Pink Army Surrounds Local Woman Taking on Breast Cancer for a Second Time

The tree-lined block of Cedar Street in Bristol Borough is a slice of suburban living. Each home, much like the area, has its own stories of challenges faced, won and beaten.

The month of October is Nationally known as Breast Cancer Awareness Month and it’s no accident than that Tami Hubbard has been surrounded by an army of pink. But more on that later…

Over 5 years ago, Hubbard with her two young sons and fiance Will O’Nell won a battle together as a family. Tami faced down and defeated stage three breast cancer.

She was diagnosed with the cancer in November of 2006 at the age of 31, she said. A double mastectomy, chemo treatments and she was cancer free as of June of 2007, Hubbard added.

Like the trooper she is, Hubbard went for treatment, dealt with the consequences of chemo and its after effects bravely, and took a medicine daily for five years she said with little emotion attached.

Hubbard beat down the virulent illness and went back to everyday life, as she and her fiance Will with their two boys – Dylan, 13 and Brent 10 – continued living a slice of the suburban dream. The couple  purchased the home they live in on Cedar Street, about three years ago, as she was winning her first battle with breast cancer.

Living that dream, raising a family and doing family activities was Hubbard’s focus and escape from the gnawing reminder that she had to do yearly check ups as way of keeping the cancer in check as her remission approached the 6 year mark.

“After five years,” she said, “you’re supposed to be free and clear. ” As she spoke, her voice quivered hearkened back to the day she was told the cancer is back.

While at her her 6 year follow up, doctors discovered a lump in Hubbard’s neck  Upon further examination her doctor confirmed  her fight with breast cancer was not exactly over. A new medicine was prescribed, a hysterectomy was performed and for three months the cancer seemed to stabilize.

Then in March of this year, Hubbard’s lymph nodes grew again.  In June, they grew some more and earlier this month scan results showed they grew again, she said.

Another medicine was added, one deleted and she described with dignity her new battle with breast cancer, which now included multiple lesions on her liver that recently appeared.

“I’ll be on chemo for the rest of my life,” she said as her team of doctors over at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia seek to stabilize the cancer.  That’s the goal right now, she said, and all that can be done in terms of medical treatment. There is no cure for stage IV breast cancer as of today, yet researchers are working feverishly in search for a cure.

“All I could think of was them,” she said while glancing over to her right and then directly in front of her as her two young sons played video games in the spacious living room of the their family home with a strange man asking their Mom questions.

“I worry for them. I still work, although that’s been cut down because of the new round of treatments” Hubbard said, as her mothering eyes checked in with her sons who were now aware what the topic of the conversation was.

Each of the boys played on, as Hubbard shook off  the tears in her own personal way. Her eyes said it all, no other words were needed

“I’m not losing this battle either,” she shouted.

Hubbard said she still works  as a medical assistant, but doesn’t have any idea how long she’ll be able to keep that pace as treatment requires frequent visits to Philadelphia and the aftereffects of the medication can slow you down, she said.

“I’ve already cut my hours back. My job works with and supports me,”  Hubbard said. “But once I lose more hours, due to treatment, and with a mortgage – I’m just afraid of what’s going to happen.”

The statistics are not exactly in Hubbard’s favor, plus she is a carrier of the BRCA 2 gene, which is associated with the cancer in her body, researchers say.

Half the women diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer carry the BRCA 2  gene according to the John Hopkins Medical website.   Additionally, the survival rate for woman diagnosed with this form of cancer 5 years after diagnosis is 22 percent, according to Cancer.org 

Hubbard said she didn’t ask her doctor at Fox Chase Cancer Center for any numbers. “I don’t want to know,” she whispered.

This is where the unintended challenge of illness synergizes with that shining light that Levittowners have come to be known for.

Word of the more severe reoccurrence of Hubbard’s illness began to circulate throughout Levittown. And that’s when a group of women, now known as the “Pink Army” said “enough with this!”

“We just can’t let stand by and watch” – that’s the essential mantra of group of women now with boots on the ground ready to take on everything the cancer has to offer.

One of the organizers of the group that’s been meeting weekly is Angelique Melnick. Melnick’s sister and her family of 10 children and husband were burnt out their Bristol Township home in the middle of the holiday season last year. Melnick has seen the power of how Levittowners put differences aside to prop up one of its own.  She’s seen that power at work and desperately hopes the same good will can be called upon for Hubbard, her fiance and “the boys,” she said.

The Pink Army, Melnick said, is meeting, coordinating, organizing and enlisting the help of others in the community, as any army in battle would.

Plans for a beef and beer fundraiser are in the works, yet they don’t have a hall as of yet, Angelique said. Hoping a local organization would donate one that can hold about 200 people.

Pink T-shirts are in the works with “Save the Boobies” tags as the woman share a momentary laugh as the bond between then coalesces searching for a cancer cell to destroy in the Pink Army’s name.

As the interview with Hubbard came to a close, she said she was overwhelmed by the attention and yet grateful for the opportunity to help bring to light awareness about breast cancer even under the circumstances.

“Women need to get tested especially for the BRCA 2 gene,” she said. “I might not want to know what my chances for full recovery are, but I did want know if I had the heredity factor.”

For Hubbard, it’s safe to say, that what she wants is to go back to her slice of the suburban American dream, raise her sons with her fiance, pay bills and take on the adventures of life.

Now with the help of a pink army enlisted to to bomb her cancer via “shock and awe,” her chances of getting their have most likely increased….

Thanks to an army of pink comprised  of woman from Levittown.

If you would like to donate to TAMI’S Pink Army you can do so in one of two ways. Visit GiveForward.com or send donations to an account created in Tami’s name at the Wells Fargo National Bank. The account name and number is as follows:  Tami’s Troops 5511123498

To volunteer for the effort or offer other ways of helping, feel free to contact Melnick through Facebook

As a side note, according to state department of health records, there was a slight drop in the number of deaths caused by breast cancer overall from 2071 in 2010 to 2042 in 2011. Closer to home in Bucks County, there was 109 deaths due to breast cancer in 2010 and 108 in 2011, the last two years  the cumulative data collected by state  health agency has available.

Editors Note:  An earlier version of this story had the ages of sons  Brent and Dylan incorrect. We have updated the story and regret the error. –Jeff