NC breast cancer survivors start nonprofit to help others

“I’ve had breast cancer twice, but the one that I got the first time is called triple negative. And they, for lack of a better term, they throw everything but the kitchen sink at it because they don’t have a reason as to why it happened,” Jenny Edwards said. “So they need to throw everything at it. It’s a very deadly breast cancer. So I had to go through the lumpectomy, six rounds of chemo, and then several months of radiation. And luckily I’m here today.”

When breast cancer returned, after talking with her doctors at Novant Health, Edwards decided to have a mastectomy.

After her breast cancer diagnosis, Laura Craven endured that surgery too.

“Chose to do a double mastectomy with partial reconstruction and then found out I had to have 4 rounds of chemo, which was a gut punch because they really thought I wasn’t going to have to do that when I started,” Laura Craven said. “So went through 4 rounds of chemo and then life started to return to normal the next February.”

As normal as life can be after surviving breast cancer.

These women are grateful they had the resources they needed, but recognize many women do not. That’s when they decided they could do something and started Hope Floats Up, a non-profit to fill the gaps for all of those extras that pop up when you’re going through cancer treatment.

“I attribute my life to Novant Health helping me through and saving my life. But there are so many things that the doctors can’t concentrate on because they’re concentrating on saving your life that you still need,” Edwards said. “And whether that’s just a shoulder to cry on or if that is I need help with a cold cap because I’ve lost so much and I also don’t want to lose my hair during chemo. And just something seems simple. I need meals for my family because chemo has just knocked me out and I just can’t cook for my family. My husband has to work because we still have to pay the bills. So it’s everything from grand things to very small things. And we don’t even know everything that we’re going to be able to do yet.”

For more information on Hope Floats Up, visit them on Facebook.