FRANKFORD- Brinda Renick has fortunately been in remission for over three decades now, but to her, the battle she fought against breast cancer still feels like yesterday.
Renick recalled the days just before her diagnosis. “I had started feeling off and figured it was just stress-related,” she shared. “I realized it had been a while since I had done a self-breast exam, and when I went to do it, that’s when I noticed a small lump”.
Testing would reveal that the lump was indeed malignant. While the cancer had been caught early in stage 1, Renick would subsequently undergo a mastectomy and several rounds of chemotherapy to treat the disease. She recalls being naturally upset initially, as chemotherapy can wreak so much havoc on the body, despite its effectiveness in killing cancer cells. Brinda Renick dismissed the negative thoughts though, fought through it all, and has been cancer-free now for over 30 years.
Despite her previous hardship, Renick doesn’t seem to have one ounce of self-pity in her body when relaying her story today. “I never really asked, why me?” she told WVDN. “It was more like, well, why not me? This can happen to anyone.”
Renick explained that attitude is everything when you are diagnosed with cancer. No matter the details of a diagnosis, “you have to go into it with a positive attitude no matter what,” she advises.
“Feeling sorry for yourself will not help anything at all, it will just make it much worse. You simply have to do what you need to do, and see what you can do to help others in similar situations.”
And that is exactly what Renick has done. From the day she was told she had cancer, she looked for ways to let others know they weren’t fighting the disease alone. She became quickly involved with the American Cancer Society and has been in and out of homes and doctors’ offices to visit and support cancer patients since she was in her 40s. Now in her 77th year of life, she continues to raise awareness for the disease. As President of the Greenbrier Valley Breast Cancer Support Group, Renick has been involved in numerous wreath-laying ceremonies, Relay-for-Life events, and continues to speak at a multitude of women’s clubs and public events to the date to raise awareness.
When WVDN praised her for her work, Renick was quick to say that she “always got more out of the gatherings than she thought her audience did,” expressing to WVDN the amount of truly strong and inspiring women that Renick had met through shared experience.
“One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime”, Renick states. “That stat hasn’t changed over the past 30 years despite medical advancement, we have to change that.” With her own granddaughters also at risk for the disease, Renick explains how awareness and early detection are everything when it comes to raising one’s chances of beating cancer. Getting yearly mammograms and doing frequent self-breast exams are simple ways for women to adequately monitor their health and catch any issues early. “I knew something was wrong and I trusted my body. That is so important for women to do. You know when something doesn’t feel right.”
Renick credits her faith for keeping her resilient through her cancer journey as well. “The lord guided me in making the best out of a bad situation,” she says.
Instead of looking at it as a large obstacle in the road, Renick seems to have looked at her cancer battle as a road to purpose in her life, a way to becoming a true ally and advocate for the women around her. Renick also reminded WVDN that while not as common, MEN can get breast cancer as well. “There was a man, a State Trooper, that I met that had been diagnosed with breast cancer.” Renick remembered.
“To hear him talk about getting a mammogram too was very eye-opening.”
At the end of the day, breast cancer can affect women, men, non-binary, and transgender individuals.
With October being breast-cancer awareness month, Renick and WVDN are encouraging readers to perform regular self-checks, screenings, treatment research, and to attend awareness events when possible. Monetary donations go a long way as well, and one can contribute funds for cancer research to the American Cancer Society by visiting their website: cancer.org
