End Cervical Cancer

Patient Advocates Matter

My cervical cancer story began when I was 24 years old. I had graduated from a local dental assisting program and worked in the field for only a couple of years when I was diagnosed on World Cancer Day 2015. I was completely devastated that cancer was happening to me! I mean, I knew I had a cervix but I was naive to the fact that I could get cancer “there.” And wasn’t it most common for older people, not younger people, to get sick? That’s when I realized how gravely wrong I was. Didn’t I just witness a high school friend succumb to cancer just a year before? She passed away at the young age of 27 and I truly thought that was going to be my destiny. I didn’t know anyone else my age that was going through it.

All throughout my treatment, I placed blame on myself for getting cancer, and even though I felt that deeply, I knew I wanted to do something more to help others. I wanted them to know about cervical cancer and how Planned Parenthood saved my life with their preventive screening services. I wasn’t sure how to start advocating or sharing my story, so I started spreading awareness by handing out little ribbons I made. (Some of my friends still wear them to this day).

If you would have told me back then I would become an award-winning patient advocate, I never would have believed you. You see, I’ve suffered from social anxiety throughout my entire childhood and adult life. It wasn’t until I was finished with cancer treatment that I found out about Cervivor, signed up for Cervivor School, and grew into the patient advocate I am now.

I have been involved with the organization since 2017 and have been presented with some pretty incredible opportunities – including employment by the organization. I started in 2021 when everything had been pretty virtual but this year, in-person events have started happening more frequently. Team Cervivor, consisting of Cervivor Founder, Tamika Felder, and myself, made the decision to attend the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (aka ASCO). As a first-time attendee, I can say I was completely blown away! This event was massive and full of oncology’s leading cancer researchers, clinicians, thought leaders, industry partners, advocates, and so much more!

We kicked off the week-long conference with a breakfast meeting in which we were able to connect with so many people – putting names to faces that we’ve been working with via Zoom meetings and emails for the last few years. We had a constant line of people waiting to talk with us about our work and hear our stories. It could have been the lack of caffeine but it really didn’t hit me until midway through that breakfast – the impact of our work as patient advocates is crucial in the oncology world. This made me even more proud to be working for the organization that gave me my voice.

Dr. Martina Murphy was one of these people who expressed just how important our work is including our Comfort Care & Compassion Program. She says, “Cervical cancer is a disease where we need so much more attention and work. The impact of this group is powerful.”

We continued to attend meeting after meeting and heard a consistent message across the board: we are dedicated to putting equitable patient care as our priority. We heard how patient advocate voices have a seat at the table and how we are leading engagement for some important topics across social media platforms. The realization hit me once again: We make a difference every day. Patient advocates matter.

Now, we made sure to celebrate a little while we were in Chicago too. The Sunday of the conference was a day recognized as National Cancer Survivors Day and we had A LOT to celebrate: Tamika was 21 years cancer free and was given the most exceptional gift and I was just days from officially being 6 years cancer free. We made sure to spend time with some friends and partners – both new and old, to eat incredible food, and to take time to unwind.

It has truly been eye-opening and so rewarding to see the kind of impact my story has had in the last several years. It’s been a lot of hard work and it’s taken time to see the results. But I know it’s not just my story in this. It’s the collective of our stories pushing for the same mission: to end cervical cancer once and for all.

Morgan Newman, MSW, Outside of her Community Engagement Liaison position at Cervivor, you can find Morgan nurturing her relationships with local community partner organizations like the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACSCAN), the Iowa Cancer Consortium, and serving as a board member for Above and Beyond Cancer. Learn more about Morgan at Cervivor.org.

In Their Own Words: Five Cancer Research Sheroes

Whether referring to those who are influencing medical milestones in cancer research, the women who are thriving, or our loved ones who are now in our memories and forever in our hearts, Cervivor is proud to highlight the women who share their stories, rallying fists, and expertise that help us get closer to a cure.

And to be clear, this is not the pride that interferes with faith or recognition of a higher calling; This is the delight and fulfillment that keeps us here, fighting, sharing, educating and yelling from mountaintops that we can find a cure. So during this Women’s History Month, we want to acknowledge women (who, by the way make up nearly 70% of the entire world’s healthcare workforce), and shout out five women in cancer research and healthcare – in their own words. 

Padmanee Sharma, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center: “I feel like we’re right on the cutting edge of discoveries that will create incredibly good outcomes for our patients with cancer … Finally, people can see that what we’ve been saying for all these years about immunotherapy is correct. But more important, we can now deliver the hope to patients that we’ve been working so hard for.” 

Rosalind Franklin, British chemist whose doctoral student took the infamous “Photo 51,” that first showed the iconic double helix of DNA in 1952: “ … Science and everyday life cannot and should not be separated. Science, for me, gives a partial explanation of life. In so far as it goes, it is based on fact, experience and experiment. Your theories are those which you and many other people find easiest and pleasantest to believe, but so far as I can see, they have no foundation other than they lead [cq] to a pleasanter view of life … ” Read more.

Dr Princess Nothemba Simelela, Assistant Director-General for Strategic Programmatic Priorities: Cervical Cancer Elimination: “I’m always an optimist. When you have a life and you have opportunities, we should strive to progress and share this enthusiasm with new communities. We must use this global commitment to elimination for national action. We can make a huge contribution to the lives of women who are less privileged and advantaged than we are. And move together towards a world free of cervical cancer … The most important message that we are communicating to everybody is to take this forward together, in one united push, and to maintain the momentum.” Read more.

Helen Coley Nauts—the daughter of Dr. William B. Coley, the Father of Cancer Immunotherapy (CRI) who helped advance her father’s work despite not having a college degree or scientific training: “You must be aware that no one else but me has so far made a detailed and painstaking study of all possible aspects of this form of treatment. Until such time as you may train a person with a more impressive medical background, I would suggest that you appoint me as a sort of registrar of information on the above mentioned Toxin clearing house.” Read more of Naut’s letters chronicling her advocacy toward a new path of cancer research in the 1950s.

Dr. Lillian L. Siu, Canadian oncologist, clinician scientist and recipient of the International Women Who Conquer Cancer Mentorship Award: “All of us have family members who are affected by the disease, by cancer. There’s always going to be a personal component to most oncologists that enter the field. You have to understand something about the heart, you have to understand something about the lungs … you almost have to be a jack of all trades. That’s what intrigues me about oncology and cancer medicine. And obviously, to make a big difference in cancer is going to be very rewarding because that’s going to save a lot of lives and make a lot of difference in people’s lives.” Watch more.

Learn more about our cervivors, who we, too salute, this month and share their stories with your circles! Have a story of your own? Share it with us!