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Conquering every mountain

Submitted photo Breast cancer survivor Denise Burford of Boardman enjoys time with her husband, Sean. She was told in 2013 that she wouldn’t make it until Christmas. She’s seen eight Christmases since then and is making plans for another one this year.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Local breast cancer survivors are sharing their stories on the Health pages throughout October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

BOARDMAN — For Denise Burford, a spring break trip nine years ago turned into the most difficult journey of her life: a foray into the unknown fear of a breast cancer diagnosis.

The struggle actually began just after she returned home to Boardman from a family vacation in Scottsdale, Ariz., with her husband, Shawn, and two of their three children, son, Cameron and daughter, Hope.

After missing out on a family jaunt while there, Burford felt it was time for a fitness makeover. The only other thing missing was eldest son Matthew, who couldn’t join them.

“Everyone else went hiking up Camel Back Ridge in the mountains, but I opted out since that sounded really taxing. Vowing to be with them the following spring, I began a complete and total weight loss and body transformation program as soon as we got back,” she said.

“I lost 27 pounds and was feeling healthier and stronger than ever,” she said.

Indeed, when they returned to the mountain range the following spring, she was with her clan when they reached the summit of Camel Back Ridge.

“I was so proud that I achieved that goal that I was very emotionally overwhelmed,” she recalled.

Still basking in that joy when they got back to their hotel, she celebrated by relaxing poolside when she noticed a painful lump next to her breast.

Thinking she was just sore from the climb, she wasn’t especially worried.

Until the next week when a regular OB-GYN appointment led to a mammogram, followed by an ultrasound that led to a needle biopsy.

On April 16, 2013, her whole world changed. It was then that she was officially diagnosed with breast cancer.

“I will never forget this day. Kind of like remembering where you were on 9/11 or when you heard about Princess Diana or Michael Jackson dying,” she said.

She and Shawn, who recently moved to Lewis Center, Ohio, hadn’t been prepared to hear such news, especially in the blunt manner it was delivered.

“The doctor said, ‘Well, you have breast cancer.’ Just like that. No candy coating. No beating around the bush. It was just matter of fact,” she remembered.

“Then what came next was the most puzzling. White noise. I heard nothing. I was paralyzed. Absolutely, completely paralyzed,” Burford said.

Their first joint thought, she remembered, was a cuss word.

“I know that’s a bad word. A terrible word, but that’s all we could conjure up,” said Denise; and who could blame them?

She was told to celebrate Christmas early because she likely wouldn’t be around by December.

But resigning herself to that fate wasn’t the road she selected along this path.

“I remember thinking I only had one choice: Do everything in my power, both physically and mentally to rid my body of this nuisance. And so, it began.”

And she and her family and physicians needed to act quickly since, unfortunately, the cancer had spread to some of her lymph nodes.

After finding the right surgeon, she underwent a complete, single mastectomy of the right breast.

“I chose Dr. Nancy Gant at The Joanie Abdu Comprehensive Breast Care Center. Because of her reputation and the fact that she herself is a cancer survivor, I just knew she was the one.”

Plastic surgery and the very painful process of radiation would soon follow, as well as genetic testing for the BRCA gene, which she does not have, since she feared passing it on to her children.

Burford notes that she was given radiation versus chemotherapy as the treatment plan suggested by doctors at the Cleveland Clinic, where she volunteered to take part in a clinical trial of breast cancer care.

Burford underwent radiation five days a week for 10 weeks as well as having to undergo several surgical procedures (including a few for reconstruction) over the ensuing several years, since radiation causes a great deal of scar tissue.

“I remember Thanksgiving dinner 2013. I had just completed all of my radiation and everything was perfect: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, everything. It was perfect, until it was time to eat dinner,” she says.

Burford had severe radiation burns and her muscles had been compromised to the point that she couldn’t lift her arms.

“I sat there crying until my then 13-year-old son, got up and walked around the table and cut my food for me,” she recalled. It was a bittersweet moment.

The path to wellness continues for Burford, who will need to take medication for two more years, which will make it a decade-long journey. She continues to receive her treatments and physician care here in the Mahoning Valley.

In fact, she has another reconstructive procedure scheduled here for spring 2022.

But having a full support system of her family and friends has made it possible for her to continue moving forward.

And she has some words of wisdom, caution, and encouragement regarding her experience.

“The main thing people need to know, men or women, is that you are not alone, but you will feel so incredibly alone. You will feel very isolated,” she warned, noting that she did lose a few friends along the way.

“I don’t know if they didn’t know how to deal with it, or were afraid it was perhaps contagious, but they fell off the grid, and I get that,” she said, noting everyone has their own life problems.

Undaunted, Burford said she will continue to push forward.

“Cancer has taken so much away from me and my family over these past eight years; I will not let it win.”

In fact, they will return to Scottsdale in the spring of 2024,

“I have a lot to be thankful for, and Camel Back Ridge is one of those things. Had I not wanted to climb it so badly, I wouldn’t be here to tell my story,” she said.

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