Mrs. Zara Johnson Champions Breast Cancer
01/14/2012 - By Valante Grant
Zara Johnson shares her encouraging story about struggles as a Breast cancer survivor.
Mrs. Zara Johnson is one of thousands of women who has been diagnosed with breast cancer. She initially chose to deal with the disease privately, and not to talk about her experience. She said that “after a cancer diagnosis, it is difficult to accept the fact that you are healed; so you shift into survivor mode.” Breast cancer survivor was not a title that she wanted to carry.
Story by Valante Grant you can read more of her stories at http://www.examiner.com/african-american-community-in-chicago/valante-grant
Mrs. Johnson is A triple negative breast cancer survivor. This means that the offending tumor is estrogen receptor-negative, progesterone receptor-negative and HER2-negative, hence the name "triple negative breast cancer." It carries a higher rate of recurrence. At this time, there is no effective treatment if there is a recurrence. After undergoing a mastectomy and chemotherapy, she attempted to go back to a normal life. A young lady approached Mrs. Johnson about the Mrs. Illinois Pageant while she was trying on gowns for a gala event. Initially, she dismissed the idea. But later, she reconsidered with the encouragement of her family. It was the Mrs. Illinois experience that convinced her to share her story and help her focus more on the joy of living than the fear of dying. She realized that breast cancer was not just her issue and struggle, and felt compelled to share and help others.
