Faith, Chemo, and T-Shirts: A Survivor Who Refuses to Whisper
Safiya felt a lump at 36, had no insurance, and almost didn’t know where to turn. Thankfully, a referral brought her to The Rose, where our patient navigation team helped her qualify for breast cancer treatment and got her first appointment at MD Anderson scheduled in just 15 days. Through all of it, our navigators walked alongside her, and her faith, anchored by a prayer her father read her the day she was diagnosed, carried her the rest of the way.
Community Theater, Breast Cancer, and the Louise McBee Circle of Wreaths
Susan has been connected to The Rose since the mid-1980s, when her boss at Texas Commerce Bank handed her a stack of newspaper articles and asked her to learn everything she could about a surgeon named Dr. Dixie Melillo. That assignment turned into a decades-long relationship with The Rose, years of emceeing fundraising style shows, and an unbroken commitment to the mission that continues today. She launched the Louise McBee Circle of Life Circle of Wreaths, an annual wreath auction run entirely by Art Park Players volunteers in honor of her mother. Her message throughout the years is simple, yet profound: everyone carries a light, and even the smallest flame can be the brightest thing in someone’s darkest moment.
Breaking Cultural Taboos: A Breast Cancer Survivor’s Story in the South Asian Community
How do you talk about breast cancer when it’s something your community rarely discusses, sometimes because of culture, sometimes because of faith, and sometimes just because it’s hard?
Navigating Side Effects, Fear of Recurrence, and Life After Treatment
A casual night watching sports, a quick self-exam, and a lump that did not belong there. Faced with no insurance and four months of not knowing what to do, Felicia Kent walked into a neighborhood clinic, received a referral to The Rose, and heard the three words that changed everything: you have cancer. In this episode, she talks about choosing a treatment center, using research and strict adherence to medication to blunt chemo side effects, and learning to live with radiation fatigue, lymphedema, neuropathy, and a body that will never be the same. She also shares how faith, a determined daughter, an emotional support dog, and a calling to serve other survivors led her to start a nonprofit, finish her psychology degree, and focus on practical support and early mammograms in the African American community.
On the Road for Early Detection
Some women clear their calendar for a mammogram. Others step onto a 40-foot pink coach in their office parking lot. As Director of Mobile Services at The Rose, Shelly Kot oversees a pink fleet of five mobile mammography coaches that deliver the same 3D breast cancer screening you’d get in a breast health center, to women across 45 Southeast Texas counties. During this conversation, she talks about the moving parts that keep those rolling clinics on the road, the disappointment when a failed generator or quality check shuts a mobile day down, and why she still puts on a badge and does mammograms herself. She also shares how being raised by her grandparents, working inside both nonprofit and for-profit systems, and parenting a daughter shapes the way she teaches women to push for answers when something feels wrong.
Access to Treatment Takes More Than a Pathology Report
Being uninsured, speaking a different language, or not understanding a 40-page form should never decide who lives or dies. In this episode, patient navigators Laura Tovar and Elizabeth Esparza walk us through what really happens after an uninsured woman hears “you have breast cancer” at The Rose. They explain how they review applications before diagnosis, sit in the room with the radiologist, and answer the first question they always hear: “How am I going to pay for this?” They also talk about the maze behind programs like Medicaid for Breast and Cervical Cancer and Harris Health, what it takes to keep coverage from lapsing in the middle of chemo, and the extreme steps some families take, from moving counties to divorcing, just to qualify. Along the way, Laura and Elizabeth share what it costs them emotionally to carry these stories, why they sometimes cry with husbands and children, and how quilts, gas cards, summer camps, and rent assistance become part of making sure no woman has to face breast cancer or the paperwork alone.
A Women’s Bakery, Orphaned Elephants, and Rural Breast Care: Giving With a Bigger Picture
Nonprofit leaders dream of someone walking in and saying, “I’m going to give you a million dollars.” Very few ever see it happen. In this episode, a longtime supporter explains why she chose to fund multiple mobile coaches, help open an East Texas hub, and seed The Rose’s Mammogram to Medical Home program instead of paying for brick and mortar. She talks about dividing her mother’s unrestricted giving fund among education, medical care, and conservation, and why she looks for small organizations whose work sends “tentacles” into whole communities and generations. From a women’s bakery in Africa that feeds thousands of children and sends girls to school, to knowledge mobiles, orphaned elephants, and seed grants for students, she returns over and over to one idea: food and health give people a chance at any future.
Dance, Culture, and Commitment to Breast Cancer Awareness
During this mashup episode, you’ll hear from supporters of Hats and Henna High Tea, a community driven event that celebrates survivors, supports patients, and raises critical funds for The Rose. These are supporters, caregivers, and champions. They talk about mothers and mothers in law facing breast cancer, the sacrifices families make, and the resilience that shows up in hospital rooms, small businesses, and dance floors. Hats and Henna Hight Tea brings culture, art, and local leadership together to focus on The Rose’s mission.
Early Screening, Genetic Testing, and Hope After Loss to Metastatic Breast Cancer
After losing her mother to de novo metastatic breast cancer, Elise turned grief into long term advocacy and board service at The Rose. She demystifies modern metastatic care, clinical trials, and lifelong treatment while urging women of every age to push for screenings and answers.
Meet the Interim CEO Guiding The Rose Through Change
Named interim CEO, Katherine Parsley brings decades of courtroom, nonprofit, and judicial experience to The Rose. As a longtime patient and daughter of a survivor, she centers early mammograms, steady leadership, and practical encouragement for a largely women led team in transition.