Lee Halarewicz, 45, knew her body well, but one day she could tell something was wrong.
“It was a big surprise,” she said. “I found a lump under my arm. It was a pea-size lump at first.”
At the time Halarewicz was self-employed. She had no insurance, so she ignored the lump for a year-and-a-half.
“I was afraid to say anything. I was afraid of being turned away,” she said, “But it was as big as my hand. It was an eight-centimeter lump. But it was also scattered throughout my breast, so we needed to shrink that and get rid of as much as we could.”
By 2005, she got insurance and a doctor. She was diagnosed with stage-three breast cancer. After surgeries and chemotheraphy treatments, the cancer went away and returned. She’s still battling it today.
“I’ve had some tumors on my brain that we’ve taken care of with gamma knife surgery. I’ve had some blips along the way,” she said, “But I’ve been very lucky.”
During the past seven years, Halarewicz has been in and out of the hospital.
“It’s hard when you’re wanting to sleep or you don’t have the energy and you don’t feel like eating and you just want to keep going and you can’t,” she said.
Yet, her hobbies, husband and three kids have kept her motivated throughout the years.
“We’ve always talked about everything and been open about everything,” she said about. We make fun, sometimes, and sometimes we have serious moments. I just take it week by week, day by day.”
Halarewicz wants to give back, especially to people and groups that’ve been by her side, like Northeast Ohio’s Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
In her spare time, she volunteers for the organization, but she wants to spread one message to other women: to get treated as soon as possible.
“It’s true. Women especially are very stubborn,” she said. “You know your body. Make sure you really know it and you’re doing your monthly screenings for everything.”