer of 2023: I Never Liked Pink… And Other things I Learned From Cancer. Breast Friends allowed me to grow into a life after breast cancer, exploring what is really important to me! Now I am working full time on finishing said book and hosting a new podcast We Rise By Lifting Each Other sharing good people and the good they put out into the world, because we need more of that. Sharing our healing through adversity helps us all rise together.

I would not be at this great place in life, embarking on new career goals if not for my two breast cancer diagnoses. Yes, being in the thick of it is ROUGH, but I have come out a better person on the other side and am super excited for what the next part of my life will bring.