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Second of Two Parts
By Monique Jones | For the Birmingham Times
Breast cancer is often seen as a disease that only affects older women, largely because the median age at the time of breast cancer diagnosis is 62. But according to the Centers for Disease Control, breast cancer rates have been increasing slowly in women younger than 45 in all racial and ethnic groups. The Breast Cancer Research Foundation reports that the incidence rate in women under 50 has risen faster than in women over 50 and breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in women aged 20 to 49 in the United States.
“My world just stopped.”
Raquel Smith doesn’t need these statistics to know that breast cancer can strike at almost any age.
“I was diagnosed with breast cancer at 27, triple negative breast cancer; it’s described to be the worst breast cancer that a woman can have,” said Smith.
She was initially told she was too young to have breast cancer. But once she was finally diagnosed, her doctor wanted to act quickly, stating that the cancer could spread.
“My world just stopped. It all happened so fast,” she recalled. “I didn’t understand a lot of it. I didn’t know what a mastectomy was. I didn’t know what a lumpectomy was. I didn’t know a whole lot about breast cancer because it didn’t run in my family.”
Throughout treatment, Smith’s faith kept her steady.
“They told me I wasn’t going to have any more children because I was about to start treatment, and I was going to lose my hair,” she said, referencing the fact that she already had one child before cancer treatment. “…But God showed me more children. And it’s amazing how when you have a relationship with God, He can show you things…to prepare you for these storms. So I knew I was going to have more children.”
Indeed, she did have more children, including getting pregnant while she was two months into her radiation treatment.
Throughout her personal journey, Smith felt she needed to do something to help other Black women who would also need support.
This inspired her to create Pink Topps, a Bessemer-based nonprofit that began as a recycling service to raise funds for patients and survivors.
The organization’s leaders make clear that a prime group they are targeting with their services is the “new age of breast cancer survivors.” This phrase is used for women under 45 who are diagnosed with breast cancer. Like Smith herself, these women are generally told they don’t meet the requirements for breast cancer screenings because of their age. But it’s this group that is being missed within the medical community when it comes to breast cancer awareness.
Smith shared that since starting her organization, she’s seen a girl as young as 17 be diagnosed with breast cancer.
Men are also often left out of the breast cancer discussion entirely, even though they can still develop the illness.
“We’re just trying to spread awareness through advocacy,” said Smith. “I speak and go out and give presentations about the new age of breast cancer. It’s really about spreading advocacy so women can start actually doing self-exams. We say it all day, but how many women are really doing it every month? That’s the big question. So Pink Topps stepped in and made our own markers to go in your showers. …That’s part of us trying to spread awareness for younger women to start doing self-exams and start learning their bodies, and also have the family conversations about family history, because cancer doesn’t respect any age.”
Joy to Life Foundation
Montgomery’s Joy to Life Foundation is also working to address the disparities that the “new age” of breast cancer patients face.
The organization was founded in 2001 by husband and wife Dickie and Joy Blondheim. According to the organization, Joy was diagnosed with stage II breast cancer in 1997. Joy survived her cancer diagnosis thanks to chemotherapy and a bilateral mastectomy. But the couple didn’t just stop at celebrating her survival; they decided to help others who have also been afflicted by breast cancer.
Joy to Life is in partnership with the Department of Public Health’s Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (ABCCEDP) to address the disparity “new age” cancer patients face by working with Alabama’s doctors, organizations and hospitals to fund screenings for patients under 40. The foundation also lists itself as the only organization in Alabama that will pay for men’s breast cancer screenings.
Since 2001, Joy to Life has spent over $7 million to fight breast cancer, and since 2007, through its contracts with the ABCCEDP, Joy to Life has provided more than $1,400,000 for breast cancer screenings, as well as $257,000 for screenings for women under 40. In fact, the foundation boasts that it is “the only major provider of mammograms in the state of Alabama for qualified women under 40.” Overall, Joy to Life has provided over 98,999 mammograms through the ABCCEDP since 2008 in every Alabama county.
The foundation also stresses the importance of breast cancer awareness by providing shower cards to educate women on how to complete monthly breast self-exams and offering information on the foundation’s website about early detection, guidelines, and helpful tips.
Raquel Smith, Founder/Executive Director of Pink Topps, a Bessemer-based non-profit, and Natasha Tatum, right, the organization’s president who recently lost her fight against breast cancer. (Provided)Learning to Live Again
Meanwhile, Pink Topps provides supportive services for breast cancer survivors and patients, including emergency rental or utility assistance, medical assistance, beauty supplies and tips such as wig installation and styling help, and small-group support, such as mental health sessions, yoga, doctor talks about sexual health, and journaling sessions. The organization also gives back to survivors and families through its holiday initiative, providing Thanksgiving meals to survivors and sponsoring children’s Christmas presents.
Pink Topps has recently undergone the loss of its president, Natasha Tatum, due to Tatum’s breast cancer returning. Tatum was like a sister to Smith, and the depth of the loss made it clear to Smith just how important grief work is within Pink Topps’ services.
“It definitely opened my eyes about grief and mental health because I think that’s something else that really needs to be addressed in the minority community,” she said. “We don’t really [focus on] how we can get past losing loved ones and get back to life. So that’s something we’re going to focus more on moving forward because we lost an icon, and it really affected our community.”
Overall, Smith wants her organization to help survivors find life again.
“You can stop the cancer, but you gotta start learning how to live again,” she said. “And that’s the biggest thing–living again [means] you have to excel past the mental part, the body imaging part, the financial part, past what people think or how you feel. You definitely have to find some kind of supernatural space to go in to make your faith greater in this fight. That’s the biggest advice I can give any woman going through it. If your mental [space] is good and you’re determined, you’re going to do well.”
Learn more about Pink Topps at pinktopps.org. For more information on the Joy to Life Foundation, visit liveheregivehere.org.
Pinktopps Breast Cancer Awareness Day and a tribute to Natasha Tatum took place Saturday in Bessemer.(Raquel Smith, Facebook)
