Meet Cassandra

Listening to Cassandra’s story was a familiar one, reminding me that we’ve heard much the same from our patients over the years. But the ending of her story brought me to tears.

She told us: “I postponed my mammogram for a very long time. Although I was insured, I wasn’t making my own health a priority. I could not believe I put myself on the back burner like that!”

But that all changed when she learned about The Rose at a fundraising event about a year ago. She picked up one of our flyers and realized she was 10 years overdue for her mammogram. (She holds on to that flyer to this day, saying it was her first nudge.)

The following week she started a new job and saw The Rose Mobile Mammography Coach parked at her job site.
A month later, she heard those words that change anyone’s life: “You have breast cancer.” Yet even as she dealt with all the emotions and details of beginning treatment, she realized a miracle had happened.

As she put it: “When I needed flowers, God sent me The Rose.”

Cassandra is known as the “Singing Insurance Lady” and has been a presence in the local music community. The words came easily and soon she had composed a song filled with hope and courage. It is a song that spoke of her belief that when she faced the fight of her life, The Rose was the army on her side.

When she first sang this powerful song at Phil & Derek’s Restaurant and Bar, she challenged women in the audience to schedule their mammograms and lovingly chastised them to take the time for themselves.

She’s dedicating her song to The Rose and plans to donate proceeds from its sales to uninsured women needing help.
Two weeks before her surgery, she made a trip to The Rose to present her original recording to our board of directors and key staff members. What a treat that was!

From all of us at The Rose, thank you, Cassandra. Your story reminds all of us that you need to put yourself first. Your song is a reminder that there are times when we all need flowers.