With Breast Cancer Affecting More Than the Patient, Komen Delivers Support Services to All
DALLAS – Susan G. Komen®, the world’s leading breast cancer organization, is marking National Breast Cancer Awareness Month by highlighting the profound and far-reaching toll breast cancer casts onto patients, family members and loved ones. New videos released today capture the perspectives of children who helped their mother through stage 3 breast cancer, and a young mother living with stage 4 breast cancer, whose future with her family depends on research that leads to better treatments.
Basketball stars Tre Jones of the San Antonio Spurs and Tyus Jones of the Phoenix Suns opened up about their mom Debbie’s breast cancer diagnosis five years ago, when they were living out their respective dreams of playing college basketball and starting a career in the NBA.
“Duke was my dream school growing up and that was the only place I wanted to go and play basketball. In that moment, [when she shared her diagnosis] that was the first time I felt like basketball didn’t matter anymore. I remember wanting to go with her because I didn’t know what the future looked like,” Tre said.
Debbie initially planned to go through treatment for stage 3 invasive ductal carcinoma on her own, not wanting to be a burden to her sons. “You don’t get do-overs in life. To have to go to them and disrupt what they were doing. You don’t get second chances to do those things,” Debbie recalls.
Susan G. Komen can help meet the needs of anyone impacted by breast cancer through its Patient Care Center. Our navigators offer free, personalized navigation services in both English and Spanish. Trained and culturally competent staff connect callers with local resources, where available, help them understand medical bills and information from health care providers, provide emotional support or connections to support groups, and provide financial assistance to qualifying individuals.
“Nobody should ever face breast cancer alone; I know I didn’t. My entire family watched me struggle through chemotherapy and recover from a double mastectomy and radiation,” said Paula Schneider, president and CEO of Susan G. Komen and a 17-year breast cancer survivor. “I may have been the patient, but my family’s life was not spared; they supported me every step of the way, and Komen is here to support patients and their loved ones because breast cancer uproots the entire family.”
Hannah Earle is living with stage 4, or metastatic breast cancer, for which there is currently no cure. Hannah relies on advancements in research and new therapies to keep her cancer from spreading so she can spend more time with her husband and children, ages 13 and 9. Most people living with stage 4 breast cancer will need several therapies because the cancer eventually stops responding to treatment and begins to grow and spread throughout the body.
“Research is how I explain to my kids at the end of the day how I have hope, because we can’t move forward without it, we can’t make progress,” Hannah says. “Without research, I don’t have hope. My kids and research are all tied up together.”
In Fiscal Year 2024 (April 1, 2023 – March 31, 2024), Susan G. Komen’s Patient Care Center served 38,000 people and helped those individuals address over 65,000 barriers preventing them from accessing the help or care they needed. Critically, Komen navigators ensure that barriers do not prevent people from accessing the care they need, anywhere along the breast cancer continuum of care – from seeking a mammogram to participating in a clinical trial. Get connected with a Komen navigator at 1-877-GO-KOMEN.
“Komen is proud to meet patients and loved ones where they are and help them get to where they need to be,” Schneider added. “We work to ensure that no one faces breast cancer alone.”
Every year, Komen services help tens of thousands of people get through a breast cancer diagnosis and treatment or live with metastatic breast cancer so that we can save as many lives as possible from this disease. Breast cancer does not discriminate and will affect 1 in 8 women in the U.S. in their lifetime. Komen services make it possible for women like Debbie Jones to be there for her children and grandchildren.
“She’s everything. She’s the backbone. She’s the engine to the family. She’s been what’s made everything go since we were little. Irreplaceable,” said Tyus of his mom.
*Updated Oct. 22, 2024 to reflect Hannah Earle passed away on Oct. 21, 2024
