Category: Involvement

Spectrum Health Beat

by Tammy Myers

From breast cancer to The Ellen DeGeneres Show By

Memorable trip to California studio caps off a courageous year of battling through surgery and treatment.

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You wouldn’t normally think a breast cancer diagnosis would lead to The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

But for Tammy Myers, the signs pointing to this moment have long been in place. And not just because DeGeneres is the one person who could make her laugh during chemotherapy.

Sitting in the audience at the show in Burbank, California, on Tuesday capped off a year of battling through surgery and treatment.

Full Story here

#SpectrumHealthBeat

Special Surprise Gone Viral

by admin

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As most of you know, a very big dream of mine is coming true in a few days as I head to Burbank, CA to attend a live taping of the Ellen show with my very dear heart friend, Vicki, well a pretty special friend and former teacher who has become family over the years set out to make my trip a little more special.

She secretly enlisted the help of her niece Nicole and her friend Hannah to put a video together to send to Ellen asking her to take a Selfie with Vicki and I. Knowing that she cares about me enough to step out of her comfort zone and do something like this, means the world to me and the video alone is a very special gift. However things got a little more special today. Ok things got flat out crazy today. I can’t share a the details of what happened today, however I can share this. Fox 17 West Michigan, got wind of this my friend Alice’s video and contacted me to see if I would do an interview with them. Just like the interview back in March they were at my house with a camera crew in less then 45 minutes.

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In honor of World Cancer Day…

by admin

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I would like to encourage every woman out there to do a self-breast exam.

BREAST CANCER REALLY CAN HAPPEN TO ANYONE…. The truth is not all women diagnosed with this awful disease are over the age of 50… over the age of 40… or even over the age of 20. Despite what we are often lead to believe, not all women who are diagnosed with breast cancer have a family history of the disease. Not all women diagnosed live an unhealthy lifestyle that includes low activity levels, overeating, smoking, or even the heavy consumption of alcohol. The harsh reality is; sometimes women who think they are doing everything right to take care of themselves and their bodies, still get breast cancer.

I am that person. I never thought it would happen to me, but I was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 33. I do not have a family history of the disease. I very rarely have a drink. I have never smoked and I stay pretty active. I knew the risks and I lived by them, yet it still happened to me. I am proof that breast cancer can happen to anyone, and more importantly, I am proof that breast cancer can happen to you.

In honor of those of us who are fighting and those who can no longer fight, I encourage you to be proactive in your own health and push those you love to do the same. No matter how old you are, it is important that you know your body, that you check yourself often, and that you ask your doctor to preform a routine breast exam, men included.

Early detection really does save lives.

‪#‎mypersonalpinktime‬ ‪#‎worldcancerday‬

Moving past the fear of getting “too close”

by admin

Moving past the fear of getting “too close”, and learning to be “at peace” with saying goodbye. When you’re diagnosed with something as scary as cancer a external transformation obviously happens as you progress through treatments and surgeries, however what those who haven’t experienced it personally may not realize is that an internal transformation also happens as well. In a sense you almost become a super human version of yourself. Every sense, every feeling, every fear, and every perception is heightened to the max and you are all of a sudden aware of everything around you to an extreme you have never experienced… the good and the bad. I have come to accept this transformation as a gift. Unlike most, I now see the beauty in even the dreariest days, I appreciate the littlest moments, and I take the time to be grateful for each and every day I have here, however there was a point about half way through my treatment where this transformation put me in a very fragile emotional state and almost made me withdraw from everything that I am and everyone that I cared about. I even withdrew from “My Personal Pink Time” for a while. I never thought I would actually explain why, however the conformation of some news that I have been dreading, has left me with a need to share.

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Embracing My “Pinkness”

by admin

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A few months back I was asked to be a part of a Making Strides Against Breast Cancer video that highlighted what the word “pink” meant to those of us who have been faced with Breast Cancer here in West Michigan. At the time the word pink did symbolize a great deal for me because I was going through the hardest of my treatments, however I don’t think I really understood how impactful the color itself was until this past weekend as I walked in my first ever Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk. The entire day was amazing. I was surrounded by my family, friends, and a community of supporters who have walked this path before. As we started the walk, a sea of pink lined the streets of Grand Rapids and I realized that seeing a pink ribbon no longer triggered the fear of my reality. In fact the color itself has almost taken on a whole new emotion and lifted me up. It surrounds me like a giant hug and forever changes the way I feel when I see the color pink. It now serves as a reminder that I am not alone in this fight, and most importantly it reminds me that I can win this fight.

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