BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH INTERVIEWS: PATIENTS AND SURVIVORS, PEOPLE LIVING WITH METASTATIC DISEASE, AND EXPERTS AVAILABLE
Includes people of diverse backgrounds, ages, and lived experiences who know how to tell their personal story in a meaningful way.
Milwaukee, WI (September 30, 2024) – ABCD: After Breast Cancer Diagnosis, a non-profit organization providing free and customized emotional support to anyone impacted by breast cancer, has a variety of people available for media interviews during Breast Cancer Awareness Month and any time of the year. With 250 diverse and active volunteer breast cancer survivors located across the country, and 25 years of experience supporting the emotional impact of breast cancer, ABCD is a one-stop source for personal stories, content, and expertise about the breast cancer experience.
Working as a complement to medical care, ABCD’s signature service is creating a unique match between someone who needs support and an ABCD Mentor who not only shares a similar diagnosis and treatment plan, but also has similar ages, common interests, personal characteristics, career paths, and family dynamics. ABCD Mentors are carefully selected and trained to provide support; they listen and provide a safe space to share and offer understanding and compassion when people need it most.
ABCD maintains deep relationships with people from a variety of ages, backgrounds, and locations across the United States who have lived experiences and stories to tell involving breast cancer — and they know how to share them in a meaningful way. Journalists can contact ABCD to learn more about the benefits of emotional support and to identify interviewees, including:
- Survivors of most types of breast cancer who have completed treatment (i.e., DCIS, Triple Negative, Triple Positive, Lobular, Invasive)
- People living with Stage IV/metastatic disease
- Women who were pregnant when they were diagnosed
- Men who have had breast cancer
- People who have struggled with survivorship after finishing treatment
- Care partners who have supported someone after a diagnosis
- People who can speak about the challenges and side effects (hair loss, infertility, identity, etc.) of chemotherapy, radiation, surgery and other treatments
- Healthcare leaders in oncology, surgery, research, cancer physical therapy
- Previvors who have a genetic disposition for potentially developing breast cancer
Of note, ABCD is able to customize a search for interviewees based on specific location, race, religion, age, and other demographics.
To schedule an interview or for more information on ABCD experts, please contact: Megan Brown, CAE, at megan@abcdmentor.org or (414) 690-1893.
About ABCD
ABCD: After Breast Cancer Diagnosis provides FREE, one-to-one emotional support to anyone impacted by a breast cancer diagnosis—from patients, family, and friends, to survivors, previvors, and caregivers. With 250+ volunteer Mentors around the country and a virtual platform that makes it easy to request support from anywhere in the United States and beyond, ABCD can make truly personalized connections that make a tremendous difference. In 25 years, ABCD has proudly supported more than 109,000 people in Wisconsin and across the United States.
To request a Mentor, visit ABCDBreastCancerSupport.org/get-support, email info@abcdmentor.org, or call 1-800-977-4121.
ABCD’s Founding Vision
It was 1992 when Emmy award-winning broadcast journalist Melodie Wilson Oldenburg announced on live television she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. At a time when breast cancer was rarely discussed openly, Melodie chose to use her public position to speak out about her personal experience with the disease.
She started to receive letters and calls from people she had never met. They too had been diagnosed with breast cancer and wanted to provide hope and guidance by sharing their personal experience with her. Melodie quickly realized the benefits of emotional support but recognized a gap in care—too many people lacked resources and access to quality, personalized support.
Leaving her broadcast career in 1998, she brought together breast cancer patients, survivors, physicians, clinicians, and caregivers to launch ABCD on June 15, 1999, with the founding vision: “No one should go through breast cancer alone.”
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