Recently, sitting in her home in Temecula, Amy opened a lacquered box full of news clippings, photos and hanks of her hair. She started sorting through them to share her story, showing a photo of her with long flowing hair and one of her after her “military buzz”. She smiled when she said, “We had a ‘Good-bye to Amy’s Hair’ party at the barber shop. It was coming out anyway, due to the chemo.”
Amy Towell didn’t fit the profile of someone who gets breast cancer. She was too young, didn’t have the family history, didn’t have the environmental triggers and really, was just too young! The lump she found when she was 31 was dismissed by her radiologist who jokingly bet her his car that it wasn’t cancer. He lost the bet.
That’s when Amy’s battle began. First were the lumpectomies, then the waiting. In another 18 months later, another lump. With her lymph nodes involved this time, Amy agreed to a mastectomy and chemotherapy. Like everyone else who has the treatment, Amy lost her hair. However, she gained something else: a strong resolve to get involved and help other women suffering from breast cancer. Even before she moved to Temecula, she would come over for the fund raisers put on by Michelle’s Place and meet with other women.
Michelle’s Place is a local organization that helps “fill in the gaps” for educational and medical treatment for women who contract breast cancer. It is one of the non-profits that benefits greatly from grants donated by the Inland Empire Susan G. Komen Foundation and the Race for the Cure®. Michelle’s Place has a special affinity for women under age 40 who contract breast cancer. There are no state funded programs for such women.
“Breast cancer in women less than 40 years old is typically more aggressive and statistically the death rate is higher in this age group,” said Kim Goodnough, Executive Director of Michelle’s Place, and the organization’s first employee.
“Michelle’s Place is wonderful,” said Amy. “I just know Michelle is an angel and she is attracting lots of other angels to help here.” Now as a volunteer, Amy helps out every week at Michelle’s Place making check-up calls to women who have recently been diagnosed with breast cancer, or who have just gone through treatment. Her job, she says, is to support new survivors with information, diet ideas, listening, or helping as needed.
Amy has also helped to start new programs at Michelle’s Place, one is the Survivor Tool Kit—a care package of sorts for new survivors that includes books, pamphlets, hats, and so on. As a Community Liaison Amy serves on the Executive Board of Michelle’s Place.
For more information about Michelle’s Place, visit www.michelleplace.org, or call 951-304-1280.
If you’d like to join Team Michelle (or create your own team) for the Race For the Cure® on October 15, visit www.iekomen.org . The Race will be held at the Promenade Mall.
