Giving Back Through Mentorship - 3/17/23

As I move further away from my breast cancer diagnosis and deeper into Survivorship, I continue to feel a pull drawing me back to make a difference. I remember those helpless feelings after first hearing "You have breast cancer" and the need to talk to SOMEONE who understood what I was going through. I needed someone, besides my amazing husband or my Care Team, to answer the myriad of questions I had, to provide a shoulder to lean on or a hand to hold as I ventured into the "unknown" of cancerland. I needed someone who just "got it."

I am excited to say that Wednesday night, I was one of 12 women who participated in and completed a professional training session to become Mentors for a fantastic organization called ABCD.

After Breast Cancer Diagnosis (ABCD) nurtures hope and restores confidence in anyone impacted by breast cancer by providing accessible, customized, one-to-one support where a breast cancer patient is matched with a professionally trained mentor/breast cancer survivor who shares a similar diagnosis and treatment, age, life stage, and personal interests. Conversations can range from general breast cancer information to work and life issues to financial resources, among many others. Founded by an award-winning Milwaukee television anchor who was diagnosed with breast cancer and sadly passed away from the disease, ABCD has made more than 5,100 connections, trained nearly 700 mentors, and served more than 100,000 people in forty-eight states and seven countries.

This training will not only give me the ability to support my friends & their families better who have been diagnosed with breast cancer, but now I am a part of a team of mentors who will be helping ANYONE impacted by breast cancer across the country and throughout the world.

To learn more about ABCD or if someone you know needs the help we provide, you can find them at