Cancer can strike when you least expect it – just ask Tanya Burleson. Two and a half years ago, the 39-year-old mother of two found a lump in her breast that turned her world upside down. Read her story below to learn how she has turned her fight with cancer into an opportunity to help patients dealing with the same struggle.

Approximately a year after noticing a lump in my breast that came and went with my cycles, I felt a lump in my lower left breast. My nurse practitioner recommended that I have a mammogram and an ultrasound. The morning after the procedure, I received a call informing me that I had a suspicious mass, and I was referred to the general surgeon’s office. The general surgeon felt that it was probably not cancer, but he wanted me to have a biopsy done to be certain.

I had the biopsy the same week and was back for my results one week later expecting to receive a good report. Unfortunately, what the biopsy found was aggressive stage 1 HER2, estrogen-positive cancer. After speaking with the general surgeon, my oncologist and the reconstructive surgeon to review all my options, I scheduled a bi-lateral mastectomy for three weeks later. Dr. Saadey removed all the cancer from my breast, and three lymph nodes were removed and tested. They had cancer cells, but no mass, so they were considered negative for cancer.

Due to the cancer cells, Dr. Trehan, my oncologist, suggested a more aggressive treatment plan. I had my first chemo treatment on Jan. 5, and as a result, my hair started falling out about 12 days later. Shortly after, I chose to shave my remaining hair off because of how much I was losing. I was ready to get it over with, as it was very tough going through that.

My next treatment was scheduled for three weeks later, and I had strange issues between the two treatments. On Jan. 26, I was receiving my second round of chemo and I went into anaphylactic shock from the Taxol (an anti-cancer chemotherapy drug) – we found out that I was allergic to the Taxol and it was causing my issues before. That was the last round of hard chemo that I received. Now I get Herceptin every three weeks.

My hair started growing back shortly after that treatment, but it was patchy, and some of it came back in as white hair, which is common. I shaved it off twice during the next two months to encourage healthy hair growth. Three months later, I have a pixie-type amount of hair, maybe a quarter of an inch long.

The hair loss has been one of the hardest parts of this whole process. I have already completed the first round of my reconstructive surgeries, and I look like my old self – the only difference is the scars, which no one else can see. However, I had long hair, and I do not feel pretty without it. In speaking with Dr. Trehan, this is commonly the hardest part for patients.

Thankful for my early detection and successful treatments, I wanted to be able to give back. I started by donating wigs to Aultman Hospital. They already get wigs from the American Cancer Society, but most of them feature short hair, and I felt they were geared toward older women. I purchased and donated some that featured long-hair styles and would appeal to younger women battling cancer.

Ideally, it would be wonderful to prevent hair loss as a result of chemotherapy altogether. I had considered chemo caps before my treatment, but they were very expensive to rent and I could not find a place to purchase them. Dr. Trehan and I discussed this option further, and I was trying to figure out a way to provide a few for Aultman.

Thankfully, my amazing district office at work was hosting a golf outing in late June in remembrance of Dave Nienhius, who passed away from cancer last year. They asked me if I would be their honoree for this year’s event. As the honoree, I was given the opportunity to choose where I would like to donate the money raised to help with the fight. I chose Aultman and worked closely with Dr. Trehan, Traci Hocking and the team at The Aultman Foundation to determine how the funds raised through this event could be used to help. 

Thanks to a successful event, my District Manager, Tim Willoughby and my team at Farmers Insurance and the care and dedication of Dr. Trehan, Traci Hocking and The Aultman Foundation team, the proceeds from the golf outing totaled $5,378! I'm so thrilled that those funds will be used to help others dealing with and healing from the effects of chemotherapy. 

If you'd like to make a difference in the lives of local cancer patients like Tanya and her team from Farmers Insurance did, we invite you to explore our many giving funds - like the Patient CancerCare Fund - available on The Aultman Foundation's website.