Our mission as a non profit 501(C)(3) is to enhance the quality of life for breast cancer survivors. To empower each individual to bring greater wellness &
healing into their own lives. To raise awareness about the prevention of breast cancer by declaring war not on a disease, but on the perpetrators of that disease.
In Loving
Memory Of Margaret "Peg" Kinch June 3, 1951 - January 1,
2010 Peg was one of our most inspiring "Survivor Divers"
She
enthusiastically met every challenge and always wanted to be underwater.
Becoming a certified diver was a great accomplishment for Peg.
She made the most
of everything she did. She dove in Hawaii with the Manta Rays, The living seas
in Orlando, with the manatees in Florida, and even encouraged her children to
get certified and dove with them.
Read Peg's breast
cancer story.
We love you Peg and will miss your Enthusiastic attitude.
Since there was so much cancer in my family I figured it was only a matter of
when and where for me. Both of my grandmothers and an aunt had had breast
cancer. One of my cousins had died when she was 17 from cervical cancer. I
discovered a lump in my breast in September 2002 during the time I was planning
my wedding which was about a month away. My husband and I had gotten married in
his mother’s living room. She was dying of cervical cancer. We were married on
Friday afternoon October 8, 1999 and she passed away on Sunday morning. We had
to wait three years before I could get married in my church, so I wasn’t going
to let anything get in the way of our joyous time. I decided to see the doctor
after my wedding ceremony was over. I knew it was going to be cancer.
Unfortunately I was correct. I had Stage 3 breast cancer with spread to 5 of 15
nodes. I have three children; my youngest, Anne was 17 at the time. I was 17
when my mother died from ovarian cancer. It brought back a lot of sad memories
for me and I found of all the people I told, it was the hardest to tell her. It
was also very hard to tell my father. I was fortunate that I work at a
hospital that has a cancer center. I didn’t get that sick during my treatments
but I wasn’t happy that Chemo had changed my sense of taste. Much to my dismay
chocolate tasted like dirt. I went through a Mastectomy, six months of
Chemotherapy and a twenty eight radiation treatments. I wasn’t fearful of the
treatments. The only time I was afraid was when I started to feel dizzy and have
“Chemo” brain during radiation treatments. I was afraid that the cancer had
spread to my brain. Fortunately it has not. Financially this time is a disaster.
I had 2 jobs and a business before my diagnosis. I continued to work part time
at my full time job during Chemo and went back full time during radiation. I
found my life although it didn’t stop; it certainly revolved a lot around my
health more than I wanted it to. I believe that people approach the news and
their treatment much like they approach things in their lives. I am a practical
joker and love a good joke even when it is on me. I had very long hair and of
course it all fell out during Chemo. I occasionally wore a wig. It was the
winter time when I started my treatments. In the spring when my neighbors all
start to come outside again, the little girl next door told me she liked my new
haircut. I told her it was a magic haircut and lifted up my wig. Wow! She said
that’s great and her parents and I had a good laugh. Another neighbor’s four
year old asked what happened to my hair, I told him I lost it. He then began to
look around the yard with me for it. I found out about survivor diver from a
pamphlet my husband had picked up. We had been to the Komen Center for a lecture
on lymphedema. He thought I might like to read about it since I swam a lot when
I was young. I called the next day and it turned out the first meeting of
survivor Diver was that night. I called home and said I wouldn’t be home for
dinner. My husband didn’t think I would really do this. I thought it was great
and was very excited about the whole idea of diving, especially doing underwater
photography. I asked everyone I knew at work that was a breast cancer
survivor if they wanted to do this with me. The response was all the same, No.
and your not afraid to do this? It never occurred to me to be afraid. I have
been through motherhood, a mastectomy and cancer treatments. I don’t think that
there is too much more out there that is more frightening than these things.
I enjoyed taking the scuba lessons. There was so much to remember but as
each new skill was learned and mastered we all gained more confidence. I only
“Tanked Out” twice during the lessons . But it didn’t deter my enthusiasm or
sense of adventure. The other survivor Divers were very supportive. It took a
lot of tries for me to get to neutral buoyancy and I went an extra time to get
all my skills down.
Our trip to Port Lucaya in the Bahamas to get our open water
certification is endearing to me. To experience Lisa’s generosity and
encouragement, Anna Maria’s lightheartedness and “brilliant” enthusiasm for the
sport of diving and my fellow Survivor divers Michelle and Stephanie’s courage
taking that first giant stride into 3 ft choppy waves will always be a sweet,
tender memory for me. Another great moment was when the rest of the divers on
our boat all cheered and clapped for us when we finished our last dive and
became certified open water divers. “Welcome to the addiction !” The feeling I
had after we had completed all of our skills tests and we went down to 50 feet
to explore was like crawling out of a hole and having this amazing new world
open up to me. I was in a giant fish tank with no walls in sight. This
experience has inspired my husband to learn to swim. He has started taking
swimming lessons. My daughter plans to take scuba next spring at the U of Md. so
we can dive together. For me, I am proud that I did this and I am determined to
get more physically active and become physically fit. I look forward to many
more dives and meeting a lot of new people. I would highly recommend this to
other breast cancer survivors. It’s a lot of hard work, but a lot of fun
also.
This August 8th it will be one year after all my treatments
were finished. When I look back upon all that has happened to me this past year
and all the kindness I encountered from my coworkers and friends, it has made be
realize how truly blessed I am and become humbly grateful for all that I have in
my life.
In Loving
Memory Of Margaret "Peg" Kinch 
