I’m a Unicorn! One Woman’s First Year Journey Through Breast Cancer

 

 Lynn Bledsoe

Gimlet Managing Editor

 

Imagine you just turn 40 and at your regular annual doctor’s visit, you are told to start getting a mammogram, so you go into your very first visit, not worried, only to be told something is wrong.

This is what happened to Keri Bledsoe Witherite. Keri grew up in Edmonson County, is the daughter of Ronnie and Sharon Bledsoe, is a 2002 Edmonson County High School graduate, a 2007 Murray State graduate, wife to Rick Witherite, a sister, a aunt, a friend and breast cancer survivor.

When she went in for her first mammogram, she didn’t expect to receive the news that she had breast cancer. There had been no signs or suspicion of anything being wrong. On May 11, 2024, Keri went for that first mammogram and life changed. She went in for a follow-up and had to stay all day because they kept seeing something but were not sure what they were seeing, after another mammogram, an MRI, and a biopsy.

On June 11, while at the allergy doctor’s, she got the call that she had breast cancer. June 20 was her first oncology appointment, where they discovered she had a 2nd and 3rd mass.  2 of the 3 masses were cancerous. She had two lumpectomies and some lymph nodes removed, but they could not get all the cancer. It was then that she decided to have a mastectomy on one breast. The surgery was performed on Oct. 11, 2024, and she is now coming up on one year cancer-free.

She was shocked into denial, then the determination to live. Keri says she decided her life was more important than her breast, and she wanted to keep living.

Keri has always been an active and bubbly person. She faced her cancer with determination and a positive attitude. She now refers to herself as a unicorn.

Keri says that at the time she broke down several times, but her support system was top notch. Her husband was beside her the whole time, along with friends and family. The day of her mastectomy, they showed up with unicorn gifts before the surgery and to cheer her up and cheer her on.  Her husband, Rick, helped with bandages and drain tubes throughout the process. When they changed the dressings and Rick could see the results, he told her, ” Hey, I kind of like it.”, he has never made her feel less desirable due to the surgery and has been her biggest supporter. On doctor visit days afterwards, he always took her somewhere she enjoyed, the place with her favorite milkshake or to a spot in the park where she loved to just sit and cry or laugh, whatever she needed. He tried to make it a fun day afterward so her whole day would not be ruined. He went to every appointment with her. Her Mom, Sharon, stayed for several days after the surgery to make sure Keri didn’t do anything. Friends were a phone call away and dropped by often for a visit or to help. Her support system and God are what got her through the hard days.

 

 

The advice she has for anyone facing any sort of illness is to build a good support system. The friends and family who will let you nap while they are there and not make you feel bad are the best, or who will not be offended if you tell them, you are too tired and for them to leave. These are your safe people. She also highly recommends that everyone use the FMLA, Family and Medical Leave Act. FMLA allowed her husband to be there for her.

Almost a year has passed now, and Keri is about to celebrate one year cancer-free. She still has panic attacks and has learned that this is a response to her traumatic experience. She has also learned it helps to tell her story and journey as she lived it. Keri read a lot of books while recovering and made several playlists of music. Music has always been a big part of her life. In May, she got to sing the National Anthem at the Lexington Legends Baseball game and said it was the first time she had started to feel like herself. It wasn’t about her cancer it was about her and her talent.

She celebrates the big wins in life and the little ones, that it’s nice to look back and see how far she has come. On her first trip to the beach after her surgery, she and Rick made a sand mermaid with one breast. She now glamps instead of camps, but she still loves to be in nature, where she finds it helps her to heal.

 

 

“You have to have a little humor in life; it may sound weird, but it will get you through a lot. Find the humor in the struggle.”- Keri Witherite.

In the darkest times, God and your loved ones will get you through. To anyone who reads her story, she stresses, “Get your checks, it may save your life.”