Breast cancer survivor finds raft of ways to help others

Today, her sense of hope for the future is so great that from August 24 to Sept. 2, she will take part in a "White Water Challenge," raising money to combat the disease that changed her life: breast cancer.

Ms. Corrigan, 41, is a New York City native who came to the Diocese to attend Maria College in Albany. She went on to the College of St. Rose and SUNY at Albany, and then stayed to work for the Emergency Food Task Force and as an outreach worker at St. John's/St. Ann's parish in Albany. She is now director of counseling services at Maria College.

Diagnosis: Cancer

A parishioner of St. Patrick's Church in Albany, Ms. Corrigan told The Evangelist that she felt at home in the Capital District. But in April 1995, her life abruptly changed when she felt a lump on her breast.

Since she had a family history of breast cancer, she immediately consulted a surgeon. A biopsy confirmed her fears: The lump was malignant.

"I was really scared," she said. "I think I was in shock. I was confused about what I needed to do."

Big decision

Since the type of cancer she had tended to be multi-focal (in various parts of the breast), doctors at St. Peter's Hospital in Albany recommended a bilateral mastectomy to remove both breasts.

"They left the decision up to me," she remembered. "It was really scary. I felt like a time bomb."

She decided to have the mastectomy. Five weeks of recovery followed -- times of "despair, especially in the beginning. I'd always have the fear, is it going to come back? In the beginning, every time you get an ache, you wonder."

Healing time

With the "grace and presence of God getting me through it" and the encouragement of many friends, Ms. Corrigan slowly began the process of healing. During this period, a friend showed her a newsletter from the Breast Cancer Fund, a national non-profit organization that raises funds for research, education, patient support and advocacy on breast cancer.

Each year, the fund also sponsors expeditions for those wishing to help generate donations. Ms. Corrigan read about a mountain-climbing trip for breast cancer survivors and decided to apply. Her application was declined, but when she heard about the White Water Challenge in March, she reapplied and was accepted.

"I wanted to be part of a team to work with an organization hoping to eradicate this disease, to raise funds so that other women don't have to deal with this, and to celebrate my survivorship," she stated.

Into the wilds

Ms. Corrigan describes the upcoming trip as "a 10-day, totally wilderness experience."

Along with three guides, she and seven other women will raft the middle and main forks of the Salmon River in Idaho, known for its class-four rapids. The trek has been called a "160-mile assault on breast cancer."

"It's really going to be a challenge," Ms. Corrigan told The Evangelist. "To be with other women who've had the same experience -- the `White Water Challenge' is like a metaphor for what we've been through."

That eight women will participate in the trip is no coincidence, Ms. Corrigan added: one in eight women in the U.S. are diagnosed with breast cancer each year.

Goal nears

Each participant in the trip must raise $2,000 to benefit special projects funded by the Breast Cancer Fund. Ms. Corrigan, however, hopes to raise at least $5,000. With $4,000 in donations so far, she well on her way to her goal. (Among the donors are Maria College, the Sisters of Mercy, the Dominican Sisters, the Daughters of Charity and Catholic Charities of the Albany Diocese.)

"I've gotten nice cards with a lot of enthusiasm and promises of prayer," Ms. Corrigan said. "That's so nice; it's really healing."

She refers to the expedition itself as a "sacred experience."

"You only touch the sacred a few times in your life," she said. "That sense of love that we will feel from one another, sharing our own stories -- the presence of God is in all of that."

Getting ready

To prepare for the trip, Ms. Corrigan has been working out with both a weight-lifting machine and free weights since May. Since her cancer was a type that did not need chemotherapy or post-surgery radiation treatment, she feels "really healthy." She tries not to worry about the future.

"Some people say you're never really cured; some say five years. But they caught my cancer really early. It taught me to live in the present moment," she explained.

As she prepares for the White Water Challenge, she looks forward to saying she has helped other women, "that I've contributed in some way, that other women won't have to face this. The motto of the Breast Cancer Fund is `to eradicate this disease in our daughter's lifetime.' It's hard to say to everybody, `I've had breast cancer and a mastectomy. But I have to remember that this is beyond me. I'm doing this to help other women and for a cause I believe in."

(To make a contribution in Debra Corrigan's name, send checks made payable to The Breast Cancer Fund to Debra Corrigan, c/o Maria College, 700 New Scotland Ave., Albany, NY 12208. To contact the Breast Cancer Fund, write 282 Second St., 3rd Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105 or call 415-543-2979.) [[In-content Ad]]