Valerie Shupp: The Ongoing Fight against Metastatic Breast Cancer

Posted on October 20, 2016October 6, 2017 by Dan H

By Drew Carr

Statesman Content Marketing

“Once I found out I was diagnosed, my husband proposed to me. We went to Vegas and got married over the weekend, and on that Monday I started chemotherapy.” – Valerie Shupp

valerie-and-her-daughters — Valerie & her daughters.

Valerie Shupp was originally diagnosed with Stage II breast cancer at 27 years old. After undergoing a mastectomy and chemotherapy, Valerie was followed by a doctor regularly for 10 years—and even in spite of the cancer and chemotherapy, Valerie and her husband became parents to two little girls.

Sheila Hyde: A Team Effort Against Cancer

Posted on October 13, 2016October 6, 2017 by Dan H

By Drew Carr, Statesman Content Marketing

“You never know what you have until something like this happens. I’m forever grateful to these ladies.” – Sheila Hyde

Sheila Hyde was just beginning a new job with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission when she found a lump in her breast. A coworker convinced her to take the time to have it checked. After learning the lump was cancerous, Sheila began her battle against breast cancer with chemotherapy, surgery and radiation from Texas Oncology, who she’d learned about through great recommendations from her boss, several friends, doctors and nurses. As it turned out, the team at Texas Oncology would make a world of difference for Sheila.

Ana Knoben: An Unexpected Fight

Posted on October 7, 2016October 6, 2017 by Dan H

By Drew Carr, Statesman Content Marketing

“It doesn’t matter how old you are. Just go and get checked.” – Ana Knoben

In August of last year, 34-year-old Ana Knoben noticed a lump in her breast while showering. A physician at a regional walk-in clinic ordered a mammogram and biopsy after examining it. Ana was at work when she received a call two days later informing her that the lump was cancerous.

“I went to my manager at work and said I needed to take a couple of days off to see the doctor. She said ‘OK, are you alright?’ I said ‘Yeah. I just have cancer.’ She broke down. Then I realized what was happening, and I broke down.” – Ana Knoben

Teresa Green: The Joy & Pain of Survival

Posted on September 29, 2016September 30, 2016 by Dan H

By Drew Carr, Statesman Content Marketing

October 1, 2016

“This life, I have realized, has been filled with much joy and a lot of sadness. This helps us evolve into, we all hope, better and more compassionate humans.” – Teresa Green

It was March of 2015 when Teresa Green attended a cancer luncheon with a friend at a local hotel — a few hundred strong and beautiful women, all somehow connected to a cancer survivor or battling cancer themselves— and thought about how lucky and grateful she was to not be battling the disease. Two weeks later, she consulted a plastic surgeon about hardened tissue in her left breast related to an implant scar following a skiing accident. An ultrasound was ordered, followed by a biopsy, and then Teresa found herself in a waiting room listening to Pharrell’s song “Happy.” She would be informed about her Stage 2 breast cancer that day.