Read the poem "I Am a Survivor" by Patti "Pepper" Wrycha

Hello, my name is Petra B (pronounced Pay-tra) and I am a breast cancer survivor. This is a new development though. As I write this introduction paragraph (10/14/2005) I have had a mastectomy, completed dose dense chemo, and just today finished 28 rounds of radiation treatments.

Knock Out Breast Cancer^TM is an idea that came to me during chemo. Right after I was diagnosed, I kept hearing the expressions "fighter", "strong", and how I could "beat" this thing. Being the Rocky fan that I am, I felt the "Eye of the Tiger" and proceeded to fight breast cancer. Funny, the weekend after I was diagnosed I went to the opening of "Million Dollar Baby" - not a good movie to see right after a cancer diagnosis when you're questioning your own mortality, but still it had the boxing theme. I even bought myself an "Everlast" robe, I was a fighter. I also was, and to an extent still am, angry. I was angry that after all these years of breast cancer research and awareness my treatment was still having a breast surgically removed, running poison through my veins, then burning the entire right half of my chest. All this, and I've only lessened my chances of recurrence not actually cured breast cancer.

I'm also angry because wonderful women are still dying from this disease. I've had people tell me that if I had to get cancer, then breast cancer was the best one to get. I'm sorry, but that just pisses me off. Tell that to men who have lost their wives, parents who have lost their daughters, people who have lost their mothers and sisters and partners and friends. Tell that to Steve Gringrich, who lost his beautiful wife Clove on May 31, 2005 after less than one year of marriage. It makes me mad, it makes me want to punch something. But I don't want to punch a person, not my doctors, nurses, nor technicians - they have all been absolutely wonderful. I want to punch breast cancer itself, and that's when the knock out phrase hit me. (pun intended!)

Since I was diagnosed I've become a pink ribbon magnet. No complaints here, I appreciate all the pink ribbon items I've received from friends these past several months. I buy them myself, I've received them from strangers. They don't mean awareness to me, I am very much aware, but they do mean survivor, and that was and is my goal. But, I think it's about time that the boxing glove became a symbol for knocking out breast cancer as well (all cancer for that matter) so as I recovered at home, I started purchasing boxing glove items. To me it's an aggressive image, and to rid breast cancer from our bodies and society, we need to be aggressive! That is me on the home page actually with my pink boxing gloves I purchased on e-bay. They make me feel strong, like I'm physically fighting breast cancer, and that's why I chose pink boxing gloves as a symbol.

With this website, I hope to not only inform and provide resources for those affected by breast cancer, but also to direct you to some of the organizations who are working toward ridding breast cancer from our society. Please consider helping these organizations. We can Knock Out Breast Cancer^TM One punch at a time.

          - Petra B.


I Am a Survivor
  (by Patti "Pepper" Wrycha)
I am a Survivor
     Not a statistic of cancer
I am a Survivor
     Not just a replacement in a clinical study
I am a Survivor
     Not just a relapse waiting to happen
I am a Survivor
     Not a recurrence in the future
I am a Survivor
     Filled with Hope
     Filled with Laughter
     Filled with years of Life
But it's not the years that matter.
     Instead, it is the individual days I will awake in health,
     And the love of God, my Family, and my Friends.

©2005-2008 Knock Out Breast Cancer - Sacramento, Northern California, And Beyond