Pink Cupcake Walk: Meet team member, Sandy Cannupp

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - Sandy Cannupp is one of our 400+ team members who will be at the walk on October 1st.

At 37 years old, Sandy is from Gastonia, and battling an aggressive form of breast cancer: Invasive ductal carcinoma, HER 2+, and Stage IV.

”The diagnosis was a total shock,” said said. “I’ve been very healthy and then one day my husband noticed the swelling (thank God) and I felt the lump later. I went in for a mammogram on June 1st, had biopsies done same day, and got the news soon after.”

Sandy and her husband have a 19-month-old.

”I’m so busy with our baby, I never even noticed the swelling,” she said. “And, I’ve never had a mammogram because insurance doesn’t typically cover it unless you’re 40 or have family history? Right? So both my aunts (dad/mom side) and my grandma (mom’s side) had breast cancer but they were over 40 when diagnosed and that wasn’t enough for me to qualify for early mammograms.”

Sandy is currently going through chemo. Every 21-days she goes in for those treatments. Radiation might come next. Surgery is not an option right now because the cancer has unfortunately spread to her lymph nodes and liver, and surgery is too risky.

”Please encourage people to be their own advocate when it comes to their health,” she said. “Once I found the lump I was told I’d have to wait a month for a mammogram, so I drove my doctor’s office and showed up in person and thankfully got the referral sent and got into a center a few days later. I cannot imagine how much more this cancer would have spread if I had waited a month to get a mammogram and start treatment.”

Everyone who signs up for the Pink Cupcake Walk is part of #TeamMolly automatically. But we welcome other teams, too, and anyone can form any social team to be there October 1st.

”My friend created a team for me called #TeamAnnie,” Sandy said. “My name is Sandy Ann and my family has called me Annie for years. I’m so looking forward to this walk because I have chemo on October 4th so it will be awesome to be surrounded by others who have fought and are currently fighting. I am fighting this battle so hard right now and my baby girl and husband and family keep me strong. I did not get a good prognosis from doctor but I do believe in miracles, and so far my body is responding well to the chemo. I can’t wait to see you and everyone on October 1st.”

Phew.

Sandy -- #TeamAnnie -- is just one of the many reasons we’ll all be there together, as one community and one unit on October 1st. Please, spread the word and sign up to join us.

Go to the link.

LINK >> https://tinyurl.com/PCWTeamMolly

-Molly

PS: Sandy’s emails today have been filled with positivity. This is a woman who is not letting anything get her down. “This diagnosis is something I cannot control,” she wrote at one point, “but I can control how I respond to it, and life’s too short to be angry.”

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