Waynesboro native Holly Bertone takes a humorous view of cancer
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Holly Bertone and her husband, Carter, were married 10 days after Bertone’s last treatment for breast cancer.
Alexandria, Va. —
This is the third in a series of articles to promote the 30th annual Waynesboro Area Gala Cancer Auction Saturday, April 30, in the Eagles Club Inc., 22 E. Main St., Waynesboro. The theme is “Make It a Grand Slam Year!” The silent auction starts at 4 p.m. and the oral bidding gets underway at 5:30 p.m. For more information, visit:
www.wagca.org
Eight words forever changed the life of Holly (Wolff) Jackson in August 2010.
On Aug. 18, the 39-year-old Waynesboro native, who now lives in Alexandria, Va., was told “You have breast cancer.”
Two days later, her boyfriend Carter Bertone asked, “Will you marry me?”
The only child of Bob and Bonnie Wolff of Waynesboro underwent surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, finishing her treatment on March 21.
Ten days later, she got married and is now Holly Bertone.
She used humor through much of her treatment, sending e-mails to friends, family and complete strangers with a humorous take on her treatment to keep her spirits up.
Holly’s story
Bertone found the lump in her breast and went to her primary doctor, who sent her for a mammogram and biopsy.
“You get a feeling in the pit of your stomach that you know it’s not good,” Bertone said.
She celebrated her 39th birthday on Aug. 17. The next day she was diagnosed with an invasive ductal carcinoma.
“I got the phone call from the doctor on my way home from work,” Bertone said. “I was on the metro train, it was a hot summer day and we were packed in the train like sardines.”
Bertone had no family history of cancer and was very healthy before her diagnosis.
Fortunately, Bertone’s type of cancer was slow growing. Without chemotherapy, she had a 12 percent chance of recurrence. With chemo, that dropped to 10 percent.
“I’m a 10 percent kind of girl,” Bertone said.
Her treatment
Bertone had a lumpectomy, which means that a small portion of her breast was removed.
She had four rounds of chemo, each three weeks apart, and then 34 days of radiation.
Bertone worked throughout her treatments, only taking a few days off from her job with the federal government and faithfully going to the gym.
“I just had my first follow-up checkup and I’m in good health,” Bertone said, adding she will have a mammogram and MRI in early August.
Something funny
Bertone never lost hope and had a unique way of looking at her treatment.
She started keeping a journal as a type of therapy, then started sending her thoughts and reflections to family and friends via e-mail. Soon she was e-mailing complete strangers.
Her list of contacts went from 10 people to 100.
“It was great therapy for me,” Bertone said. “I received very encouraging responses.”
Her e-mails all contained humor.
After the initial trauma wore off, Bertone said she had a choice: say “woe is me” or laugh through it.
“Cancer sucks,” Bertone said. “I tried to find the humor in it.”
Her e-mails covered topics like the positives of losing your hair, treatments with laser beams and her many “tattoos” — a black magic marker was used to indicate treatment sites on her body.
Bertone hopes to compile her list of e-mails into a book and have it published.
Redefining beauty also was a hurdle Bertone had to overcome.
“Breast cancer is a triple threat,” Bertone said. “It takes away your breast, hair and fertility. I had to really define what beauty meant.”
Who she is
Bertone graduated from Waynesboro Area Senior High School in 1989, received an undergraduate degree from Elizabethtown College and a master’s from Johns Hopkins.
When she married Carter Bertone on March 31, she become stepmother to his 8-year-old son Aidan.
www.wagca.org
Eight words forever changed the life of Holly (Wolff) Jackson in August 2010.
On Aug. 18, the 39-year-old Waynesboro native, who now lives in Alexandria, Va., was told “You have breast cancer.”
Two days later, her boyfriend Carter Bertone asked, “Will you marry me?”
The only child of Bob and Bonnie Wolff of Waynesboro underwent surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, finishing her treatment on March 21.
Ten days later, she got married and is now Holly Bertone.
She used humor through much of her treatment, sending e-mails to friends, family and complete strangers with a humorous take on her treatment to keep her spirits up.
Holly’s story
Bertone found the lump in her breast and went to her primary doctor, who sent her for a mammogram and biopsy.
“You get a feeling in the pit of your stomach that you know it’s not good,” Bertone said.
She celebrated her 39th birthday on Aug. 17. The next day she was diagnosed with an invasive ductal carcinoma.
“I got the phone call from the doctor on my way home from work,” Bertone said. “I was on the metro train, it was a hot summer day and we were packed in the train like sardines.”
Bertone had no family history of cancer and was very healthy before her diagnosis.
Fortunately, Bertone’s type of cancer was slow growing. Without chemotherapy, she had a 12 percent chance of recurrence. With chemo, that dropped to 10 percent.
“I’m a 10 percent kind of girl,” Bertone said.
Her treatment
Bertone had a lumpectomy, which means that a small portion of her breast was removed.
She had four rounds of chemo, each three weeks apart, and then 34 days of radiation.
Bertone worked throughout her treatments, only taking a few days off from her job with the federal government and faithfully going to the gym.
“I just had my first follow-up checkup and I’m in good health,” Bertone said, adding she will have a mammogram and MRI in early August.
Something funny
Bertone never lost hope and had a unique way of looking at her treatment.
She started keeping a journal as a type of therapy, then started sending her thoughts and reflections to family and friends via e-mail. Soon she was e-mailing complete strangers.
Her list of contacts went from 10 people to 100.
“It was great therapy for me,” Bertone said. “I received very encouraging responses.”
Her e-mails all contained humor.
After the initial trauma wore off, Bertone said she had a choice: say “woe is me” or laugh through it.
“Cancer sucks,” Bertone said. “I tried to find the humor in it.”
Her e-mails covered topics like the positives of losing your hair, treatments with laser beams and her many “tattoos” — a black magic marker was used to indicate treatment sites on her body.
Bertone hopes to compile her list of e-mails into a book and have it published.
Redefining beauty also was a hurdle Bertone had to overcome.
“Breast cancer is a triple threat,” Bertone said. “It takes away your breast, hair and fertility. I had to really define what beauty meant.”
Who she is
Bertone graduated from Waynesboro Area Senior High School in 1989, received an undergraduate degree from Elizabethtown College and a master’s from Johns Hopkins.
When she married Carter Bertone on March 31, she become stepmother to his 8-year-old son Aidan.
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