In Their Own Words, by alumna Kristen Noles

UAB School of Nursing alumna Kristen Noles pictured with two of her children.

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. UAB School of Nursing Alumna Kristen Noles, DNP, MSN, RN, CNL (MSN 2011) and Nurse Manager at UAB Hospital shares her experience as a breast cancer survivor, as well as how resources available through UAB helped her.

I was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer on my 35th birthday in 2011. I had multiple tumors, including one on my chest wall my doctor had to shrink before doing my first surgery. I had six months of chemotherapy before my surgery. I had 33 radiation treatments. I had a postoperative complication when an artery in my chest ruptured while I was at my godchild’s birthday party in Montgomery, and I was airlifted back to UAB Hospital where another surgery saved my life.

Through it all, I received excellent care from my oncologist, surgeons and the hospital nursing staff which got me to where I am today — a seven-year survivor. But as I was fighting so hard to live another day and beat breast cancer, who was caring for the needs of my loved ones? Sadly, the answer was almost no one.

When I was diagnosed, there wasn’t a community partnership or group to counsel or provide support to young women and their families rocked by this devastating diagnosis. There was very little help for my husband, three children, parents and friends as they dealt with the fears, anxieties and loss of control that comes when a loved one has cancer.

Some kids play with their mother’s hair to go to sleep — my daughter did that while I was nursing her. Bedtime was her on my chest with her hands in my hair, and then all of a sudden, I had none. What do you say to your children?

I am a nurse and I work at UAB and I was faced with trying to figure it out on my own.

There is not a playbook for surviving cancer. But today I’m happy to say there is now a structure for survivors and the outlook is much brighter.

As a family we attend the Young Breast Cancer Survivors Network (YBCSN) Annual Workshop. It was started in 2012 by Dr. Karen Meneses and her team to improve the quality of life, support and networking for young women with breast cancer in the Birmingham, Alabama area.

They have created a critical infrastructure to address the survivorship needs of breast cancer patients and those around them impacted by the diagnosis. They are providing resources and information to patients and their families that was sorely lacking seven years ago. They are helping them learn who to talk to and where to go for answers. They are reaching out to comfort and encourage everyone who needs it.

For those of us who have lived through breast cancer, our focus is now as much on those around us who were touched by the disease as on the disease itself.

To have people and organizations like Dr. Meneses and the YBCSN so intent on impacting breast cancer patients and their loved ones at such a low point in their lives is truly special and means the world to me and my family.

I don’t want the memories of cancer to overshadow who I am and what I have to offer. We have work to do as young survivors, to make it known that it’s not just about the disease. It’s about everyone who is touched by the disease. We have to remember those who were with us in the fight have their own scars.

As a nurse, I always want to be an innovative leader. As a breast cancer survivor, I believe those who helped build the YBCSN have certainly hit that mark.

ABOUT UAB SON

Across programs, UAB School of Nursing students can learn from and be mentored by world-renowned nurse scientists who are on the leading edge of breast cancer treatment, education and survivorship initiatives across the lifespan and across genders. The School and late Dr. Karen Meneses have established multiple resources for vulnerable populations, including the Young Breast Cancer Survivors Network, helping improve the quality of life for young breast cancer survivors and their loved ones by providing resources and support. In 2014, the Young Breast Cancer Survivorship Network became SurviveAL after it joined the Gulf States Young Breast Cancer Survivors Network, a partnership with Louisiana State University and the University of Mississippi and supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For more go to https://www.facebook.com/surviveAL/