Bring Your Brave

November 15, 2018 • By Temeika L. Fairley, Ph.D., Health Scientist, Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

I was sitting next to her as she told her story of being diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer at the age of 26. It wasn't the first time that I had heard a young woman talk through diagnosis and treatment of aggressive breast cancer, but I had to fight back tears while listening to Charity speak. Our entire video production team was struggling not to cry. What was it about her situation that captured all of us? Was it hearing Charity talk about her initial doctor’s visit and being told that the inflamed rash on her breast was probably nothing? Or maybe it was hearing her say that the next time she saw a doctor about it was in the emergency room, when the cancer had eaten through her breast and she had to be rushed to surgery for a non-skin sparing double mastectomy. It could have been the moments when she talked about her struggle with the treatment-induced infertility and not having had the choice to have/not have children. I’m not sure which part of Charity’s story drew us in, but I do know that the experience of hearing and capturing stories like hers was a powerful experience for me and the production team of the Bring Your Brave educational campaign.