About Stephanie:
- Lives in South Carolina with her husband and dog
- Enjoys fishing and golfing
- Plays bridge every other Monday with the women in her neighborhood
- Walks almost 3 miles a day
Stephanie's Journey With Cancer
- Diagnosed with Stage 1 non-small cell adenocarcinoma in 2012 with the ALK mutation
- Lobectomy in 2012
- Cancer progressed to Stage 2B disease
- Four rounds of chemo
- Cancer progressed to Stage 4 disease
- Targeted therapy
From Stephanie's Perspective
“It's funny looking back now. I wasn't worried about the poison they were putting into me, I wasn't worried about what it was doing to my body, I was worried about my hair.
I had this long, flowing brown hair and I was thinking about my hair as if it defined me.
After the first chemo it started falling out, so I got my friend to shave it off. It empowered me in some way and I was like, ‘I've got a pretty cool round head.' It didn't bother me a bit.
Then when it started coming back white and curly, I was like, ‘Alright, this is different.'
People say they love my hair. I'm like, ‘Oh, my oncologist did my hair.' Or ‘Hair by chemo' or whatever.
I'm not defined by my hair, I'm the same person. It's a new normal.
I used to get really nervous after the scans, oh my gosh.
Worrying doesn't change it, all it does is make you stressed. I don't worry anymore.
I want to know the answer as quickly as possible, I want to know everything's good, but I just stay positive and say it's going to be fine. If it's not, we'll deal with it.”