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September 24, 2015Vol. 16, No.16

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25Partly Cloudy

High 85º Low 61º

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26Sunny

High 84º Low 59º

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27Sunny

High 84º Low 61º

At Home in EdmondFall-Winter Edition

Inside!

Cabela'snow openSee Page 17

Expansion will helpill childrenSee Page 20

IN THIS ISSUE

By Susan Henry Clark“Twenty-five-year old women don’t get breast can-

cer,” Edmond resident Sarah McLean told herself in2002, anxious after discovering a lump during abreast exam while showering.

She and her husband, Steve, were celebrating theirfirst anniversary and had just moved to Edmond fromDallas.

Ironically, her new obstetrics and gynecology physi-cian told her she had nothing to worry about at her

age either, but over the next six months the lumpgrew and became a little tender.

Her husband accompanied her on a second visitand pushed the still hesitant doctor to order a mam-mogram, a test not considered routine before the ageof 40.

“She kind of treated me like a hypochondriac but Iwas trying to be my own advocate,” McLean said. “I

still hesitated, did some research, and waited a coupleof weeks to make the appointment thinking maybe Iwas overreacting.”

The mammogram led to a biopsy, which led to thephone call no one wants to receive: “I’m sorry to haveto tell you this. The biopsy was positive. You’ve gotcancer.”

The beautiful young woman could not have com-prehended the emotional and physical roller coasterride she and her family would experience over the

next 10 years, which included a second cancer diag-nosis in 2011, but through tremendous faith, courageand strength she organized Project31, a supportgroup for women with breast cancer and wrote hermemoir “Pink is the New Black.”

At 26, she received the bad news and couldn’tfathom what it meant as she was yet to have children.

“Nothing prepares you for hearing those words,”

she said. “How do you accept having a disease inyour body that threatens your life?”

Alone at home when she got the call, she tuckedher knees into her chest, wrapped her arms aroundthem in a fetal position, and cried.

“I called Steve, tried to get it out the best I couldand we just sat on the phone in silence like ‘What arewe going to do?’” she said.

McLean underwent a lumpectomy but anotherbiopsy and pathology report revealed the cancer was

not contained and that she needed a double mastec-tomy.

“I was the youngest in the state,” she said. “Sothere I am back in surgery the following week basi-cally amputating one of the most feminine parts of awoman’s body and not knowing long term how that

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would affect my psyche,my self-image, my inti-macy with my husband,my inability to breastfeed my children.”

McLean became soadamant about getting

cancer out of her bodyshe was unaware therewere other factors to con-sider.

“I could probably havejust done a lateral or a bi-lateral and have been okbut you live and learn,”she said. “Some womengo straight to doublemastectomy and that’snot necessary for every-one.”

Although she almost

died of an overdose of morphine following sur-gery, surgeons were ableto remove all the cancerallowing McLean toforego chemotherapyand radiation.

The seeds for educat-ing other women abouttheir options wereplanted.

“I just really felt likeGod gave me a purposeto speak to the lives of 

other women on thisjourney because one ineight women is going toget breast cancer,” shesaid. “Not everyonewants to step into thisrole because it’s ugly andmessy and painful.”

Following reconstruc-tion of her breasts,McLean was told itwould be wise not tohave children for twoyears to allow her body

to heal.“My son, Colin, was

born on ThanksgivingDay of 2004 and sixmonths later I was preg-nant with my daughter,Tatum, who was born onSt. Patrick’s Day,” shesaid.

McLean said she feltmuch emotional traumabut being an introvert,she had a hard time artic-ulating to her husband.

“I didn’t know how toget my words out as easyas he does so we startedhitting this wall where wewere conflicted,” shesaid. “He was trying tohelp me and I didn’tknow how he could.”

Steve McLean found acounselor, also a cancersurvivor, who helpedthem put some of thepieces back togetheragain.

“Most people thinkonce you get cancer outof your body, life will goback to normal and that’snot how it works,” shesaid. “There’s a new nor-mal that you have to

find.”“She asked me if I had

allowed myself the timeto grieve the loss of mybreasts because it’s likethe loss of a loved one,”she said. “I had beengoing through the rollercoaster of grief and I justthought I was crazy. Shevalidated my emotions.”

In 2007, the McLeansestablished Project31, a501©3, and started rais-ing money for familiesthat needed financial as-sistance for counseling.

“We called it Project31after Proverbs 31:30which begins “Charm isdeceptive, and beauty isfleeting…” she said. “Iwas like, yes, the femi-nine part of my bodywas taken because in mymind the beauty wasgone but God started toshow me and restore meby asking where doesyour true beauty comefrom.”

In 2010, McLean wasapproached by Okla-homa Breast Care Center,where she was diag-nosed, to lead supportgroups for breast cancerpatients.

“A friend of mine onour board joined me andit was evident there wasa need because 20women showed up thefirst night,” she said. “Wemade it a place of hopeand encouragement. Wewanted to equip and em-power women to walkthis journey.”

McLean had continuedregular self-exams and in2011 felt something newon her skeletal wall thatshe hoped was scar tis-sue.

“It was like Deja-vuand after a punch biopsythey called me and shesays ‘I’m sorry, but it’scancer again, but it’s notthe same one,’ and atthis point I was familiarwith all the terms butwas scared for my kids,”McLean said.

She underwent surgeryto remove the tumor butdeveloped an infection,which took a long timeto heal, following it allwith radiation that gaveher third-degree burns.

For the next two yearsMcLean monitored the

site that eventually be-came so painful surgeonsperformed a nine-hoursurgery to removehealthy tissue and musclefrom her back used forreconstruction and the re-placement of her decadeold implants.

Not happy with the re-sults, she got a secondopinion from a differentplastic surgeon who shecalled “amazing,” gettingthe results she wishedfor.

Project31 moved theirpartnership with Okla-homa Breast Care Center,which was being sold, toIntegris Cancer Instituteof Oklahoma.

The partnership givesMcLean and her groupthe opportunity to ex-pand their reach to morewomen, including ruralareas of Oklahoma.

“We liked their ap-proach as they are veryholistic and are all aboutrestoration and wellnesswhich is our focus,” shesaid. “We are expandingour support groups toLakeside Hospital in Oc-tober and Yukon (IntegrisCanadian Valley) in No-vember,” she said.

The growing founda-tion provides counseling,mentoring, financial assis-tance for counseling, sup-port groups, speakers,and ‘handbags of hope,’”she said.

McLean’s story hasbeen featured by EllenDeGeneres, Joan Lunden,the Integris Cancer Insti-tute and KOKH Fox 25.

“I just feel like we fi-nally are getting our bear-ings and establishing afoundation to grow fromand my heart is to go na-tional to create a sustain-able support groupmodel where we can re-ally equip women be-cause cancer just wreakshavoc on the whole fam-ily,” she said. “It’s not justthe survivor, it’s thewhole family.”

Project31 is hosting itsinaugural pink-tie gala,“Paint the Town Pink,”on Oct. 23 from 7 p.m.to 10 p.m. at the Brick-town Chevy Events Cen-ter.

“This is going to be afun party where the

ladies can come and feelbeautiful again becausethis disease tries to takeall of our femininity,” shesaid. “I want them tocome in and have that‘aha’ moment where they

can say ‘I am beautiful,’”The public is invited

and the evening includesa live band, dancing, din-ner and drinks. The ticketprice is $100 per person.

“A lot of cancer sur-vivors think they can liveout of their former iden-tity and they don’t findthe new normal,”McLean said. “We wantto give to them that full-ness of life.”

“Pink is the NewBlack” can be purchasedthrough Amazon.

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‘Paint the Town Pink’benefit is Oct. 23

Project31 is a registered 501©3 non-profit or-ganization dedicated to restoring lives and fami-

lies after breast cancer.The public is invited to Project31’s inaugural

“Paint the Town Pink” gala Fri., Oct. 23 from 7p.m. to 10 p.m. at Bricktown Chevy Events Cen-ter. Pink tie attire is suggested for an eveningthat includes a live band, dancing, dinner anddrinks.

Tickets are $100 per person and can be pur-chased at www.project31.us or at the door thenight of the event. Interested sponsors can callSarah McLean at (405) 503-8427.

Sponsors include Integris Health, Cellar Wine& Spirits, OU Medicine Breast Health Network,The Edmond Sun, ProCure Proton Therapy Cen-

ter, Replay, Brewer Entertainment, and SchulerEnterprises.

Sarah andSteve

McLeanhave seen

manychallenges.