Brownsburg woman using breast cancer diagnosis to give back
BROWNSBURG, Ind. (WISH) – Breast cancer impacts thousands of people each year. It is estimated that there will be 252,710 new cases of invasive breast cancer diagnosed in 2017, that is according to BreastCancer.org.
Janis Brunner of Brownsburg was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer back in the summer.
“I really believe I wouldn’t be in stage three if I had the 3D mammogram a year ago. I think it’s just the latest technology, it will detect it faster. Don’t be afraid to get a mammogram, you can get through it,” Brunner said.
Brunner said she always gets her yearly mammogram but feels that women should take it a step further and get the 3D technology. She said women should also pay attention to any changes in their breasts. A breast self-exam how-to can be found here.
“We’re really promoting it with our women because we can catch it earlier and catching it earlier means treating it earlier and it be more curable,” said Cindy Burns who is an Oncology Pharmacist at Hendricks Regional Health.
Brunner believes the new technology would have caught her cancer last year before it changed to stage three.
Regardless, she has been using the diagnosis to help give back to other women who are going through the same thing.
“I wanna set an example for my friends, my family and especially my grandkids. This is not the end of the world. There’s a lot of people who have,” Brunner said.
Brunner, along with the help of her closest friends have gotten together for multiple sewing parties. At those events, they make dozens of pillows, seat belt covers and port pillows to give to breast cancer patients.
These items help to keep cancer patients’ delicate skin from chafing and irritating their ports and scars.
“This was so great and I’m glad we have these to give to patients with new ports. We decided to do extra padding on these because a mastectomy patient is going to have a fresh incision,” Brunner said of the creations.
She draws her hope from her friends, support group and the opportunity to give back to others.
“You can get through it. There’s rough days then there’s good days and you just have to look every day for something that’s good because every day that’s how you get through it. It’s just a day at a time, a step at a time,” she added.
Brunner had her double mastectomy Wednesday morning and is said to be recovering well. She said she looks forward to getting back into exercise and traveling.