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Calendar Helps Boost Breast Cancer Awareness

Submitted photo

Cancer survivor Lana Sloots has hearts all over her photo in the fundraising 2009 Breast Cancer Awareness Calendar of Courage calendar.

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BY TARA DINOSKI

SUNCOAST NEWS INTERN

Published: December 20, 2008

For a group of women who each fought a potentially fatal disease, they were awfully full of life.

Leaita Richards, Sandra Lee Werner and Lana Sloots, all of New Port Richey, have come together in friendship through the Florida Cancer Institute. Despite the unfortunate circumstance that brought these women together they share a common goal: helping other women fighting breast cancer.

One way they are giving back is by posing for the 2009 Breast Cancer Awareness Calendar of Courage.

In the calendar, Richards posed with flowers because she loved gardening. Werner's pose, on her grandson-in-law's motorcycle, was a family inside joke.

Werner and Richards posed for the 2008 calendar, while Sloots is making her debut in the 2009 edition.

Sloots, in her photo, sought to reflect the love and support her family gives. The caption accompanying her picture reads: "Love. Everybody needs some. I did not realize how much my husband and family loved me until I had cancer."

The women offered suggestions on their poses, but Richard Genovese, the creative consultant for the project, and the other photographers set the overall tone for the calendar.

Sloots Richards and Werner agree that one of the hardest parts of battling breast cancer is the hair loss that can occur during chemotherapy.

In addition, some women have to have both breasts or parts of both removed, which often leaves them with a lower self-image. So the models wanted to convey that breast cancer survivors should still love their bodies because they are all still beautiful.

"Really, coming in here is like a tea party," Werner said during a recent gathering at the Florida Cancer Institute office in New Port Richey to discuss the latest calendar.

"We've never had a meeting where we weren't laughing," Richards said.

The models in the calendar each have their own remarkable story to tell and wisdom to give. Below each picture is a personal quote reflecting the woman's approach to life.

Richards, who was diagnosed in 1995, after her doctor noticed a small spot on her annual mammogram, did not let the breast cancer limit her.

"There were some things I couldn't do after the treatments. If they told me to get rest, I did. But for the most part I did everything else that I love to do."

The hardest part of cancer was admitting her body was not doing what it is supposed to do, said Richards, who celebrated her 80th birthday last month. She was "pretty healthy" before being diagnosed with the disease.

After 13 years in remission, Richards is stressing the power of a positive outlook.

"Don't think cancer will kill you," she recommends. "Think that you are going to make it. It worked for me."

A physician liaison, Karen Brink, developed the calendar as a fundraiser in 2007 to commemorate breast cancer survivors. Along side photographer John Bretnall, creative consultant Genovese, and several others, the team has managed to raise more than $5,000 from calendar sales to date.

"It's amazing to meet so many women, who have battled breast cancer, and to hear their stories and to see their courage," said Brink. "It makes me cry every time I talk about it."

Fortunately cancer free, the courage, wisdom, and fortitude she has seen in cancer patients over the last 20 years "amazes" her, Brink said. "It's so inspirational. And to me, that's the most uplifting in the world."

"They are not whiners, and they are battling for their lives in most cases. They are just so strong willed. And I just think that, my god, they are just the most sensational group of women I have ever met. It's true!" Brink said.

Despite overcoming such a serious illness, the women remain modest. They each give Brinks credit for motivating them and keeping them on their toes.

"You are the one that's the leader," Sloots said.

"She was our coach, with her whip and her whistle," joked Richards.

The table lit up with laughter as the women slapped each other high-fives.

"She puts in all this extra time – starts this calendar, starts support groups, gets us involved. She doesn't need to do that. She could just go home at five o'clock, but she doesn't," said Sloots, who is also involved in Strides Against Breast Cancer.

Sloots, who was diagnosed in 2006, used team work with her husband to overcome breast cancer.

"We are both physical therapists. I do home health and he works for a group of doctors. I would have chemo on Friday and he would see my patients on Monday so I could recover."

At first Sloot, who has "always been very strong," she said, didn't tell anyone but her husband about her illness.

"I didn't want them to worry. But now my family is very involved with the cause. My youngest daughter goes to school in Gainesville and she wants to be a part of everything. She comes down every year for the walk. Anytime I find anything, breast cancer related, I have to get doubles."

"It was a shock the second time around," said Werner who battled breast cancer in 2005 and 2007. "It's a terrible thing to go through. I had six treatments every three weeks. But I just surrounded myself with people who had hope. Nobody wants to be around someone who is miserable all the time."

Humor made her bouts with cancer easier for avowed onetime "class clown" Werner. "I just relied on my family and friends and I laughed a lot." Werner, a former Pasco County Commission member, takes pride in being a survivor.

Although October was National Breast Cancer Awareness month, the calendars can still be ordered. Not only do they support a good cause, they also make great gifts.

For further information contact Karen Brink at 727-842-8411.

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