'Get your mammogram': TMH Foundation event honors breast cancer survivor
Hope Witters, a Tallahassee mom, wife and executive with Eli Lilly and Company, received what she recalls as “the shock of my life” when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in May 2023.
“Everything stops in your life,” she said. “Everything just pauses around you, and you think, Am I going to die? Am I going to be here for my family? What is this going to look like for me?”
Hope and her husband Matt have two daughters Pearce, 17, and Ellie, 14. Her first concern was for them.
“We told our children immediately,” Witters said. “We sat them down that night, and it was a very hard conversation. I told them, I’m going to put all that I have into this. I’m going to fight like heck.”
Witters, who had a double mastectomy and chemotherapy at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare (TMH), is now cancer free. She’s sharing her story as the 2024 Cards for a Cure honoree.
Hosted by the Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare Foundation and presented by Electrotech, Cards for a Cure will celebrate 16 years of honoring local breast cancer survivors at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28, at The Moon. Tickets and sponsorships are available at TMH.ORG/Cards.
Witters hopes her story will inspire all women to get an annual mammogram and motivate the community to support local breast cancer patients.
“I tell this to everyone: Screening and my mammogram saved my life. I have a friend, and a mammogram saved her life, too. I did not feel a lump or anything before I went in for my annual mammogram. Go to the doctor and prioritize your health. As a woman and a mom, we do everything for everyone else, but you have to prioritize your health. There are no ifs, ands or buts. Get your mammogram.”
The Tallahassee Memorial Cancer Center diagnoses and treats over 1,650 new cancer cases annually, and breast cancer is the top diagnosis. TMH offers the only comprehensive cancer program in the Big Bend, delivering the most powerful treatment options under one roof and expediting the time it takes to move from diagnosis to treatment.
Here are a few ways generous community support given through the TMH Foundation makes a difference for patients:
A PET scan, which alerts doctors to areas of abnormal cell growth in the body,costs more than $1,800. Donations are used to ease the burden for patients in financial need.
TMH is a regional cancer care destination. Some patients must travel long distances to the capital city for treatment. Community generosity provides gas cards, car rides and lodging for patients and their caregivers.
In 2023, the TMH Foundation gave $2 million, thanks to the generosity of donors, toward the purchase of a Varian Edge Linear Accelerator for the Tallahassee Memorial Cancer Center. The Varian Edge offers the latest advancements in radiation, delivering radiation faster and with more precision and minimizing risks and side effects for patients.
“Our donors are making life-saving care possible,” Nigel Allen, president and chief advancement officer of the TMH Foundation, said. “Thousands of patients throughout the Big Bend rely on the Tallahassee Memorial Cancer Center.
Technology is evolving rapidly, and we strive to ensure our patients receive the most advanced treatments. Our donors help make that possible. We hope everyone will join us for Cards for a Cure and keep this critical support going.”
Sponsorships and tickets are available at TMH.ORG/Cards. The evening will include music, casino games, food, libations and a silent auction. For information about sponsorships, contact Jessica Zeigler at [email protected] or 850-431-4590.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: TMH Foundation's Cards for a Cure honors breast cancer survivor