| Jeanette Caligiuri
Everyone describes their diagnosis as "life altering." For Jeanette it moved a bit beyond that. Her breast cancer caused her to rethink her life, her goals, and her career. Many of you know about the business she and her sister Bonnie began. It is so much more than a mastectomy boutique. It is a safe haven, a comfortable environment that provides not only the stylish items you want but the support you need. When you enter the Faith & Hope Boutique you truly can find everything you need to "embrace your body and empower your soul." Jeanette tells us how and why she found her own way to make a difference.
At the age of thirty-nine I heard the words that I'd been dreading. The biopsy results had come back, "it's cancer." The doctor's assistant went on in a seemingly unending deluge of instructions that I was no longer hearing. My mind centered on one thought: "it's my turn."
Unfortunately, through a bad draw of the genetics card, I was no stranger to the disease. After the deaths of my grandmother and my mother, that left me alone with many unanswered questions at the age of fifteen, I had the realization that I too would be forced to confront my fate.
When I began my treatment, I found the hardest part wasn't losing my breasts or my hair but losing control. While I was thankful for all the advances in medicine that were available my doctors, and clinicians and personnel all carried out their individual missions with strategic accuracy, and few took the time to say my name. I reasoned that personal attachment in their chosen field would be a luxury that they couldn't afford and deduced that I needed their expertise, not compassion. I turned to family and friends to fill the void, but became frustrated that they were blessed with never having to journey down the path I was stepping with trepidation. I searched out support groups that offered comrades that easily shared battle scars, victories, laughter and tears.
During my recovery, with found time on my hands, I became transfixed with purpose. I was filled with a passion that no woman should have to go through this alone. After all, what kind of soldier would march off to battle unarmed? I envisioned a safe place to offer comfort and knowledge to newly diagnosed women, stocked with items to help with every phase of treatment conveniently gathered in one place. I shared my idea with my sister, who at the time was recovering from her own prophylactic mastectomy, and Faith and Hope Boutique was born.
The boutique has grown to two locations over the past year and we have reached thousands of women. The shop offers pre and post-operative care along with head coverings, wigs, and specialty skin care products. The most important part of my new found career is that along with hugs, hope, and assurances that we are not alone, is the opportunity to educate about advocacy. I have seen first-hand that there is safety in numbers. I no longer feel the isolation of a fifteen year old orphan.
I have been lucky enough to see my passion mirrored in women who have won their own battles and stand united to continue to fight the war. The fight is for education, for funding of new research, and for legislation that will one day change the meaning of this disease.
Each one of us not only has been given a diagnosis, we have been given a gift. How we use it is up to us.
_____________________________________________________
|
Action Alert Network
