ANM Mama Fights Like a Girl!

By Glenni Lorick, IBCLC and Sarah Lorick Velasquez

Nearly three years ago I had the privilege of helping one of Sarah's friends, Melanie Treshock, on her breastfeeding journey. I found Melanie to be an absolutely lovely young woman and was thrilled to be able to help her. So it came as a real shock when Sarah told me a couple of months ago that Melanie had been diagnosed with breast cancer.

Melanie is just 26 years old...the same age as Sarah...the same age as many of our ANM mamas. In May she found a lump in her breast. Her doctors reassured her that it was probably just a cyst, but on July 25 she was diagnosed with Stage 1 Triple Negative Breast Cancer, a particularly aggressive form of cancer. On August 27 she underwent the first of three surgeries in an attempt to remove all traces of the cancer from her breasts and surrounding tissues. She began her first round of chemotherapy last week; she has fourteen more rounds to go which will be followed by radiation.

Compounding the difficulty of her situation is the fact that Melanie is now a single mother. Her friends have rallied to her support and created a You Caring fundraiser to help Melanie make it through this time in her life. They have also created Team Mel t-shirts and bracelets which are available for purchase by sending an email to the Team Mel administrators.

Our store window for the second half of October is devoted to Melanie's fight. Sarah has lovingly created this window to help our ANM community rally around one of our own. With every purchase you make during this time at ANM, we will donate $1 to Team Mel, and you can actually add even more to your purchase as a donation if you would like!

Please remember that breast cancer does not discriminate. While you may reduce your risk via breastfeeding, you still MUST be diligent about your own monthly breast self-examination.