With Laughter There's Hope

With Laughter There's Hope

The following article was printed in Wisconsin Woman in the October 1999 issue.

Breast cancer survivor chooses hope By Christine Hartelt

On June 6, 1997, DeForest beautician Chris McHugh was diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer. McHugh had no family history of the disease. ''It was really shocking at 34 when I was completely healthy, and when I had a life where everything was going well.

My husband had just graduated with his master's, and I had just opened up a business. We had no idea,'' McHugh said.

Diagnosed with a rare form of breast cancer, McHugh refused to give up without a fight. McHugh felt that her children needed her and still do. Her daughter Briana turns 9 this month and son Patrick is 11. In addition to thoroughly educating herself about her disease, McHugh responded to her diagnosis by arming herself with support.

''From that moment on, my headphones were my saving grace. I plugged in hymns and listened day and night,'' McHugh says.

McHugh credits the University of Wisconsin's Comprehensive Health Enhancement Support System (CHESS), an online patient support system, with saving her life. ''To find other women that were just like me was wonderful.'' As a beautician, having her hair fall out was difficult for McHugh. ''That's by far the worst thing that has ever happened to me...Even losing my breasts was nothing compared to losing my hair,'' McHugh says. McHugh sought solace for her balding head through the CHESS network. Linda Nielsen of Oconomowoc responded, ''I'm trying to figure out how to keep my wig on in the water slides at the Dells this weekend. Do you think duct tape would work?'' ''From that moment on, we have been best friends,'' McHugh says.

The two participated in a march on Washington on September 25, 1998 to demand more money for cancer research. McHugh brought back a ''Cancer Sucks'' button from the march. Nielsen suggested making buttons for family and friends, ''because everyone wanted them,'' McHugh says.

A biopsy in October 1998 revealed the cancer had spread to McHugh's skin. McHugh took the ''Cancer Sucks'' buttons to chemotherapy. For the first time in years, people were laughing in the chemo room. ''It just changed the face of the disease for people. You could just see them light up,'' McHugh says.

Although some people are offended by the raw, ''Cancer Sucks,'' McHugh and Nielsen decided cancer survivors need that kind of battlefield humor. ''The older people were real sassy. It kind of gave them the fight they needed,'' McHugh remembers.

McHugh, Nielsen, and friend Paula Lundberg soon realized there was a dearth of humorous and inspirational gifts for cancer patients.

Like McHugh, Nielsen is a two-year cancer survivor. Her humorous take on her own mastectomy inspired the button, ''Symmetry is boring.'' Lundberg's mother is a survivor of colon cancer. Lundberg, who also lives in DeForest, came over the day McHugh was diagnosed and has provided support to the family ever since.

The three women form the board of Choose Hope™, which now sells a variety of humorous and inspirational gifts for those with all types of cancer. The first buttons were sold to cover the cost of materials, but the women quickly realized that their sales could benefit cancer research.

The three friends never intended to launch a business. ''Choose Hope™ just happened,'' McHugh says. ''We didn't even want this to happen. We were putting the brakes on. 'No, this can't happen,''' McHugh remembers. From its modest beginning with a basket of buttons in the UW oncology pharmacy, Choose Hope™ has grown to over 50 products, including 36 buttons. One button says, ''Life is full of choices. Choose Hope.'' The newest button proclaims, ''I can't remember. I have mammary loss.''

McHugh turned her basement beauty shop into a workshop filled with materials and a new button-making machine. The three women assemble the products themselves, including an order for 6,000 chocolate roses for the Relay for Life. Choose Hope™ gifts range from humorous to inspirational. A ''Cancer Sucks'' mug contains suckers, of course. For transplant patients who can't have flowers, a flower pot contains ''Seeds of Hope.'' Other gifts include Choose Hope™ t-shirts and cardigans, jars with messages of hope, and the hilarious ''Chemo Brain'' t-shirt.

Choose Hope™ products are stocked at several area locations, including gift shops at St. Mary's, Meriter, Janesville, and Sauk Prairie Hospitals