The 10th Annual Law Offices Of Ron Sholes Sista Strut!VyStar Ballpark - Home Of The Jacksonville Jumbo ShrimpSat, Sep 27, 2025 @ 08:30 AM EDT
Join iHeartMedia's 93.3 THE BEAT and V101.5 for The 10th Annual Law Offices Of Ron Sholes Sista Strut Breast Cancer Walk & Rally!This year's event will be held on Saturday, September 27, 2025 at the VyStar Ballpark located at 301 A. Philip Randolph Blvd, Jacksonville, FL 32202... Rally starts at 8:30am!What is Sista Strut?The Law Offices of Ron Sholes P.A. Sista Strut is the largest walk of it's kind in the city to support women of color and heightens awareness about the issues of breast cancer in women of color, as well as provide information on community resources.Sista Strut recognizes the strength of survivors, their family and friends, heightens awareness, promotes early detection and the search for a cure.Did you know?
Join iHeartMedia's 93.3 THE BEAT and V101.5 for The 10th Annual Law Offices Of Ron Sholes Sista Strut Breast Cancer Walk & Rally!This year's event will be held on Saturday, September 27, 2025 at the VyStar Ballpark located at 301 A. Philip Randolph Blvd, Jacksonville, FL 32202... Rally starts at 8:30am!What is Sista Strut?The Law Offices of Ron Sholes P.A. Sista Strut is the largest walk of it's kind in the city to support women of color and heightens awareness about the issues of breast cancer in women of color, as well as provide information on community resources.Sista Strut recognizes the strength of survivors, their family and friends, heightens awareness, promotes early detection and the search for a cure.Did you know?
- African American women in the U.S. have a 41% higher death rate from breast cancer than white women.
- African American women are more likely than white women to be diagnosed with breast cancer before age 40 and are more likely to be diagnosed with larger tumors.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to community viewpoints. As Shawnee feeling blessed and highly favored.
On this Sunday morning, we are highlighting Sister Strutch. The
tenth annual law offices of Ron Show's PA Sisters Strut
will happen September twenty seventh. I have pulled in from
the crates a few interviews from the Sister's Network Northeast
Florida with Diana Townsend. Will also be speaking to Lena Jordan,
(00:23):
a survivor of Fighter and we will be remembering Monique Denise,
who is no longer with us, but she is with
us in spirit and in song. So let's get into
community viewpoints this morning and community viewpoints, we are talking
to survivors of breast cancer. We're in the community empowering
(00:43):
one last push. And I have Diane Townsend. She's no
stranger to this platform. She is a survivor of breast cancer.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Nay, Shawnee, it is good to be with you, and I.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Understand that you are all involved with us. Talk to
us about the Sister's Network Northeast Florida. Why so important
for everyone that's listening to register and join us?
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Of course, yes, it is important to register and join
us because what we'll be doing is raising awareness about
breast cancer. Our Sisters Network Northeast Florida is a local
chapter that assists women who have been diagnosed with the
disease who are either going through their journey, have been
just diagnosed, or maybe out from their diagnosis. But what
(01:25):
we know about the disease is that it just doesn't
affect a person, it affects our families and the community
as well. We know that the statistics say that as
an African American race, we don't fare as well as
other races when it comes to mortality, and we want
to be sure that women know what they need to
know in order to be diagnosed early, detected, early, treated
(01:49):
early so that they can prolong their lives and leader
quality life. So we're in the community as a survivorship
organization assisting women who diagnosed, but the Sister Strut is
there to raise the awareness and bring everyone out in
the community to support the efforts of Sister Strut and
(02:09):
Sisters Network in the community.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Well, I understand you're a survivor, so it's really important
that we get numbers out so that we can build awareness.
Talk to us, Diane about the importance of just registering
the funds where they go, how they help. Our African
American sisters are sisters of color.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Yes, one of the main things that we do as
a beneficiary of the funds is we make sure that
the women who've been diagnosed receive a resource kit that
contains information that they'll need to help them through their journey.
We do healthfares to get the word out into the community.
(02:47):
One of another event, but it's so important to the
communities where mortality rates are greatest is a door to
door block walk which reaches thousands annually with our awareness literature.
We also have speaking engagements where we spread the word
and encourage hope, and then we do in home and
in hospital support. So those funds that are raised for
(03:08):
the benefit of the African American community surviving breast cancer
are used directly in the community, right back to the
people who really needed it. Could be the family, could
be the diagnosed woman. But it is to help us
to save our own lives.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
I thank you so much for coming to community viewpoints
and sharing your view as a survivor.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
Dane.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Just a phrase of unity, a phrase of power, phrase
to help those that are fighting breast cancer, something that
you held to your heart as you walk through this
surviving all these years.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Actually it's been a total of thirty one years from
the initial diagnosis. It included several recurrencies, but I've been
cancer free for twelve years. And what I would offer
any woman who is facing a new diagnosis is there's
a lot of hope. There's a lot of life after diagnosis.
Be encouraged, follow your physicians guidelines and what the plan is,
(04:04):
but be encouraged that there is a lot of life
after a diagnosis of breast cancer. And I'm in the
community spreading that information so that a woman who may
be fearful today can know that they're not alone and
that there's a lot of life left.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Thank you, Diane for joining us on community viewpoints as
a fighter survivor of breast cancer. God bless you.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Thank you, Shannie. I don't want to build fear in
anyone's heart, because if they're diagnosed, I want them to
know I can go to the doctor right away and
I can live a long life, a quality life.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
I thank you and keep striving, keep surviving, and God
bless you. Good morning. It's Shannie feeling blessed and highly favored.
We have another breast cancer survivor with us today and
she is the most amazing lady. I've had the opportunity
to kick it with her at different events and the
life I see coming through this wonderful person is just amazing.
(05:00):
She's a survivor of breast cancer. So this morning, please
help me welcome Lena Jordan to our community viewpoints.
Speaker 4 (05:07):
Good morning Lena, Good morning Shanee.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
How are you today?
Speaker 1 (05:10):
I'm well, you know you are our favorite auntie.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
And you are my favorite nieces, ma'am.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
I just wanted to welcome you to Community Viewpoints and
the communities listening and everybody is getting ready to walk
and strut. Just tell the community why this is so important,
why we need numbers and people to register so we
can build awareness for breast cancer.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
Well, the register for Social struct is a great event
for me. I've been coming for the last three years
and it's just amazing because it shows people that we
are cohesive together in this fight against breast cancer and
the community should come out and join us because this
is not just a survival story, this is a community story.
(05:55):
And with that being said, the Social Strut event has
been well attended for the first year was amazing, The
second year was phenomenal. The third year, I mean, come on, guys,
you gotta come on out and you gotta do this
with us, because it keeps growing because we are a
community of one. We are family, and families stay together
(06:15):
and stick together. This thing, breast cancer, I mean, it's
an other thing, but it's beautiful in the eye of
people who stay with us and fight with us against this.
And once we do this together as a community, the
sister Strudy Ben is phenomenal.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Is phenomenal to me if you're just tuning into community
view points. As Shawnee speaking to Lena Jordan, she's a
survivor of breast cancer, and ma'am tell us, how long
have you been fighting breast cancer?
Speaker 3 (06:43):
Well, I was in the fight, but I didn't have
to fight. Then. It's been eighteen years. This year would
be eighteen years since I've been diagnosed with breast cancer.
But God, but God, he fought my battle for me
as I laid in his arms. And so with that
being said to me, it was a hard fight, but
it was an easy fight. If you understand what I'm saying.
(07:04):
It was hard because it's hard on your body when
you're having these nuclear chemicals pumped into you. But if
you rely and relax in the faith that you have
in the Lord and just continue to go and have
these treatments done. You know, yeah, some of us get sick,
some of us don't. It's according to our body makeup
(07:24):
and what we can stand and what we can take.
But if you just RelA, just rest in God's arms.
It's hard, but it's okay, and it's not a death sentence.
It's not something when somebody says you have breast cancer.
You don't fall apart. Some people do. I didn't fall
apart because I had gone to my prayer towl at
my church, which is Philipping Community Church, and I prayed
(07:46):
and I asked God not to let me think in
nine body, soul of spirit. And to day when I
got the diagnosis Shani, I asked, what are we going
to do? I fold my arms, I crossed my legs,
and I asked questions and the questions were answered. And
with that being said, it was just like going through something.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
I know.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
My family was shuck up. My husband, he was there
with me. He cried like a baby. I didn't have
any inclination that he had been crying until I finished
talking to the doctor because my focus was on him,
on the doctor, myself and the doctor with these questions.
And when I turned unto Wayne, my husband, he had
been crying and his little eyes were just so to
meat to get read, and the nurse was able to
(08:23):
give him tissue. And when I asked him why was
he crying, he said, pee, I just that's my nickname, Pete.
And he said, I just heard a man tell you
that you have breast cancer. And it didn't phaze you.
Oh it phazed me. But I knew who I was
depending on. I was depending on Jesus. I was depending
on my Savior to take me through this. So you know,
(08:44):
I was say, okay, God, I mean there's nothing I
could do about it now. I mean, I can't make
it go away, you know, so I had to do
what my doctors told me to do.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
I appreciate you just talking about your journey and not
not thinking it's a death sentence, thinking that you can
with God as your pilot, you can see yourself through this.
So community, if you're just tuning in to community view points.
Is Shawnee speaking to the brave the furious the most
amazing Lena Jordan, and she is here as a survivor,
(09:14):
a fighter of breast cancer. We are stretching for a
great cause or raising awareness, raising funds so that we'll
have funds to help our sisters of color. So, Lena,
understanding that you leaned on God, what was a phrase
that kept you going, made you understand that this is
not a death sentence?
Speaker 3 (09:32):
Well, I did the Seasons six and ten, which was
put in on the full amor of the Lord. He
told me to shod myself. He told me to put
on this almor and stand firm in this fight. And
that's what I did, because you know, he tells us
to put on this amor, but he never tells us
to put nothing against our back because he has our back.
(09:53):
And I know that God had my back. As long
as he's behind me, I can go forward. And that's
what I did. I went forward through this battle, you know,
because I knew who was shadowing me. In fact, I
didn't even have to walk. He picked me up, as
you know the poem the footprints. I mean, it was
like he picked me up and he carried me through this.
He carried me through this so well that he had
(10:15):
given me a lady named Maxine Shepherd. She would come
by and we were study the Bible all the months
prior when I was diagnosed. When she found out I
was diagnosed, she came here and look, I regret us
to her and here she come out. But the day,
the first day she came, I didn't want her to leave.
When she left, and from that point on she would come.
We would to discuss the Bible because we all need somebody.
(10:38):
I had my husband, he wasn't the person like she was.
Maxine was to give me that to stand straight, you know,
and everything. So that was my go to phrase, put
on the full arm of the Lord. And with that
she gave me a binder of seventy pays biden and
she said to me, God told me to tell you
to write. And in my head, I said, he told
(10:58):
you to tell me the right but he didn't tell me.
But one night, Shanee I was here after me and
my husband had gone to my doctor's appointment, which he
always had gone with me for the years, even before
breast cancer, and I didn't want to burden him again.
But what we had heard that day, and I didn't
want to cry because I didn't want to feel be pitiful.
I had one pity party. And when I had that
(11:20):
pity party, that night, I got that little seventy page
volume booklet and I began to write. And I started
writing in November of two thousand. I finished writing April
two thousand and one because after that time, I had
had my last chemo treatments A day after my forty
ninth birthday and my nineteenth anniversary to my husband, and
(11:42):
I was landing in this bed so sick, and I said, Wayne,
I said, next year, if God's fail our lives, I said,
I will not be landing in this bed. We will
be celebrating my fiftieth birthday and our twentieth wedding anniversary.
And guess what God allowed that to happen. But the
book that I had written. She gave me that one
one seventy page volume tablet turned from one to seven.
(12:04):
Because I kept writing. I wrote every day. It was
like a diar to me. It was like medicine for
me to write down the things that were going on
in my life per day each day. My sister, her
name is Ellen, she kept telling me, she said, well, kids,
you need to write your book. Write your book, Write
your book, and I said no, because I had no
title or anything. You know, the years had gone by.
This was two thousand and one. I didn't publish the
(12:26):
book until two thousand and thirteen, and so God gave
me a message. Was so lovely about this. All the
time I was writing Shawnee, I never put Bible verses
into those words that I was putting on paper. But
when I began to write this book, I began to
put Bible verses into that. And I'm telling you it's
a faith fact book. And I named it. It came
(12:48):
to me one night and said, you got faith, okay,
and your breast is gone okay. And so we didn't
do breast reconstruction anything like that. And I'm good, and
Wayne is good that the title came to me through
the Lord, good Bye breast, Hello Faith, laughing when there's
nothing funny. And the reason why I said laughing when
(13:08):
there's nothing funny, because I joked about my own self
through this. I didn't let anybody see that this was
causing any kind of stress of duration on my mental
on my physical capacity to live, to keep living even
without having two breaths. It's fine, it's fine. I ued
appease my sister all the time. She says, pee, where's
your breath? For that girl? I think in my pocket.
(13:29):
Just keep it moving, you know, because that's the kind
of person I am. God knows who he made when
he made me, and just like he says, he made
me marvelous and wonderfully made me and all of us.
So sometimes we have to take our infirmities and not
wrasfle and fight against them, but just go ahead it
and because we know that this too shall pass. That's
what kept me going, to just know that I had
(13:51):
put on that full armor and that I had to
keep smiling. I had to keep laughing just to keep
my sanity and to keep me above ground.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
Yes, man, your powerful story is amazing. And you know
what God says, We just have to have the faith
of a mustard seed and He'll take care of the rest.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Well, I'm t pig, Miss Lena Jordan. I appreciate this
message that you spoke into the life of people. Thank
you so much for being diligent. Thank you so much
for being a fighter, thank you so much for being
a survivor, and thank you so much for the words
that you put in the air today.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
And I just want to say, well more thank you.
I am a member of Sisters Network of Northeast Florida.
I joined them the week that I was given the diagnosis.
I got on the phone and my doctor had given
me a pamphlet and I called called Sisters Network and
they invited me to come to a meeting. And I
have been in the organization now for eighteen years. I'm
(14:48):
the treasurer of that group of Sisters Network, which is
an African American survivorship organization. We have so many numbers
in ladies that you are in this organization, not just
here in Jacksonville, Florida, but in Tampa, in Texas, California,
I mean all over so many states. I can't even
name them right now. Sisters Network, we get out and
(15:09):
we go into the neighborhoods and we go into our
community and we do block walks and we do some
posiums to inform people about breast health. We have the
best of best speakers to come out and you know,
talk to our ladies and our men, because men are
not unsusceptible to having breast counsel as well, because they
have even though they call their little bodies, they little
(15:31):
six pack. They little picks and chicks and all that
kind of stuff, but they're in the number as well,
you know, to get breast counsels. So with Sisters Network
and with Sisters Struck inviting us to team up with
you guys, that was just awesome and we appreciate the
fact that you all looked at us, litlow us and
brought us into your fold. And we thank you with
(15:54):
all our hearts shining. Thank you to our Heart Radio
and everybody who's associated it. And let me give a
shout out to my nephew Geewez.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
Thank you so much for coming to community viewpoints. All right, Darling,
it's community Viewpoints with Shawnie and the Sister's Network of
Northeast Florida's definitely come out and get empowered and strut.
And as we continue community viewpoints, I wanted to share
this next sister with the community. She no longer is
with us in body, but she is with us in
(16:25):
spirit and I dug through the archives and found this
interview from the past, so I wanted to share Monique
Denise with you. Today. We are addressing an issue that
has no color. We talk about cancer, and we talk
about breast cancer, and we talk about a lot of
things that people are going through. So today I have
Monique Denise on the line. She is a cancer survivor.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
How you doing, Monique, I'm doing great.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
So glad that you were able to call into the
show and talk to us about your journey. So Monique
talked to us about your journey with breast cancer. And
when they told you about that diagnosis, what was the
next thought?
Speaker 4 (17:04):
When I was diagnosed, I was thirty five. In my mind,
I thought I was too young. I found out probably
two years before I actually was diagnosed, I started having pain.
I was pregnant with my last child and I was
breastfeeding her and I stopped producing milk and I started
having sharp pains, and I went to the doctor and
(17:24):
I was, you know, sharing with them about the pain
that I was having, and one of the doctors that
I was seeing at that time said it was nothing
but my milk ducks that was fullen. So my child
two years later, she's almost two years old, and I'm
still having just sudden pain and I would kind of
ignore them because they would come and go. So I
would be in a general conversation and I would probably
(17:46):
grab the side of my breast and the pain would
go away, so I would ignore it. But a friend
of mine, she stated, you need to go get that
checked out. And when I went, I went to see
another physician and as soon as I walked in there
and I shared the paying the problems with this position,
and she started feeling her demio changed just a little bit,
but she kept her composure and so she sent me
(18:09):
immediately to go get my mammogram that following day. Then
when I went to get my mammogram, they sent me immediately,
which was the next day, so I was just started
on a Thursday. The Friday, I went to get the mammogram,
the Monday I went to get the ultrasound, and then
the Wednesday of that week, I got the phone call.
I was at work, and the whole time I was there,
(18:30):
I was nervous waiting. I didn't know what was going
to happen, what would be said, But in my mind,
I'm thinking, I'm too young to have this, so I
should be okay, maybe it's something else. Well, when I
got the phone call.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
I hollered. I did.
Speaker 4 (18:42):
I just cried. I cried my heart out, And that
was the first and only time I cried because I
started paying attention to everyone around me, my mom, my family,
my friends, my sisters, everybody. And I realized at that
moment that depending on how I take this, we'll determine
how everyone will around me takes.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
This as well.
Speaker 4 (19:01):
In my first full day of appointment my physician, one
of the first things he told me, he says, it's
not the disease that kills people. It's not cancer in
many cases, it's their attitude towards it. If you let
it defeat you, then it will. And so from that
moment on, I told myself, I have to be strong.
I have three kids at home. I have to stay positive.
(19:22):
He said, feeds off of negativity. So from that moment on,
I said, I have to be positive. I have to
rid my life of any type of negativity, any type
of problem, and so happiness from there on out was
my end goal. That's all I wanted. I made a
decision that my motto was now or never. After you know,
I went through all of this and receive this. If
(19:44):
I make it through this, Lord, I'm just gonna follow
my dreams, chase after everything that I've ever wanted, and
do whatever I can possibly do.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
We know, Monique, I've seen you at our last Sister Strut.
You were one of the ambassadors, and I know that
everything with the news, with your family, you chose a
path of empowerment community. If you're just tuning in and
Shawnee speaking to Monique Denise, she is talking about and
has been diagnosed with stage three breast cancer back in
(20:13):
twenty seventeen, and as you notice, she's still here and
as she stated, it's all about your attitude. But she's
also taken this diagnosis and turned pain into something phenomenal.
So Monique Denise talked to us about what else do
you do to uplift and empower others as well as yourself.
Speaker 4 (20:32):
Well, I do speak in the community. Health has actually
always been my passion. That's what I got my degree in.
So I do do a lot of educational community sessions
to empower women young and old and tell them what
you know we have going on, what you need to
pay attention to, and that cancer nowadays it doesn't have
an age restriction. I learned that young ladies darting at
(20:54):
the age of fifteen are being diagnosed with breast cancer.
And I just look at what I went through and
I could not imagine being so young and having to
deal with it. But also, I've always sung. I've always
been a singer all my life. But now I've taken
this to say I want to get out of the community,
share my gifts, and push this model not just in
(21:17):
speaking terms, but also in songs. So I did write
my first single about cancer and my journey. It's called Journey,
and I put it out there because everyone kept telling
me you need to write a book, you need to
write a book. I said, well, I'm a singer, not
a writer. I wrote a song to kind of share
my journey and what I went through because I wanted
to help uplift people. I remember sitting in the chemo
(21:41):
chair and I got the worst form of chemo treatment,
which is called the Red Devil, so you can imagine,
you know what that is like, and just feeling alone,
just feeling like nobody understood. And I just remember the
times when they did have the musicians come in, they
had people come in and play a good time are
seeing to us sometimes, how positive that was, how motivational
(22:05):
that was, and it just made me feel like I
wasn't alone, that there was someone out there that I
could relate to also being a black woman in the community.
With it a young black woman, I found that a
lot of the services were not always geared towards us
that I came across. So what I've tried to do
is work with other community programs that are geared towards
(22:28):
Black women in the community and again just share my
gifts through music and fight the fight and try to
be a part of the cause and continue to educate people.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
Well, I know that you were at our last Sister Strut,
the third annual, and you know, it was empowering to
see you on the stage, to see how you overcome
and to see your energy. And I know breast cancer
and those chemo treatments just take a lot out of you,
but you're a fighter and you're still here. So Monique,
I would like for you to just, you know, talk
to the community and tell them how empowering it is
(22:59):
for us to get together as Sisters are. You know,
joining us on September fourteenth for the Sisters Strike in
Jacksonville was.
Speaker 4 (23:07):
Very important because a lot of times, I know, we
don't like to talk about what's going on with us.
And one thing throughout my journey I shared it on Facebook.
I shared the whole journey on Facebook, and I found
that a lot of women were actually empowered by the
fact that I shared my journey. They were then giving
the strength and what they needed to come out and
(23:27):
talk about what they were dealing with. It also gave
them the confidence to know that I can make it through.
So sometimes unity and coming together can be just the
thing that someone needs rather than having them sit home,
not go and get the treatment, or feel alone, because
that's going to slowly kill them. That's going to slowly
dwindle them away. They'll feel isolated. Depression is so easy
(23:50):
when you're going through breast cancer and treatment, or when
you're not feeling well, you're appetite. But just having people
a support system, So coming together, being a part of
the cause, empowering and educating our communities what actually helps
save life. I mean, we're not the biggest group that
gets it, but we are the group that dies the
most from it because it goes undiagnosed and it just
(24:14):
dwindles away in us in many ways. So coming together
and surrounding yourself what people who've been through, what you've
been through, are going through, what you're going through, and
just finding that sisterhood, that unity is very empowering and
it can save your life.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
Yes, I know the Sisters Network Northeast Florida also partners
with us that's coming up, and I know that it's
been empowering and we've been growing and the numbers are growing.
And I just ask everybody to, you know, think about Monique,
Denise and all the other ladies that are fighting breast cancer.
We want the community to understand that if we don't
(24:48):
come together to help each other, then what is the
fight really for? So Monique, talk to us. I know
that you sing out in the community, and singing is
a joy and music really matters too because because it
helps when you're down or helps through your chemo treatments.
But also I want to ask you something because I
know you've had to keep steadfast because of your children.
(25:09):
What has kept you steadfast in these times being diagnosed
with stage three breast cancer.
Speaker 4 (25:15):
Like you said, my children definitely, but then also my
faith I'm a strong believer, and then my friends, you know,
my family, and just knowing the value of life. Honestly,
going through that has opened my eyes. I've seen life
in a whole new light. I really have I've seen
the beauty of the little things. It's the little things
(25:35):
that matter on a day to day basis, because whether
you're going through breast cancer or something else, you got
to stop taking the little things for granted, because those
little things will be the things that keep you going
on a day to day basis. And so my children,
my family, and just seeing how I can help someone else.
I have a passion for helping people, and so that
all of those things they keep me going. Even when
(25:57):
I'm down, always someone come and saying, hey, you know
what you did the other day. When you did that
that helped me because I had a friend was getting
ready to commit suicide because she was going through through
things such as this, and just being there for her
support us and watching my journey. It encouraged me that
I'm here for a reason. I'm here to help someone
else out of the situation.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
I understand that. And you know, sometimes we don't think
that what we do or share or what people see
as influencers. Because you're an influencer, you know you're influencing
the city of Duval, empowering them to understand that you're
going through something that's life changing, but you're not stopping
and you're not giving up. And so that's what's empowering
about you, Monique Denise, is that you have not stopped
(26:39):
and you've used that pain and turned it into power.
Speaker 4 (26:42):
Yeah. Well, thank you.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
Thank you so much for being a trailblazer in the
city and sharing your story and not stopping. It's a
day to come together as sisters and to show and
shine and to be there as a comfort or a
shoulder or a voice. So hopefully you'll be singing your
song so that the community can hear it.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
Thank you much.
Speaker 4 (27:00):
You are welcome.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
With breast cancer and the diagnosis, it's also a mental
health type of issue as well. You had to mentally
get over that.
Speaker 4 (27:09):
You really do, I mean, and a lot of the
facilities they do provide that service. But please, the biggest
thing I would say, don't feel embarrassed about it. You
need it. It's very important because whether you deal with
it right then in that moment, you will deal with
it later. That's one of those things that you know,
even now to this day, you still wonder why me, Lord,
(27:30):
because it's still a lot that you have to do
it for the rest of your life. My life has
been changed forever there's nothing I can do to go
back to who I was, what I used to be,
how I used to be. So you still have those
mental struggles, So please just get the help and the
support that you need because there are people that will
help you through and not judge you.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
Community. If you're just tuning in and Shawnee speaking to
Monique Denise, she is a fighter and she is battling
diagnosis of stage three breast cancer in twenty seventeen, she
got the diagnosis. Community, be empowered and definitely get involved
with what the community is doing about breast cancer. It
has no color, but you can support. Thank you so much,
(28:11):
Monique Denise.
Speaker 4 (28:12):
Thank you, thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
You're welcome. We're praying for everybody, and God bless you.
You're not stopping. Can't stop, won't stop?
Speaker 4 (28:19):
Huh can I can't send the right example for my
kids if I don't follow after my dream.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
You know, it's a family thing and it's a fight.
Speaker 4 (28:26):
It is, it really is. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
Get your team together and strut for a great cause.
On September twenty seventh, join us for the tenth Annual
Law Offices of Ron Scholl's PA Sisters strut benefiting the
Sisters Network Northeast Florida as well as the Pink Queen
Bee Foundation, Inc. Supporting women in Jacksonville join the movement.
Thank you for listening to community viewpoints. Have a blessed day.
Welcome to community viewpoints. As Shawnee feeling blessed and highly favored.
On this Sunday morning, we are highlighting Sister Strutch. The
tenth annual law offices of Ron Show's PA Sisters Strut
will happen September twenty seventh. I have pulled in from
the crates a few interviews from the Sister's Network Northeast
Florida with Diana Townsend. Will also be speaking to Lena Jordan,
(00:23):
a survivor of Fighter and we will be remembering Monique Denise,
who is no longer with us, but she is with
us in spirit and in song. So let's get into
community viewpoints this morning and community viewpoints, we are talking
to survivors of breast cancer. We're in the community empowering
(00:43):
one last push. And I have Diane Townsend. She's no
stranger to this platform. She is a survivor of breast cancer.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Nay, Shawnee, it is good to be with you, and I.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Understand that you are all involved with us. Talk to
us about the Sister's Network Northeast Florida. Why so important
for everyone that's listening to register and join us?
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Of course, yes, it is important to register and join
us because what we'll be doing is raising awareness about
breast cancer. Our Sisters Network Northeast Florida is a local
chapter that assists women who have been diagnosed with the
disease who are either going through their journey, have been
just diagnosed, or maybe out from their diagnosis. But what
(01:25):
we know about the disease is that it just doesn't
affect a person, it affects our families and the community
as well. We know that the statistics say that as
an African American race, we don't fare as well as
other races when it comes to mortality, and we want
to be sure that women know what they need to
know in order to be diagnosed early, detected, early, treated
(01:49):
early so that they can prolong their lives and leader
quality life. So we're in the community as a survivorship
organization assisting women who diagnosed, but the Sister Strut is
there to raise the awareness and bring everyone out in
the community to support the efforts of Sister Strut and
(02:09):
Sisters Network in the community.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Well, I understand you're a survivor, so it's really important
that we get numbers out so that we can build awareness.
Talk to us, Diane about the importance of just registering
the funds where they go, how they help. Our African
American sisters are sisters of color.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Yes, one of the main things that we do as
a beneficiary of the funds is we make sure that
the women who've been diagnosed receive a resource kit that
contains information that they'll need to help them through their journey.
We do healthfares to get the word out into the community.
(02:47):
One of another event, but it's so important to the
communities where mortality rates are greatest is a door to
door block walk which reaches thousands annually with our awareness literature.
We also have speaking engagements where we spread the word
and encourage hope, and then we do in home and
in hospital support. So those funds that are raised for
(03:08):
the benefit of the African American community surviving breast cancer
are used directly in the community, right back to the
people who really needed it. Could be the family, could
be the diagnosed woman. But it is to help us
to save our own lives.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
I thank you so much for coming to community viewpoints
and sharing your view as a survivor.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
Dane.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Just a phrase of unity, a phrase of power, phrase
to help those that are fighting breast cancer, something that
you held to your heart as you walk through this
surviving all these years.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Actually it's been a total of thirty one years from
the initial diagnosis. It included several recurrencies, but I've been
cancer free for twelve years. And what I would offer
any woman who is facing a new diagnosis is there's
a lot of hope. There's a lot of life after diagnosis.
Be encouraged, follow your physicians guidelines and what the plan is,
(04:04):
but be encouraged that there is a lot of life
after a diagnosis of breast cancer. And I'm in the
community spreading that information so that a woman who may
be fearful today can know that they're not alone and
that there's a lot of life left.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Thank you, Diane for joining us on community viewpoints as
a fighter survivor of breast cancer. God bless you.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Thank you, Shannie. I don't want to build fear in
anyone's heart, because if they're diagnosed, I want them to
know I can go to the doctor right away and
I can live a long life, a quality life.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
I thank you and keep striving, keep surviving, and God
bless you. Good morning. It's Shannie feeling blessed and highly favored.
We have another breast cancer survivor with us today and
she is the most amazing lady. I've had the opportunity
to kick it with her at different events and the
life I see coming through this wonderful person is just amazing.
(05:00):
She's a survivor of breast cancer. So this morning, please
help me welcome Lena Jordan to our community viewpoints.
Speaker 4 (05:07):
Good morning Lena, Good morning Shanee.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
How are you today?
Speaker 1 (05:10):
I'm well, you know you are our favorite auntie.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
And you are my favorite nieces, ma'am.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
I just wanted to welcome you to Community Viewpoints and
the communities listening and everybody is getting ready to walk
and strut. Just tell the community why this is so important,
why we need numbers and people to register so we
can build awareness for breast cancer.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
Well, the register for Social struct is a great event
for me. I've been coming for the last three years
and it's just amazing because it shows people that we
are cohesive together in this fight against breast cancer and
the community should come out and join us because this
is not just a survival story, this is a community story.
(05:55):
And with that being said, the Social Strut event has
been well attended for the first year was amazing, The
second year was phenomenal. The third year, I mean, come on, guys,
you gotta come on out and you gotta do this
with us, because it keeps growing because we are a
community of one. We are family, and families stay together
(06:15):
and stick together. This thing, breast cancer, I mean, it's
an other thing, but it's beautiful in the eye of
people who stay with us and fight with us against this.
And once we do this together as a community, the
sister Strudy Ben is phenomenal.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Is phenomenal to me if you're just tuning into community
view points. As Shawnee speaking to Lena Jordan, she's a
survivor of breast cancer, and ma'am tell us, how long
have you been fighting breast cancer?
Speaker 3 (06:43):
Well, I was in the fight, but I didn't have
to fight. Then. It's been eighteen years. This year would
be eighteen years since I've been diagnosed with breast cancer.
But God, but God, he fought my battle for me
as I laid in his arms. And so with that
being said to me, it was a hard fight, but
it was an easy fight. If you understand what I'm saying.
(07:04):
It was hard because it's hard on your body when
you're having these nuclear chemicals pumped into you. But if
you rely and relax in the faith that you have
in the Lord and just continue to go and have
these treatments done. You know, yeah, some of us get sick,
some of us don't. It's according to our body makeup
(07:24):
and what we can stand and what we can take.
But if you just RelA, just rest in God's arms.
It's hard, but it's okay, and it's not a death sentence.
It's not something when somebody says you have breast cancer.
You don't fall apart. Some people do. I didn't fall
apart because I had gone to my prayer towl at
my church, which is Philipping Community Church, and I prayed
(07:46):
and I asked God not to let me think in
nine body, soul of spirit. And to day when I
got the diagnosis Shani, I asked, what are we going
to do? I fold my arms, I crossed my legs,
and I asked questions and the questions were answered. And
with that being said, it was just like going through something.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
I know.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
My family was shuck up. My husband, he was there
with me. He cried like a baby. I didn't have
any inclination that he had been crying until I finished
talking to the doctor because my focus was on him,
on the doctor, myself and the doctor with these questions.
And when I turned unto Wayne, my husband, he had
been crying and his little eyes were just so to
meat to get read, and the nurse was able to
(08:23):
give him tissue. And when I asked him why was
he crying, he said, pee, I just that's my nickname, Pete.
And he said, I just heard a man tell you
that you have breast cancer. And it didn't phaze you.
Oh it phazed me. But I knew who I was
depending on. I was depending on Jesus. I was depending
on my Savior to take me through this. So you know,
(08:44):
I was say, okay, God, I mean there's nothing I
could do about it now. I mean, I can't make
it go away, you know, so I had to do
what my doctors told me to do.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
I appreciate you just talking about your journey and not
not thinking it's a death sentence, thinking that you can
with God as your pilot, you can see yourself through this.
So community, if you're just tuning in to community view points.
Is Shawnee speaking to the brave the furious the most
amazing Lena Jordan, and she is here as a survivor,
(09:14):
a fighter of breast cancer. We are stretching for a
great cause or raising awareness, raising funds so that we'll
have funds to help our sisters of color. So, Lena,
understanding that you leaned on God, what was a phrase
that kept you going, made you understand that this is
not a death sentence?
Speaker 3 (09:32):
Well, I did the Seasons six and ten, which was
put in on the full amor of the Lord. He
told me to shod myself. He told me to put
on this almor and stand firm in this fight. And
that's what I did, because you know, he tells us
to put on this amor, but he never tells us
to put nothing against our back because he has our back.
(09:53):
And I know that God had my back. As long
as he's behind me, I can go forward. And that's
what I did. I went forward through this battle, you know,
because I knew who was shadowing me. In fact, I
didn't even have to walk. He picked me up, as
you know the poem the footprints. I mean, it was
like he picked me up and he carried me through this.
He carried me through this so well that he had
(10:15):
given me a lady named Maxine Shepherd. She would come
by and we were study the Bible all the months
prior when I was diagnosed. When she found out I
was diagnosed, she came here and look, I regret us
to her and here she come out. But the day,
the first day she came, I didn't want her to leave.
When she left, and from that point on she would come.
We would to discuss the Bible because we all need somebody.
(10:38):
I had my husband, he wasn't the person like she was.
Maxine was to give me that to stand straight, you know,
and everything. So that was my go to phrase, put
on the full arm of the Lord. And with that
she gave me a binder of seventy pays biden and
she said to me, God told me to tell you
to write. And in my head, I said, he told
(10:58):
you to tell me the right but he didn't tell me.
But one night, Shanee I was here after me and
my husband had gone to my doctor's appointment, which he
always had gone with me for the years, even before
breast cancer, and I didn't want to burden him again.
But what we had heard that day, and I didn't
want to cry because I didn't want to feel be pitiful.
I had one pity party. And when I had that
(11:20):
pity party, that night, I got that little seventy page
volume booklet and I began to write. And I started
writing in November of two thousand. I finished writing April
two thousand and one because after that time, I had
had my last chemo treatments A day after my forty
ninth birthday and my nineteenth anniversary to my husband, and
(11:42):
I was landing in this bed so sick, and I said, Wayne,
I said, next year, if God's fail our lives, I said,
I will not be landing in this bed. We will
be celebrating my fiftieth birthday and our twentieth wedding anniversary.
And guess what God allowed that to happen. But the
book that I had written. She gave me that one
one seventy page volume tablet turned from one to seven.
(12:04):
Because I kept writing. I wrote every day. It was
like a diar to me. It was like medicine for
me to write down the things that were going on
in my life per day each day. My sister, her
name is Ellen, she kept telling me, she said, well, kids,
you need to write your book. Write your book, Write
your book, and I said no, because I had no
title or anything. You know, the years had gone by.
This was two thousand and one. I didn't publish the
(12:26):
book until two thousand and thirteen, and so God gave
me a message. Was so lovely about this. All the
time I was writing Shawnee, I never put Bible verses
into those words that I was putting on paper. But
when I began to write this book, I began to
put Bible verses into that. And I'm telling you it's
a faith fact book. And I named it. It came
(12:48):
to me one night and said, you got faith, okay,
and your breast is gone okay. And so we didn't
do breast reconstruction anything like that. And I'm good, and
Wayne is good that the title came to me through
the Lord, good Bye breast, Hello Faith, laughing when there's
nothing funny. And the reason why I said laughing when
(13:08):
there's nothing funny, because I joked about my own self
through this. I didn't let anybody see that this was
causing any kind of stress of duration on my mental
on my physical capacity to live, to keep living even
without having two breaths. It's fine, it's fine. I ued
appease my sister all the time. She says, pee, where's
your breath? For that girl? I think in my pocket.
(13:29):
Just keep it moving, you know, because that's the kind
of person I am. God knows who he made when
he made me, and just like he says, he made
me marvelous and wonderfully made me and all of us.
So sometimes we have to take our infirmities and not
wrasfle and fight against them, but just go ahead it
and because we know that this too shall pass. That's
what kept me going, to just know that I had
(13:51):
put on that full armor and that I had to
keep smiling. I had to keep laughing just to keep
my sanity and to keep me above ground.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
Yes, man, your powerful story is amazing. And you know
what God says, We just have to have the faith
of a mustard seed and He'll take care of the rest.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Well, I'm t pig, Miss Lena Jordan. I appreciate this
message that you spoke into the life of people. Thank
you so much for being diligent. Thank you so much
for being a fighter, thank you so much for being
a survivor, and thank you so much for the words
that you put in the air today.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
And I just want to say, well more thank you.
I am a member of Sisters Network of Northeast Florida.
I joined them the week that I was given the diagnosis.
I got on the phone and my doctor had given
me a pamphlet and I called called Sisters Network and
they invited me to come to a meeting. And I
have been in the organization now for eighteen years. I'm
(14:48):
the treasurer of that group of Sisters Network, which is
an African American survivorship organization. We have so many numbers
in ladies that you are in this organization, not just
here in Jacksonville, Florida, but in Tampa, in Texas, California,
I mean all over so many states. I can't even
name them right now. Sisters Network, we get out and
(15:09):
we go into the neighborhoods and we go into our
community and we do block walks and we do some
posiums to inform people about breast health. We have the
best of best speakers to come out and you know,
talk to our ladies and our men, because men are
not unsusceptible to having breast counsel as well, because they
have even though they call their little bodies, they little
(15:31):
six pack. They little picks and chicks and all that
kind of stuff, but they're in the number as well,
you know, to get breast counsels. So with Sisters Network
and with Sisters Struck inviting us to team up with
you guys, that was just awesome and we appreciate the
fact that you all looked at us, litlow us and
brought us into your fold. And we thank you with
(15:54):
all our hearts shining. Thank you to our Heart Radio
and everybody who's associated it. And let me give a
shout out to my nephew Geewez.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
Thank you so much for coming to community viewpoints. All right, Darling,
it's community Viewpoints with Shawnie and the Sister's Network of
Northeast Florida's definitely come out and get empowered and strut.
And as we continue community viewpoints, I wanted to share
this next sister with the community. She no longer is
with us in body, but she is with us in
(16:25):
spirit and I dug through the archives and found this
interview from the past, so I wanted to share Monique
Denise with you. Today. We are addressing an issue that
has no color. We talk about cancer, and we talk
about breast cancer, and we talk about a lot of
things that people are going through. So today I have
Monique Denise on the line. She is a cancer survivor.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
How you doing, Monique, I'm doing great.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
So glad that you were able to call into the
show and talk to us about your journey. So Monique
talked to us about your journey with breast cancer. And
when they told you about that diagnosis, what was the
next thought?
Speaker 4 (17:04):
When I was diagnosed, I was thirty five. In my mind,
I thought I was too young. I found out probably
two years before I actually was diagnosed, I started having pain.
I was pregnant with my last child and I was
breastfeeding her and I stopped producing milk and I started
having sharp pains, and I went to the doctor and
(17:24):
I was, you know, sharing with them about the pain
that I was having, and one of the doctors that
I was seeing at that time said it was nothing
but my milk ducks that was fullen. So my child
two years later, she's almost two years old, and I'm
still having just sudden pain and I would kind of
ignore them because they would come and go. So I
would be in a general conversation and I would probably
(17:46):
grab the side of my breast and the pain would
go away, so I would ignore it. But a friend
of mine, she stated, you need to go get that
checked out. And when I went, I went to see
another physician and as soon as I walked in there
and I shared the paying the problems with this position,
and she started feeling her demio changed just a little bit,
but she kept her composure and so she sent me
(18:09):
immediately to go get my mammogram that following day. Then
when I went to get my mammogram, they sent me immediately,
which was the next day, so I was just started
on a Thursday. The Friday, I went to get the mammogram,
the Monday I went to get the ultrasound, and then
the Wednesday of that week, I got the phone call.
I was at work, and the whole time I was there,
(18:30):
I was nervous waiting. I didn't know what was going
to happen, what would be said, But in my mind,
I'm thinking, I'm too young to have this, so I
should be okay, maybe it's something else. Well, when I
got the phone call.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
I hollered. I did.
Speaker 4 (18:42):
I just cried. I cried my heart out, And that
was the first and only time I cried because I
started paying attention to everyone around me, my mom, my family,
my friends, my sisters, everybody. And I realized at that
moment that depending on how I take this, we'll determine
how everyone will around me takes.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
This as well.
Speaker 4 (19:01):
In my first full day of appointment my physician, one
of the first things he told me, he says, it's
not the disease that kills people. It's not cancer in
many cases, it's their attitude towards it. If you let
it defeat you, then it will. And so from that
moment on, I told myself, I have to be strong.
I have three kids at home. I have to stay positive.
(19:22):
He said, feeds off of negativity. So from that moment on,
I said, I have to be positive. I have to
rid my life of any type of negativity, any type
of problem, and so happiness from there on out was
my end goal. That's all I wanted. I made a
decision that my motto was now or never. After you know,
I went through all of this and receive this. If
(19:44):
I make it through this, Lord, I'm just gonna follow
my dreams, chase after everything that I've ever wanted, and
do whatever I can possibly do.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
We know, Monique, I've seen you at our last Sister Strut.
You were one of the ambassadors, and I know that
everything with the news, with your family, you chose a
path of empowerment community. If you're just tuning in and
Shawnee speaking to Monique Denise, she is talking about and
has been diagnosed with stage three breast cancer back in
(20:13):
twenty seventeen, and as you notice, she's still here and
as she stated, it's all about your attitude. But she's
also taken this diagnosis and turned pain into something phenomenal.
So Monique Denise talked to us about what else do
you do to uplift and empower others as well as yourself.
Speaker 4 (20:32):
Well, I do speak in the community. Health has actually
always been my passion. That's what I got my degree in.
So I do do a lot of educational community sessions
to empower women young and old and tell them what
you know we have going on, what you need to
pay attention to, and that cancer nowadays it doesn't have
an age restriction. I learned that young ladies darting at
(20:54):
the age of fifteen are being diagnosed with breast cancer.
And I just look at what I went through and
I could not imagine being so young and having to
deal with it. But also, I've always sung. I've always
been a singer all my life. But now I've taken
this to say I want to get out of the community,
share my gifts, and push this model not just in
(21:17):
speaking terms, but also in songs. So I did write
my first single about cancer and my journey. It's called Journey,
and I put it out there because everyone kept telling
me you need to write a book, you need to
write a book. I said, well, I'm a singer, not
a writer. I wrote a song to kind of share
my journey and what I went through because I wanted
to help uplift people. I remember sitting in the chemo
(21:41):
chair and I got the worst form of chemo treatment,
which is called the Red Devil, so you can imagine,
you know what that is like, and just feeling alone,
just feeling like nobody understood. And I just remember the
times when they did have the musicians come in, they
had people come in and play a good time are
seeing to us sometimes, how positive that was, how motivational
(22:05):
that was, and it just made me feel like I
wasn't alone, that there was someone out there that I
could relate to also being a black woman in the community.
With it a young black woman, I found that a
lot of the services were not always geared towards us
that I came across. So what I've tried to do
is work with other community programs that are geared towards
(22:28):
Black women in the community and again just share my
gifts through music and fight the fight and try to
be a part of the cause and continue to educate people.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
Well, I know that you were at our last Sister Strut,
the third annual, and you know, it was empowering to
see you on the stage, to see how you overcome
and to see your energy. And I know breast cancer
and those chemo treatments just take a lot out of you,
but you're a fighter and you're still here. So Monique,
I would like for you to just, you know, talk
to the community and tell them how empowering it is
(22:59):
for us to get together as Sisters are. You know,
joining us on September fourteenth for the Sisters Strike in
Jacksonville was.
Speaker 4 (23:07):
Very important because a lot of times, I know, we
don't like to talk about what's going on with us.
And one thing throughout my journey I shared it on Facebook.
I shared the whole journey on Facebook, and I found
that a lot of women were actually empowered by the
fact that I shared my journey. They were then giving
the strength and what they needed to come out and
(23:27):
talk about what they were dealing with. It also gave
them the confidence to know that I can make it through.
So sometimes unity and coming together can be just the
thing that someone needs rather than having them sit home,
not go and get the treatment, or feel alone, because
that's going to slowly kill them. That's going to slowly
dwindle them away. They'll feel isolated. Depression is so easy
(23:50):
when you're going through breast cancer and treatment, or when
you're not feeling well, you're appetite. But just having people
a support system, So coming together, being a part of
the cause, empowering and educating our communities what actually helps
save life. I mean, we're not the biggest group that
gets it, but we are the group that dies the
most from it because it goes undiagnosed and it just
(24:14):
dwindles away in us in many ways. So coming together
and surrounding yourself what people who've been through, what you've
been through, are going through, what you're going through, and
just finding that sisterhood, that unity is very empowering and
it can save your life.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
Yes, I know the Sisters Network Northeast Florida also partners
with us that's coming up, and I know that it's
been empowering and we've been growing and the numbers are growing.
And I just ask everybody to, you know, think about Monique,
Denise and all the other ladies that are fighting breast cancer.
We want the community to understand that if we don't
(24:48):
come together to help each other, then what is the
fight really for? So Monique, talk to us. I know
that you sing out in the community, and singing is
a joy and music really matters too because because it
helps when you're down or helps through your chemo treatments.
But also I want to ask you something because I
know you've had to keep steadfast because of your children.
(25:09):
What has kept you steadfast in these times being diagnosed
with stage three breast cancer.
Speaker 4 (25:15):
Like you said, my children definitely, but then also my
faith I'm a strong believer, and then my friends, you know,
my family, and just knowing the value of life. Honestly,
going through that has opened my eyes. I've seen life
in a whole new light. I really have I've seen
the beauty of the little things. It's the little things
(25:35):
that matter on a day to day basis, because whether
you're going through breast cancer or something else, you got
to stop taking the little things for granted, because those
little things will be the things that keep you going
on a day to day basis. And so my children,
my family, and just seeing how I can help someone else.
I have a passion for helping people, and so that
all of those things they keep me going. Even when
(25:57):
I'm down, always someone come and saying, hey, you know
what you did the other day. When you did that
that helped me because I had a friend was getting
ready to commit suicide because she was going through through
things such as this, and just being there for her
support us and watching my journey. It encouraged me that
I'm here for a reason. I'm here to help someone
else out of the situation.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
I understand that. And you know, sometimes we don't think
that what we do or share or what people see
as influencers. Because you're an influencer, you know you're influencing
the city of Duval, empowering them to understand that you're
going through something that's life changing, but you're not stopping
and you're not giving up. And so that's what's empowering
about you, Monique Denise, is that you have not stopped
(26:39):
and you've used that pain and turned it into power.
Speaker 4 (26:42):
Yeah. Well, thank you.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
Thank you so much for being a trailblazer in the
city and sharing your story and not stopping. It's a
day to come together as sisters and to show and
shine and to be there as a comfort or a
shoulder or a voice. So hopefully you'll be singing your
song so that the community can hear it.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
Thank you much.
Speaker 4 (27:00):
You are welcome.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
With breast cancer and the diagnosis, it's also a mental
health type of issue as well. You had to mentally
get over that.
Speaker 4 (27:09):
You really do, I mean, and a lot of the
facilities they do provide that service. But please, the biggest
thing I would say, don't feel embarrassed about it. You
need it. It's very important because whether you deal with
it right then in that moment, you will deal with
it later. That's one of those things that you know,
even now to this day, you still wonder why me, Lord,
(27:30):
because it's still a lot that you have to do
it for the rest of your life. My life has
been changed forever there's nothing I can do to go
back to who I was, what I used to be,
how I used to be. So you still have those
mental struggles, So please just get the help and the
support that you need because there are people that will
help you through and not judge you.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
Community. If you're just tuning in and Shawnee speaking to
Monique Denise, she is a fighter and she is battling
diagnosis of stage three breast cancer in twenty seventeen, she
got the diagnosis. Community, be empowered and definitely get involved
with what the community is doing about breast cancer. It
has no color, but you can support. Thank you so much,
(28:11):
Monique Denise.
Speaker 4 (28:12):
Thank you, thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
You're welcome. We're praying for everybody, and God bless you.
You're not stopping. Can't stop, won't stop?
Speaker 4 (28:19):
Huh can I can't send the right example for my
kids if I don't follow after my dream.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
You know, it's a family thing and it's a fight.
Speaker 4 (28:26):
It is, it really is. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
Get your team together and strut for a great cause.
On September twenty seventh, join us for the tenth Annual
Law Offices of Ron Scholl's PA Sisters strut benefiting the
Sisters Network Northeast Florida as well as the Pink Queen
Bee Foundation, Inc. Supporting women in Jacksonville join the movement.
Thank you for listening to community viewpoints. Have a blessed day.
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