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Community Corner

Redan Resident Has 'Lived2Tell'

Cheryl Brown, three-time breast cancer survivor, has lived through her bouts with cancer to empower others.

Cheryl Brown, a Redan citizen and three-time breast cancer survivor, knows the pangs of dealing with cancer firsthand.

The non-profit organization chief executive officer and founder was first diagnosed with cancer at 24 and twice more, at 31 and 38, exactly seven years apart each time.

“Going through [cancer] at 24, losing a breast at that age, I lost my identity,” she said.

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“I basically didn’t feel like I was a woman anymore. Mentally, it took me to another level.”

She admitted that since she was so young with her first diagnosis, she was filled with naiveté and denial. Somehow, she couldn’t bring herself to accept that she had cancer.

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“I more or less shrugged it off,” she said.

Brown found that each separate bout with cancer was filled with different lessons, a representation of where she was in her life.

At 31, she found her spiritual life particularly strong and faced cancer’s reoccurrence with an altered, positive mindset.

“Spiritually, I found God during my second battle,” she said.

“Anything negative that anyone would tell me would happen, something positive happened because I started speaking things into my life.”

It was during her third bout with cancer at 38 that she was most confronted with strong, negative emotions that inadvertently led to a greater cause: the birth and creation of Lived 2 Tell Cancer Support Outreach, Inc.

Amazingly enough, Brown lived her battles with cancer in silence. She never told anyone what she was gripping with, but found herself gravitating towards those who were dealing with the same things she was.

“I was angry, bitter, just upset at the fact that it came back,” Brown said.

“Every time I think about it, I get really mad, because it’s sad. When you think about it, you have so many people who deal with cancer issues and don’t express it.”

She began to slowly mentor and guide women through the cancer process to let them know they were not alone.

“My daughter encouraged me to start an organization to help others and gave me the name ‘Lived 2 Tell’ since I lived through it [cancer] and I’m telling it,” she said.

“By going through [cancer] three times, I’m helping those who are going through it themselves and the bitterness, anger, hurt, sadness, the good times. I’m there to throw positivity in their lives and keep them uplifted.”

Although Lived2Tell was founded in Redan and first focused on helping those in her community, Brown doesn’t solely focus on her community today. She has helped women and families all over metro Atlanta.

The mission of Lived2Tell remains to build, strengthen and uphold families in their time of illness.

Lived2Tell offers services such as medical transportation, meals, laundry service, house cleaning, personal training classes, child care, special outings and other medical/nutritional care.

The organization has hosted a number of events including Wigs on the Run, Men of Integrity, and Cancer Fighting car wash.

Brown is originally from Cincinnati, Ohio. She resides in Lithonia and has three children, two daughters and one son.

To get involved or to obtain more information about the organization, visit lived2tell.org.

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