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Surviving Cancer and Making Friends
10-Aug-2010
Click the play button to listen to the interview:
Austin, TX The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report breast cancer is the number one cause of cancer death in Hispanic women, and the second-most common cause of cancer death in white and African Americans. Almost 200,000 women each year are diagnosed with breast cancer. The numbers and statistics can seem overwhelming to most, especially if you’re included in the statistics. KUT’s Julie Moody introduces us to one woman who didn’t want to be just a number among thousands of other women, but rather someone who did something that could help others in the same prognosis.Almost 200,000 women each year are diagnosed with breast cancer. Where do all these women go for support and help?
Brenda Coffee is one woman who didn’t want to be just a number among thousands of other women, but rather someone who did something that could help others with the same prognosis.
She describes herself as the girl who did everything right. She watched what she ate; she exercised on a regular basis, slept 8 hours a night. You know the drill. Then six years ago, at the age of 54, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She says it felt like she put a wet finger in a light socket.
Coffee said that most of the resources she could find from her home in Boerne, Texas didn’t help her find more information for support and help. Most she found were focused mainly on a cure. Justine Hall with the American Cancer Society said that, although funding research for a cure of all kinds of cancer is an important part of the society’s mission, in recent years they’ve tried to connect those dealing with cancer better.
Brenda Coffee’s experience from treatment to recovery led her to create her own blog and website, BreastCancerSisterhood.com. Along the way, she encouraged others to share their experiences.
Amy Gutierrez is a blogger who shares her experiences with cancer on Coffee’s site. Gutierrez’s mother was diagnosed with breast cancer two days before her 13th birthday.
Gutierrez is now 19. Her mother survived. But Gutierrez said that what she blogs about things parents might not think about when talking to their kids about cancer. Like, be prepared for a “new” normal in the household.
That kind of intimate knowledge of what it’s like for your mother to go through treatment is something only someone who’s been there that can honestly speak about.
Brenda Coffee’s website isn’t the only place to share experiences. The American Cancer Society has a survivor network and a separate website for families to post videos. Even Lance Armstrong’s Livestrong Foundation offers a wide variety of information and support too. But Brenda Coffee wasn’t satisfied with what the big organizations offered. She said on her own blog, she can act like a friend.
Recent topics on Coffee’s blog range from helpful and delicious tips like dark chocolate can be good to eat to prevent cancer to intimate details of her sex life.
It’s just one example of how the internet can be used as a tool to connect strangers to one another when faced in similar circumstances.
— Julie Moody
On the Web: Sisterhood & Survival
01-Aug-2010
WHEN BREAST CANCER BECAME A PART OF BRENDA COFFEE’S LIFE STORY, SHE DECIDED IT WOULD NOT BE IN HER LAST CHAPTER. Instead, the Trinity University graduate decided she would be the protagonist in her own narrative about survivorship and advocacy for a cure. She founded the Survivorship Media Network LLC and BreastCancerSisterhood.com, a place for women and their families to learn about the disease, how to fight it and help others to live.
“Hearing the words, “You have cancer,’ is one of the most frightening, life-threatening things you’ll ever experience,” says Coffee, who runs the award-winning site from Boerne. “From that moment on, your world is colored by the fact that you have cancer.”
The site helps to empower and provide comfort by connecting users through their common experience.
“Think about being dropped in a war zone, and you don’t speak the language or know any of the people,” she says. “It would be imperative to find someone you can trust to help you, a matter of survival. Having cancer is like being in a war zone, and you are battling for your life.”
The site has become her ministry. “I know it sounds strange, but I sometimes feel like breast cancer was a gift from God. My life is so much richer for having walked this path, and for that, I am truly grateful.”—R. Benavidez
KXAN Interviews Brenda Coffee
12-Jul-2010
Austin360.com: Website takes a utilitarian approach to cancer
22-Jun-2010
By Shermakaye BassInstead of appletinis at a Manhattan bistro, we're having lunch at the (nonetheless girly) Thyme & Dough cafe in Dripping Springs. But blogger Brenda Ray Coffee's approach to breast cancer survivorhood reminds me of a "Sex and the City" episode. "In many ways, the site is like that," says the Boerne resident, whose "Brenda's Blog" was named "Top Breast Cancer Blog" by Blogs.com. "We talk about hair and nails and diet and men, all those things girlfriends and sisters talk about."
Read the full story on Austin360.com
2010 Komen Atlanta Race for the Cure® Cindy's Soldiers
08-May-2010
In honor of Cindy, Marcy Medinger & Mike Moshure have formed a team to support her in her battle against breast cancer..hence the name - Cindy's Soldiers! Please join us in waging the war and supporting Cindy by becoming one of her 'soldiers'. You can walk, run, jog or even crawl - just do it! We're coming out full force to honor and support Cindy! Keep checking in closer to the race and we will post the meeting location at Atlantic Station on this page:http://race.komenatlanta.org/site/TR/Race/General/1184126348?pg=team&fr_id=1060&team_id=15591
Brenda Coffee interviewed by Vikki Locke, host of B98.5FM in Atlanta
05-May-2010
Click the play button to listen to the interview:
Nipples, Rocks & Raisins
10-May-2010
I met Brenda Ray Coffee last week at a big women's luncheon and was enthralled by her wonderful wit and chutzpah about breast cancer. She runs a site called breastcancersisterhood.com. She told me that 25% of men leave their wives when they find out they have breast cancer. Can you believe that mess? Compared with 2% of women who leave when they find out their husband has some kind of cancer.She told me a lot of other things I didn't know about breast cancer including what it's like to not have a nipple. (I know that sounds like a lot for a lunch conversation, but with Brenda you get to the point pretty fast.) She was honest and frank and although it was a serious subject matter, had me laughing at the idiosyncracies of hardship. Two days later a very VERY dear family friend died from breast cancer that spread into her brain and I thought about how we need to talk about breast cancer all year long, and not just in October. So in honor of that, Brenda let me republish one of her favorite blogs here. I hope you can find room to laugh, even about a dark subject. I have needed laughter after losing the wonderful Cookie Catchings of Marietta, GA. - Stephanie
By Skirt.com
Link to original article.
Woman's Breast Cancer Blog Uniting Survivors
05-May-2010
By Selena Hernandez
DALLAS (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―Uniting women through a shared experience; that's the goal behind one North Texas woman's unique and candid blog. Her name is Brenda Coffee and she's using her website as a way to help breast cancer patients survive and fight through recovery. Click here to watch the video coverage.
Stage 2 breast cancer was the unexpected news that blindsided Coffee. She found the information overwhelming and difficult to process. "It's kinda like being shoved off a cliff and you're left to fend for yourself and figure out if you can fly."
Yet, through the countless surgeries and rounds of chemotherapy, Coffee refused to be a victim. She, instead, stood strong in her fight for life. Now Coffee says her goal is to, "Help women and their families avoid those holes and get through this time in their life…survive this time of their life, together as a family and intact."
Nearly six years later, Coffee is a survivor, sharing her story and experience in a candid blog. "[The website] breastcancersisterhood.com is an outgrowth of my own experience of not knowing what to do next and how to get from step A to step B," Coffee explained.
On the blog, Coffee writes about everything -- nothing is off limits. "Most doctors are uncomfortable talking to you about subjects, particularly sex," she said.
Coffee even writes about how she once used a raisin, to substitute as a nipple, following her mastectomy. "I put it in where it was supposed to be, got it level - problem solved!" she said of the experiment.
The blog is an open forum to encourage and inspire other women as they battle breast cancer. "You can get thru this and you will emerge on the other side stronger than you ever were," Coffee encourages her readers.
According to Coffee, breast cancer patients are related and have an established bond of sisterhood -- not through blood, but in this case through a blog. "I'm that sister that's going to tell you everything you need to know… that even the best doctors, on the best of days, might forget to tell you."
Coffee hopes other women will follow her lead and find the strength to document their experiences. She says the information helps others feel as if they're not the only ones enduring a grueling experience.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
New Breast Cancer Website Fills Information Gap in Journey Through Treatment, Survival, and Beyond
31-Mar-2010
BreastCancerSisterhood.com Covers Overlooked Topics, Provides Life-saving InformationContact:
Lisa O’Neill Newton O’Neill Communications
lisa@newtononeill.com
512.494.6178
Boerne, Texas (March 31, 2010)... Brenda Coffee, founder of BreastCancerSisterhood.com, knows all too well what patients, survivors and cancer families need. A breast cancer survivor, Coffee has also dealt with the cancer-related deaths of her father and husband, and recently founded BreastCancerSisterhood.com, an Internet-based resource for all things related to living with and surviving breast cancer. Since most of the focus has been on the cure, many breast cancer patients and families make their way through the dangers and side effects of treatment by trial and error. BreastCancerSisterhood.com offers practical and potentially life-saving information even the best of doctors and existing websites often fail to mention.
According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 250,000 new cases of breast cancer were diagnosed in 2009. In addition there are over 2.5 million existing breast cancer survivors, plus husbands, caregivers, family and friends, still in need of support. Cancer is a disease that affects the whole family, and Coffee discovered a huge market in need of practical, intimate information on how to live with and survive this often devastating disease.
“There are many websites devoted to breast cancer, but few offer the discussions and solutions needed by patients, caregivers and families; nor address the problems they face," said Coffee. BreastCancerSisterhood.com helps families stay intact, gives newly diagnosed patients practical information and helps survivors reduce their risk of recurrence.”
With no subject off limits, BreastCancerSisterhood.com includes more than 100 original content videos about sex and intimacy, support for husbands, caregivers and children, coping with side-effects of treatment and more. Videos feature advice and stories from nutritional experts, doctors, counselors, physical therapists and family members, plus candid interviews with Coffee herself.
“Brenda’s Blog,” awarded the Top Breast Cancer Blog by blogs.com and named a Top Blogger by Bizymoms.com, provides a wise, often wise-cracking, yet always uplifting voice on posts as diverse as losing fingernails, weight gain, baldness and rubber nipples. Other site offerings include an e-newsletter, expert sources, “Retail Therapy,” a section featuring items to empower and enlighten breast cancer families, plus breast cancer FAQ’s.
Dr. Sharon Wilks, hematologist and medical oncologist with Cancer Care Centers of South Texas regards BreastCancerSisterhood.com as a valuable site for people diagnosed with breast cancer. "When I first went on BreastCancerSisterhood.com, I remember thinking about all the patients I'm honored to care for who would benefit from the amount of support provided."
BreastCancerSisterhood.com regularly posts new videos and will soon add guest bloggers, a community forum, cancer news feed and strategic partnerships.
About BreastCancerSisterhood.com
Founded by cancer survivor Brenda Coffee, the Survivorship Media Network’s Breast Cancer Sisterhood.com® represents one sister reaching out to help and empower another by giving the gift of survivorship. The Breast Cancer Sisterhood’s mission is to revolutionize the way life-saving information and support is disseminated to newly diagnosed breast cancer patients, existing survivors, patients with recurrence, husbands, caregivers, children and extended friends and family. While there are many Websites devoted to breast cancer, few are practical, straightforward and contain most of the information patients and families need. The site helps families cope with the ravaging physical and emotional effects of treatment and enables them to move forward with their lives.
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Sandy Linter & The Breast Cancer Sisterhood
02-Nov-2009
Lancome's Beauty at Every Age expert Sandy Linter spent some time recently with Brenda Coffee, the dynamic founder of the Breast Cancer Sisterhood. This is an online support group with information for breast cancer patients, survivors, their families and their caregivers. Brenda and Sandy teamed up to do a series of videos about makeup for women undergoing chemotherapy. If you know anyone who could be helped by these videos, please pass them on and let them know about Brenda's organization.
Click here to read the story.
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