Breast cancer awareness month

                  In memoriam

               Roselyn "Roz" Patrice Johnson

                                                                              05/01/68-03/02/12

 

Roselyn was born in 1968 San Pedro, California, a California native which is a rarity. Her family later moved to Riverside where they settled down to make Riverside their home. Roselyn went to La Sierra High school and met some wonderful friends who called her "Roz".  If you could use one word to describe Roselyn, her friends would tell you "Giving". That's because Roselyn was very giving. She would give you the shirt off her back. That's the kind of person she was. She was also sweet, warm, and caring. If you needed advice, she'd be  there for you, If you needed a ride home, she'd give you a ride home in a minute. Whatever you needed, if she had it, she'd help.

Roselyn's son Kenneth was born in 1994. He was the sunshine of her life and she had the honor and privilege to see him grow up until he was 18 years old. 

Later in life, Roselyn went to work for the Department of Motor vehicles for several years, and developed several wonderful friendships along the way. She met her partner Trayce, in 2000 and they were together for the last 12 years of her life.

November 02, 2011, Roselyn accepted Jesus as her lord and savior and started attending Women's bible study with her friends. Roselyn will always live on through her family and friends, and her warm, beautiful smile will always be missed.  Rest in peace, Roz.

 

 

Breast cancer Month featured survivor

October is breast cancer awareness month, and we would like to feature inspiring breast cancer stories from breast cancer survivors and other women who have fought hard battling breast cancer.
Linda K. Schlesinger-Gessner-Hale, is one of our featured survivors with an inspiring story.

Here's her story:

I was laid off in 1999 from a large technology company and as a single mom decided to move from Marketing Communications to Education. With a month of benefits left, I got all my medical exams scheduled. On the day before my benefits ran out, I showed up for my mammogram appointment. They didn't have me anywhere on their books and were booked solid. The only thing I could do was sign up for a month of Cobra benefits and reschedule the mammogram. It's a good thing I did because we found calcifications. The biopsy showed a cancerous tumor in my left breast. At that time, was no way of knowing what the stage was or if it had spread into the lymph nodes. I had a weekend to decide if I would have a lumpectomy or bilateral mastectomy. When I read breast cancer often mirrors on the other side, I decided to have a bilateral mastectomy and breast reconstruction. After the surgery, it was determined that my cancer was DCIS and at stage 0, so it had not spread and we caught it very early. I was so blessed to not have to go through chemotherapy or radiation. The breast reconstruction was no picnic, but I'm so glad I did it. I no longer have to have mammograms and have symmetry. The procedures keep getting better all the time. If it weren't for the mammogram, I may not have been as fortunate! Eighteen years later, I'm cancer free and very thankful.

-  Linda K. Schlesinger-Gessner-Hale, 2017