Mount Pleasant Magazine Sept/Oct 2013

15 / 90

15 | |
she had been working at the Lowcountry Susan Komen
Foundation for two years. In an instant, she went from
empathizing with the women – and men – who sought help
from the foundation to sharing their situation.
“I knew a lot of information through my work; I was
lucky and informed,” she said. “But it all seemed surreal.”
Lisa, like many women who experience breast cancer,
received help and support from her family and close friends.
She expressed how much her two older sisters helped out
during treatment, keeping house so that Jones’ husband did
not have to.
“Cancer is a family and friends illness,” she remarked.
“You get by with family and friends. I don’t know what I
would have done without them.”
As of late, Lisa spends a good deal of time putting the
Komen Race for the Cure together. Meanwhile, she has “a
different understanding” when women and their family
members call and ask for advice.
“I like working for an issue, especially women’s issues,”
she said. “We have to help each other, whatever the case
may be.”
The Komen race culminates each October with a
Survivor’s Celebration, which Jones works diligently to put
together with the help of music performers, speakers, film
creatives and others.
“We have a stage committee,” Lisa said. “And the stage is
filled with music, lights and cheering – everyone celebrating
with their families. Not everyone has been affected directly
by breast cancer, but it’s an inspiring experience.”
A Network of Friends: Nicole Ferraro
Life was wonderful for the
Ferraro family. Just two weeks
after moving to Mount Pleas-
ant, a new baby brought more
joy. Then, eight months later,
Nicole felt a lump while nurs-
ing Logan. On New Year’s Eve,
a phone call brought devastat-
ing news.
“I heard the word cancer,
and I couldn’t hear anything
after that,” Nicole said.
Nicole and her husband, Kevin, took control of her care,
seeking treatment that would allow her to see her children
Griffin, now 7, and Logan, now 4, grow up. At the age of
36, Nicole was sick, bald and weak. But she was loved by
her friends.
“They brought us food; I didn’t cook for six months,”
she said. “And one friend would wait for me when I
dropped Griffin at school. She knew I was too weak to
carry Logan in.”
Surrounded by a safety net of friends – and even strang-
ers who would become friends, Nicole realized how fortu-
nate she was. She realized others were less fortunate. And so
she is dedicated to the goal of Share Our Suzy.
“I had so much support; I want to pay it back,” Nicole said.
Four years later, she is part of the safety net for oth-
ers, providing not only information and resources but also
encouragement and hope as a volunteer for Share Our Suzy.
There she has found friends and survivors who work tire-
lessly to ease the lives of others.
Although she is forever changed, life is again wonderful
for Nicole and her family. And she is grateful for her health
and the opportunity to lend a helping hand.
Laughter is the Best Medicine: Pat Schwartz
Pat Schwartz laughs in the face of
adversity. And that’s a good thing,
because she plans on staying around a
lot longer.
Pat was a child in London during
World War II, a fearful time of black-
outs and bombs. Was she frightened?
Absolutely not.
“They took us to school every
day,” Pat said.
Maintaining that sense of
normalcy was instrumental
in developing Pat’s ability to
accept the slings of life and to
keep moving forward. In spite of facing medical issues,
including heart surgery and a stroke, Pat always sees the
glass as half full.
So when she was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age
of 75, she took it in stride.
“I told them just to cut it off,” she laughed. Because the
cancer was stage I and no lymph nodes were involved, she
needed no further treatment.
She didn’t think much of the idea of a prosthesis either.
“What’s a prosthesis?” she asked.
“A boob,” she was told.
“Why didn’t you just say so,” Pat retorted.
She agreed to try a “fake boob,” but it wasn’t for her.
“It was too heavy,” Pat confided. “It made me lean to
one side. I carried it in my purse and threw it across the
table to my friends.”
Dominique Lamb, Pat’s daughter-in-law, said the story
represents Pat’s indomitable personality.
“She is always positive,” Dominique said about Pat.