Plunging For Pink
Hello & good day!
We’ve been attending Plunging for Pink in Austin, MN since 2019. This was usually a fun event in which I loved the silent auction, drinking, and friends. But I knew after my diagnosis that this event would take on a whole new meaning.
I’ve never actually done the full plunge (I’ve only dipped my pinky in the lake for a “pinky plunge”) because why? “I hate being cold.” Well, guess what? I’ve learned to LOVE being cold since September - because being cold means that I’m preventing some of the awful side effects of this life-saving medicine. Being cold means that I get to keep my beloved thick wavy locks and it means that I get to preserve the feeling of touch in my hands and feet. Let me tell you why…
After starting my healing sessions in September, Tim and I soon realized that taking a plunge in a freezing cold lake is honestly very similar to going to treatment. Especially since during my treatments I am wearing a cold cap on my head for 7 hours to prevent hair loss. Additionally, I did cryotherapy on my hands and feet for 12 of my sessions due to one of the drugs causing neuropathy. Plus, I chew on ice during some drug infusions to prevent mouth sores.
So I guess you could you could say that I have done the “plunge” 14 times over the last few months.
Back in November, I got a message from a lovely person named Kristin that I play Bunco with here in town. The message goes: “Hey! The bunco girls are wanting to do the polar plunge in January and would like to jump in your honor, would that be okay with you?”
I got this message at my friend’s house and instantly started crying, oh the kindness of people.
My responses:
“That brings tears to my eyes today and is so sweet and so thoughtful”
“I’m seriously bawling. Happy tears.”
“I would absolutely be okay with that.”
From there on out we began scheming up our plan for the plunging ladies to be the first to wear the new Brave Beautiful Boobies merch, in honor of this blog and brand that I am so proud of. To be honest all of the pink and ribbons that are commonly used to market breast cancer make me a little gaggy, that is why I enlisted the help of one of my favorite people, Jessi, to create this fun and uplifting brand that I resonate with.
It’s very surreal to go from someone who attends an event for fun to someone who has a team jumping in their honor. That shows you how unexpected life can be. Although this journey has been nothing short of life-changing, there is still beauty in it. And I feel so lucky to have such amazing support all around the world.
The day of the plunge was surprisingly “warm” compared to previous years. This year the plungers were blessed with nice 30 degree weather! Which is a heat wave compared to previous years when it was -10. I proudly wore my new “In My Healing Era” crewneck sweatshirt that will also be part of the merch line when it launches. You can watch a little recap video I made on TikTok of the day here.
My friend Nikela that I met when studying abroad in Australia in 2014 was messaging Tim and I leading up to the event. After donating, she said she was so sad she couldn’t be here in person (such a horrible excuse to be 9,028 miles away on the other side of the world). So she ended up filling her bathtub up with bags of ice to simulate the plunge and we FaceTimed and caught up.
I’m proud to announce that the first annual Brave Beautiful Boobies team exceeded their goal of $500 and raised $960. Tim’s team, the Plunging Pepperoni’s, has been plunging for several years and each year after the next exceeding a new goal. The goal this year was $5,000 and they raised a whopping $6,145. Thank you to everyone who donated to either of our teams in support of both myself and the future of cancer research!
Here are my wishes for the future of cancer…
More localized treatment - Can you imagine breaking your arm and then being told to fix it you may lose function of your leg? That’s how I feel about chemotherapy and immunotherapy as it targets everything in your body, not just the bad cells. So, yes you are shrinking a tumor but you also are severely impacting your other organs (in my case my liver, adrenal glands, thyroid, and ovaries have taken a hit so far.) It would be so amazing to have targeted treatments that just took out the bad cells and left the good ones!
Better scans - Between ultrasound, mammogram, and MRI there are still many things that are missed. In speaking with other survivors there are times where nothing was seen on scans yet when they went into surgery there were bad cells in 18 lymph nodes or in their other breast that looked squeaky clean on imaging. They blame dense breast tissue for not being able to get good images during a mammogram, yet 40% of the female population has dense breasts. So are we to blame or does your imaging just suck?
Early detection - Especially as breast cancer is becoming more and more prominent in younger populations (15 years old is the youngest I’ve heard), early detection is key. If we are not getting mammograms until we are 40 years old, because insurance doesn’t cover it and deems it not necessary, we fully rely on finding a lump during a breast exam. This means we have no way of catching things while they are still pre-cancerous. A fellow survivor I have spoken with, Teresa, says to “drop the loofah.” She always washed her body with a loofah in the shower which ends up creating a barrier between your hand and your skin, so you cannot feel changes in your breast. One day as she was tired after a workout she accidentally dropped her loofah and found a lump. At this point in time, without a special mouth swab or bloodwork we can use to detect bad cells in our body we have to continue to be the biggest advocates for our own health.
I am not looking for a magic pill or a potion that fixes it all. But what I do hope is that future treatment options can become less invasive. Right now - the solutions for cancer are three things - chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery. Each of these challenging (and traumatizing) in their own ways. The worst part is that some need all three which shows that these options aren’t powerful enough on their own.
Right now, as I head into my 6th and final month of chemotherapy I am feeling optimistic about wrapping up this portion of my journey. Cancer seems to be a disease that seems to just take and take and take, I’m ready to take back what it has (only temporarily) stolen. I’m ready to start being social again, I’m ready to get involved in my community, I’m ready to start up my business, I’m ready to learn about running a non-profit, I’m ready to get my energy back.
I’m ready to say goodbye to these bad cells, once and for all!
Or as my Granny-O’s would say: “GOODBYE and GOOD RIDDANCE!”
Xo, Breanna
