Fashion show funds breast cancer retreat
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Judy Ann Bellefleur had a long career in service to her country, including a hitch in Iraq. But just before her Army career ended, another battle loomed: breast cancer.
After 23 years in the Army, Ms. Bellefleur, 50, of Penn in Butler, was ready to retire as a human resources specialist and first sergeant.
As a member of the Army Reserves' 316th ESC (Expeditionary Sustainment Command) in Coraopolis, she was looking forward to retirement in January 2009 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer a month before.
"I'm very proud of my 23-year career, but didn't realize I was opening up my schedule to cancer," said Ms. Bellefleur, who lives with her partner, Mitchell Cole, an environmental specialist for a chemical company. She has two sons from her first marriage, Nicholas, 25, and Bobby, 27.
She had six rounds of chemotherapy, and underwent surgery for a partial mastectomy and removal of her lymph nodes, followed by 33 radiation treatments. "I still glow," she laughed. Since then, she has been cancer-free, and maintains her health with medication, nutritional supplements, water aerobics and walking. She is enrolled part time in the medical assistant program at Butler County Community College, and has become a wig consultant for chemotherapy and radiation patients at Linda Midcap's Hair Gallery on Route 19 in Cranberry.
She also volunteers as auction coordinator for Casting for Recovery's annual Wearable Art Fashion Show fundraiser at the Pittsburgh Marriott North this month.
Casting for Recovery, a national nonprofit based in Vermont, (www.castingforrecovery.com) provides no-cost weekend retreats for women who have, or had, breast cancer, using fly-fishing as a vehicle to promote physical, emotional and spiritual health and to connect with others who have faced the disease.
She attended last year's two-and-a-half-day retreat, which was held at Nemacolin Woodlands in Farmington, and connected with 14 other breast cancer survivors from all over Western Pennsylvania. She still keeps in touch with three she met there.
"Learning how to fly-fish was great," says Ms. Bellefleur, whose partner, Mr Cole, is an avid fisherman. "But the best part for me was hearing everyone's stories," she says. "The conversations created an instant bond. We all have been down the same road, and can share some information that can make that walk easier."
In facing breast cancer, "You're in a club that you really don't want to belong to," she said. "But hearing another person's story helps address your own fears, and helps you grow."
The Wearable Art Fashion Show, luncheon and auction to benefit the Casting for Recovery Western Pa. retreat will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Sunday at the Pittsburgh Marriott North. Tickets are $40 and are available in advance.
For information, e-mail Casting for Recovery at CFRWPA@comcast.net.
First Published February 10, 2011 5:43 am
