scheduled family vacation, she didn’t immediately call her doc- tor. Upon her return, however, she began to hear a “still, small voice” that urged her to have the lump checked out and the voice became progres- sively more insistent. A mammogram was sched- uled. The results indicated the need for an immediate ultra- sound. And, the results of the ultrasound indicated a press- ing need for a needle biopsy. Ultimately, she was diagnosed with Lobular Carcinoma and was told she was estrogen positive. Her doctor, Mike McGee, in- formed her that her type of cancer could “mirror” in the other breast. Thus, a biopsy was performed on the left breast which revealed random cancer cells. After consults with other doctors, Dr. McGee recommended a bi-lateral mastectomy and the surgery was scheduled. To this day, Becky is thankful she chose Dr. McGee as her surgeon whom she knew from her church. She believes he saved her life! As a result of her mastectomy, a tumor was [Go to page 2] Becky had expected to be a secretary like her mother and sister before her, but there were a couple of significant problems - - - she was not a good speller and her short- hand was a mess! On the other hand, she really just wanted to be a stay-at-home mom. She met her future husband, Matt Rathbone, in high school during her sophomore year. He was a senior. In no time, she began working in his fam- ily store, Rathbone’s Flair Flowers. Her habit was to go into the store after school and make fall wreaths. The cou- ple was married right out of high school. Becky was a “natural” in the Rathbone’s retail store and was a fast learner. Matt’s mom was amazed how Matt had found someone to just come in and “fit right in.” She enjoyed decorating trees, loved Christmas and took pleasure in studying displays at market. She would find out what needed to be done, de- termine the focal points and background, and the rest can naturally. Rathbone’s Flowers has evolved over the years and their emphasis has changed to one of floral design. Matt was responsible for adding fresh flowers. Through a series of life events, God began preparing Becky to trust Him with everything from family vacations to finances. Becky knows that God has granted the desires of her heart. Repeat mammograms were nothing new for Becky, but the diagnosis had always been fibrocystic breast disease. During the summer of 2004, however, she discovered a lump while performing a rou- tine self check. Due to a Becky with granddaughter, Claire Tulsa Affiliate of Susan G. Komen® Survivor Newsletter OCTOBER 2013 VOLUME 2, ISSUE 9 Becky Rathbone—The “Natural!” Becky Rathbone is Owner and Designer at Rathbone’s Flair Flowers. She generously donated the lovely floral arrangements we had the pleasure of enjoying in the Survivor Pavilion during the 2013 Race for the Cure. See Page 2 for instructions on download- ing Survivor Race pictures.
Transcript
scheduled family vacation, she didn’t immediately call her doc-tor. Upon her return, however, she began to hear a “still, small voice” that urged her to have the lump checked out and the voice became progres-sively more insistent. A mammogram was sched-uled. The results indicated the need for an immediate ultra-sound. And, the results of the ultrasound indicated a press-ing need for a needle biopsy. Ultimately, she was diagnosed with Lobular Carcinoma and was told she was estrogen positive. Her doctor, Mike McGee, in-formed her that her type of cancer could “mirror” in the other breast. Thus, a biopsy was performed on the left breast which revealed random cancer cells. After consults with other doctors, Dr. McGee recommended a bi-lateral mastectomy and the surgery was scheduled. To this day, Becky is thankful she chose Dr. McGee as her surgeon whom she knew from her church. She believes he saved her life! As a result of her mastectomy, a tumor was
[Go to page 2]
Becky had expected to be a secretary like her mother and sister before her, but there were a couple of significant problems - - - she was not a good speller and her short-hand was a mess! On the other hand, she really just wanted to be a stay-at-home mom. She met her future husband, Matt Rathbone, in high school during her sophomore year. He was a senior. In no time, she began working in his fam-ily store, Rathbone’s Flair Flowers. Her habit was to go into the store after school and make fall wreaths. The cou-ple was married right out of high school. Becky was a “natural” in the Rathbone’s retail store and was a fast learner. Matt’s mom was amazed how Matt had found someone to just come in and “fit right in.” She enjoyed decorating trees, loved Christmas and took pleasure in studying displays at market. She would find out what needed to be done, de-termine the focal points and background, and the rest can naturally. Rathbone’s Flowers has evolved over the years and
their emphasis has changed to one of floral design. Matt was responsible for adding fresh flowers. Through a series of life events, God began preparing Becky to trust Him with everything from family vacations to finances. Becky knows that God has granted the desires of her heart. Repeat mammograms were nothing new for Becky, but the diagnosis had always been fibrocystic breast disease. During the summer of 2004, however, she discovered a lump while performing a rou-tine self check. Due to a
Becky with granddaughter,
Claire
Tulsa Affiliate of Susan G. Komen® Survivor Newsletter
O C T O B E R 2 0 1 3 V O L U M E 2 , I S S U E 9
Becky Rathbone—The “Natural!”
Becky Rathbone is Owner and Designer at Rathbone’s Flair Flowers. She generously donated the lovely floral arrangements we had the pleasure of enjoying in the Survivor
Pavilion during the 2013 Race for the Cure.
See Page 2 for
instructions on
download-ing
Survivor Race
pictures.
P A G E 2
found behind her left breast on the chest wall. Without his words of wis-dom, this tumor might not have been found until a later date with a much worse prognosis. She had a standing joke with her sons. She would say, “Give me a few hours if you are bringing someone over so I can get my hair and boobs on!” Becky battled through chemotherapy, but then required a hysterectomy. What kept her going was looking forward to her reconstruction. All of her bravado evaporated when she was informed it would be six months before the plastic surgeon could fit her into his schedule! In fact, she totally lost it! Fortunately, Matt was there to pick up the pieces and take charge of a call to the plastic surgeon. Needless to say, the surgery was scheduled post haste!
T U L S A A F F I L I A T E O F S U S A N G . K O M E N ®
S U R V I V O R N E W S L E T T E R
Becky Rathbone (cont’d.) Life has changed for Becky. Today when she looks at her scars, she remembers Matt calling them “Badges of Courage.” She has also learned some important life lessons. For instance, she can now trust God to pro-vide a way through difficulties. She doesn’t take life as seriously. She has developed an interest in Missions and her first mission trip was to Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina. She has also traveled to Romania on a Mis-sion Trip. She proudly explains that she paid for this trip by making 65 aprons on a sewing machine given to her by Matt as a gift. She continues to sew because she doesn’t know where God will call her to go next!
Did you know . . .
At the current rate, about 5.8 million cases
of breast cancer will be diagnosed in the U.S. over the next 25 years and
nearly 1 million people could
die.
Becky Rathbone
Matt and Becky
Race Pictures
Click here for pictures by K. Blankenship Photography
Click “browse.”
Click on “2013 Race for the Cure, Tulsa” Scroll through pictures of the
2013 Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, Tulsa.
When you find a photo you like, you can right click on the picture and then click “Save image
as” which will save the picture to your computer.
At this point, you can print the picture on your printer or send it to the photo processing service
T U L S A A F F I L I A T E O F S U S A N G . K O M E N ®
S U R V I V O R N E W S L E T T E R
P A G E 3
Didn’t we have fun!!??
P A G E 4
T U L S A A F F I L I A T E O F S U S A N G . K O M E N ®
S U R V I V O R N E W S L E T T E R
SURVIVOR FUNDRAISING PRIZES!
1st Place - Carol Southard 1 dozen Panera Bagels every month for a year!
2nd Place - Martha Malaby Panera Bread every month for a year!
Thank you, Panera!
As part of Panera’s Race Sponsor-ship, they prepare breakfast for our Survivors on Race morning in our
Survivor Pavilion.
As always, the food was delicious, healthy and served with a smile!
Panera also provides our Survivor
Fundraising Prizes, as well as “goody” baskets for deserving survivors during Breast Cancer
Awareness Month
Again this year, ZTA has pro-vided Survivor t-shirts and hats to each of our survivors. Addi-tionally, they provided over 100 volunteers on Race morning. This year we were privileged to have a ZTA representative, Lau-ren Donaldson, on our Survivor Committee and she was abso-lutely great!
Thank you, Zeta!
We also wish to thank . . .
Bill Tetrick and the City of Tulsa Pipes and Drum
Phil Armstrong
Becky Rathbone and Rathbone’s Flair Flowers
Kim Blankenship of K. Blankenship Photography
Our national sponsors: Zeta Tau Alpha, Bank of America and New Balance
Our vendors: Dr. LaNette Smith, The Fitting Room, Muse Intimates, Judi’s Wigs,
Lymphadema Support Group, Stonebrook Day Spa, Capri Salon & Day Spa, and Cancer Treatment Centers of America
![Coverletter Autosaved · E } W W o v /E X ( v ] v P /E U E u } ( } u u ] u u v P } Ç í } ( ] } Z o o ( ] o o µ } u ] o o Ç](https://static.documents.pub/doc/80x56/5f2c0e67a394ab1af8650012/coverletter-autosaved-e-w-w-o-v-e-x-v-v-p-e-u-e-u-u-u-u-u-v-p-.jpg)
![^ µ u & u ' } o ] u o ] ] } v E } E u } ( Z & u & Z E u ] ] o } l ~d o ...o ] ] } v E } E u } ( Z & u & Z E u ] ] o } l ~d o µ l Z À v µ ] o ~/h ^ µ u / v µ & u W u ] µ u '](https://static.documents.pub/doc/80x56/607ae4e7c7f6bd27a316f54a/-u-u-o-u-o-v-e-e-u-z-u-z-e-u-o-l-d.jpg)
![U.] o z O o o o ILI e cn > o O o o o o E o o Q o -c o o E ... fileQ o -c o o E > o c: o c o u X e X o u o u c: X u o O O > o u E E -c rt3 c o o u o o o o o o o 2 o CLI E z o E CIJ](https://static.documents.pub/doc/80x56/5cb75f9288c99348678bfc45/u-o-z-o-o-o-o-ili-e-cn-o-o-o-o-o-o-e-o-o-q-o-c-o-o-e-o-c-o-o-e-o-c.jpg)
