CONNECTING WOMEN WHERE THEY WORK, LIVE OR PLAY Join us where you live, work or play to connect with like-minded women to share information, ideas, contacts and opportunities. Learn more at: eastvalleywomen.org | centralphoenixwomen.org womenofscottsdale.org | northvalleywomen.org DEC 14 PRESENTS SHERATON GRAND PHOENIX Imagine... A WORLD WITHOUT HIV Reserve Your Table or Seat at www.redbrunch.org Recreated PMS

Two women … two stories … big outcome A 1980s television ad depicted a young woman so giddy about her shampoo, she told two friends about it. And they told two friends … and so on, and so on. With each statement, the television screen divided in an example of mathematical magic. That same math and magic happened four years ago, when Kim Stoffers and Brittany DeBoer were introduced to one another by a nurse. They were both young and they had both been diagnosed with breast cancer. “When we met, we learned we lived just two miles apart,” DeBoer said. “Our friendship was immediate. Together, we conquered cancer one day at a time, knowing that there was someone just a phone call away to ask questions, complain or just laugh — which we did a lot.” Cancer conjures up many fears, one of the most prevalent of which is death. But nearly 50 percent of the women of childbearing age who are diagnosed each year are never told that cancer treatment might also impact new life. Chemotherapy drugs and radiation treatments compromise fertility in half of the women who receive them. And while great advances have been made in cryopreservation — the ability to freeze eggs and embryos — fertility treatments are expensive and not covered by major medical providers in Arizona. Stoffers puts it well. “We were so grateful that we were given fertility options prior to starting treatment, so we could make informed decisions about our own bodies. When you’re first diagnosed with cancer, you feel like you have no control. It’s hard enough to figure out your treatment plan, let alone think about your future AND decide it all within a matter of days.” YOUNG ADVOCACY AND SUPPORT Judy Pearson | Contributing Writer OCTOBER 2019 | FRONTDOORS MEDIA 35 A 2ND ACT { helping is healing }