FORT COLLINS - The Coloradoan has turned its newspaper pink for each Friday during October as part of Breast Cancer Awareness month. It also gathered together stories from women about breast cancer. Some of those stories are below.
Daughter chooses to live with hope
I lost my mother, Linda Levermann, to breast cancer in 2008, after an eight-year battle with the disease.
At my wedding in 2005, we were optimistic about her chances of remission given that it was nearly five years after her initial diagnosis and treatment.
We got the sad news several months later that the cancer had returned. I was fortunate that my mom was able to see me graduate from Colorado State University in 2001, start my career with the local nonprofit sector, marry my husband, Shawn, and build our home in Fort Collins.
I am currently 17 weeks pregnant with our first child, and not a day goes by that I don't think about my mother. As an only child, my mom was my best friend and closest confidant, and now more than ever, I long to hear her voice.
Her courage was inspirational, and her passing brought me unimaginable sadness and fear for my own future. But today, I choose to live with hope.
Hope that the support and research pouring into breast cancer awareness and treatment will bring us the cure we so desperately need.
And hope that my child will grow up in a world where we no longer lose our mothers, sisters, best friends and mentors in this fight.
Family forever grateful for community support
My mom, Rosa Santos, comes from a family of 15 children where she is the second-youngest. Her own mother died of ovarian cancer when she was 12 years old, and her father died of cancer a few years later.
In my own family, there are our parents of 64 and 55; Emily, 24; me, 20; Juan, 17; and Sara, 2.
My mom is the type of person who fights for her family and takes nothing for granted.
She knows that things in life are not easy and that people need to remain strong to survive. She can be described as selfless; she has had four children and is raising two grandchildren.
My mom took custody of Juan when he was only 4 years old. About two years ago, she became the legal guardian of Sara.
A year ago, my mom discovered a lump in her breast, and they diagnosed it as Stage I breast cancer. Since she found out about her breast cancer, she has received chemotherapy for six months and radiation for two months.
Read the rest of Allison Hines and Cynthia Santos' story in The Coloradoan.
(Copyright © 2011 Fort Collins Coloradoan, All Rights Reserved)