VOICE FOR EVERYONE | Share your voice with KSHB 41’s Abby Dodge
When Brooke Harris walked into her doctor’s office in 2017, she wanted to find out why she had ongoing back pain. Her visits ended with a cancer diagnosis.
Doctors said she had metastatic breast cancer for which there’s no cure, just treatment.
“Don’t feel silly or dumb to listen to your body and know when something is not right,” Harris said.
Dr. Tim Pluard, who is the medical director of the Saint Luke’s Koontz Center and Cancer Institute, said he walked through the treatment plans with her early on.
“It’s treatable, and when I heard that word, it made me feel good,” Harris said. “It took a little weight off your shoulders, because I thought I was going to die the next day.”
Pluard said advancements in treatment for metastatic breast cancer are adding years to people’s lives, but just 2-5 percent of breast cancer research funding goes to research for people in Brooke’s position.
“That’s shifting,” Pluard said. “It’s a good shift and I think that’s part of the reason we are starting to see improved outcomes for women with metastatic breast cancer, and that’s why we have to keep pushing for more funding to continue to make those outcomes better.”
Brooke is a part of the shift, starting her own fund for metastatic breast cancer research called Brooke Strong Fund.
“To me, it’s like, I have this not so great news, but if you are just going to live and be grumpy about it, it’s just better, let’s do something about it,” she said. “I think, just knowing that I am doing more for the community and for breast cancer, that gives me a little strength with it all I guess.”
Harris said she has a sign in her kitchen that says "we can do hard things" to remind herself she can achieve anything she sets her mind to.
When I asked about advice for others who doctors have recently diagnosed, Harris said to take little steps at a time.
She frequently refers to a poem called "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow" to remind her of this practice of living in the moments she's given.
Harris said she tries to sponsor events throughout the year to raise money. In October, they are selling candles at the Corner Candleshope in Brookside, with all of the proceeds going to the fund.”
You can follow Brooke’s story on her Instagram.
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