They say it takes a village to raise a child, and that’s true, but it also takes one to fight breast cancer.
According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc., an estimated 276,480 women in the United States will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer this year alone. While that is a startling statistic in itself, the number of individuals affected will be even greater.
“Unfortunately, everyone on our team has been touched by breast cancer,” Patti Nelson said.
For each breast cancer warrior, there’s an army of family and friends walking alongside them, ready to support and lift them up.
“When my sister Juli was first diagnosed, she and her husband Paul immediately began looking for doctors,” Patti said. “The process can be so overwhelming, especially while you are still trying to truly process the news.”
So Patti made the decision to reach out to an old friend who’d survived a tough battle of her own against the aggressive disease.
“Adrianne Frost and I became friends while working at The Phyllis Browning Company over 15 years ago,” she said. “I knew if anyone would be willing to help, it was definitely Adrianne. That is just the kind of person she is.”
Within 24 hours, Paul and Juli knew exactly what doctor and surgeon they would see.
“Throughout the process, Adrianne checked in on Juli and talked me off the tearful ledge many times,” Patti said. “She was definitely our angel!”
Aside from Adrianne helping to connect them with doctors, the encouragement and support Juli received from her kids, extended family and friends was overwhelming.
“To say Juli and Paul have a supportive family and a lot of friends is an understatement,” Patti said. “My sister is now extremely aware of how important it is to help others diagnosed with this horrible disease. We even complete Breast Cancer Awareness Walks and Crawls together.”
In addition to having a strong community of support, Patti and her family believe that annual exams are of utmost importance.
“My sister’s breast cancer was caught very early because she always has an annual 3D exam,” Patti said. “We strongly encourage annual exams and both support Avestee Women’s Imaging. The atmosphere is a very tranquil spa-like setting and you never have to wait. Your insurance will even cover 3D Imaging.”
Insurance companies occasionally cover cold caps and scalp cooling systems, which are medical devices designed to help prevent hair loss. They work by lowering the scalp temperature and constricting blood vessels to keep hard chemotherapy drugs from destroying hair follicles.
Adrianne can actually be thanked for getting the DigniCap Cooling System to San Antonio in 2016. She spearheaded the reams of paperwork and negotiations and connected the cooling system’s Swedish manufacturer with the cancer center officials, arranged contracts, and commandeered shipment and installation of the system in time for her first chemotherapy session.
For more information on scalp cooling systems, visit the Journal of Oncology Navigation Survivorship. If you would like to learn more about early detection or how you can support others fighting, visit National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc.
To celebrate and empower those who have beat or are currently battling cancer, we are offering a luxurious giveaway! The contest winner will receive a $200 spa treatment of their choice for themselves and a friend at the beautiful Loma de Vida Spa at La Cantera Resort!
We will be taking nominations the entire month of October. The contest rules are as follows:
All you have to do is tag the person you would like to nominate in a comment on the Crush Cancer Contest Facebook or Instagram post! @PattiNelsonLuxury
You can only cast your vote once, but that nominee can be entered to win multiple times by other voters. The more times a person is nominated, the higher their chance to win, so please share this post with your friends and family :)
This is important, please read carefully! You have to comment on our ORIGINAL POST. If someone comments on a post that was shared, we will not see that entry. Please be sure to visit our page and comment on our post. It will be pinned to the top of our Facebook page and will be featured in our highlights on Instagram.
The winner will be announced on both our Facebook page and Instagram account on November 9th.
Follow our social pages to stay up-to-date on giveaways we offer throughout the year!
Check out last year's winner relaxing at Loma de Vida Spa.
It's not every day you cross someone so strong and deserving of a relaxing day at the spa. We were over the moon to be able to gift a spa day to this cancer warrior!