“Tuff men wear pink”, said Terry Arnold, Executive
Director of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, as she addressed
almost 400 Bassmaster Weekend Series anglers from the South Central division.
Arnold was a surprise guest at the opening dinner for the Regional Championship that was held in Texarkana, TX, Oct. 11-13.
Her opening statement stemmed from the sea of anglers who had donned
pink to show support for their tournament crew member, Denise Trimble, who was
diagnosed with breast cancer in the spring of this year. Trimble sat speechless
as tears streamed down her face, overwhelmed by the love and kindness these
anglers had shown her and her husband, Porter Trimble, the South Central
Tournament Manager. “Faith, hope, and courage will carry you through your
journey as you dig deep to find your inner strength”, said Arnold addressing
Trimble. “I know you’re a strong woman, and with all these people supporting
you, you will beat this”, she said.
Royal Purple is a “Tour Level” sponsor of the
Bassmaster Weekend Series and both Denise and her husband, Porter, have
promoted those products at each of their events for the past six years.
During a routine mammogram, it was discovered that
Denise had a mast in one of her breast. The tumor was small and undetectable
with self examinations. After consulting with her doctor she elected to have a
lumpectomy vs. a mastectomy and pathology would determine the next steps. The
surgeon removed the mast (which actually turned out to be three masts) and four lymph
nodes for pathology. The report showed one of the lymph nodes to have cancer
cells and it was determined that is was the ‘HER II’ form of breast cancer,
which is a very aggressive type. The course of action was then determined to be
chemotherapy followed by radiation. During all of this entire process, Denise,
being the strong person she is, remained optimistic and gathered as much
information as she could, concerning her condition and treatment.
Denise began her chemotherapy treatments which would
last for five months-- with the first eight weeks being the toughest, both physically,
and mentally. During all of this, she insisted on continuing to work as a
paralegal during the week, and traveling with the South Central Region
Bassmaster Weekend Series crew on weekends - only missing one event which, in
fact, was the only event she’s missed in six years. The fishermen in the South
Central Region continually check on her and give her well wishes and prayers,
which is an inspiration for Denise, and gives her the motivation to continue on
with a positive attitude. She has said many times that the positive attitude
she has comes from the support of her friends and family.
As she completes her chemo and looks to the next
phase, Denise became involved with the Susan G. Komen Foundation and formed a
team named that was featured in the Komen weekly newsletter because of the success
of the team’s local campaign raising awareness and funds. She is an inspiration
to all, and continues to be an advocate for other women to get routine
mammograms, knowing that early detection is the key.
"I believe that everything happens for a reason
and never once have I questioned 'why me,'" said Trimble. "I’ve also been heard saying that there
is a blessing in all of this, and blessings have flowed my way from the very
beginning. Such as the evening of our
Bassmaster Weekend Series Regional Championship registration in Texarkana,
TX, when I was embraced with enormous love, support and encouragement from
our anglers (which I refer to as my extended family) with the “Team Denise”
campaign. The support by our anglers has been there from
the beginning. For example, at one of
our events all the anglers wore pink bracelets, and at another event a couple
of anglers donated rods for auction (with proceeds going to the Komen
Foundation in my honor), and there have been many other gestures of love and
kindness from them. Then, there’s been
the outpouring of support for our Susan G. Komen team (named “Cenla’s Breast
Friends for the Cure”) in which our team
has maintained from the onset, the highest amount of donations and team members.
for an individually run team in my community. There have been special bonds and
friendships formed, not only for me personally, but also for my loved ones. It’s not just my life that has changed
forever, but also the lives of so many around me through love and compassion",
she continued.
"In all I have learned and taken the position
that there a few survival “must haves” for which the primary is support,"
she said. "The support, love and compassion has provided me with such
great fuel, strength and energy to fight this disease. This has come from family, friends, my
employers and co-workers, support groups and even the medical staff that I
frequently visit. Falling behind that,
is faith in our Lord and a positive attitude (which also stems from the love
and support of family and friends), and while there have been a couple of
“episodes” of sadness (brought on as one of the side effects of chemotherapy),
I quickly snapped out of them by reminding myself just how blessed I am and
that such sadness just simply hurts too much
… both emotionally and physically.
And the third “must have” is keeping active. I thank God that I am able to continue to
work am able to maintain (albeit low) some form of activity. Those couple of episodes of sadness resulted
in me being house-bound for several days, which in turn made the physical side
effects of the chemo ten-fold painful. Too
bad it took the second episode before I discovered this, otherwise
there would not have been a second episode. Maintaining some sort of physical activity is
crucial, both physically and emotional", said Trimble.
"We have made enormous leaps forward in the
fight against breast cancer, but it remains to be the number one cause of death
of women for cancer, and there must be more done. Until just a few years ago,
women with HER2 breast cancer (the form of cancer I have which represents
approximately 15-20% of breast cancers), women simply did not survive it. But through research, a drug was developed and
approved by the FDA a few years ago, called Herceptin, that is now extending
the lives of us with HER2 breast cancer.
And, while it’s not a cure, women are living longer because of the drug. I hope and pray, and have faith that
someday it will happen, that with appropriate funding and through research,
there will be a cure for breast cancer and all other forms of cancer. For the time being, I remain blessed, embrace
life to the fullest, and I am a survivor", said Trimble with a resounding
voice.
Royal Purple Ladies would like to thank Denise Trimble and Debra Talley for sharing Denise's story. We wish her strength and healing as she continues her journey.
