Leslie Berry

Leslie Berry was a honest worker and living the typical life of a middle aged woman in the South when in 2006 her life took a tremendous turn. Berry went from working and caring for her family to being seriously effected by two major problems in America at this time. The first was our nation’s troublesome economy. After being laid off from her job of fifteen years she was unsure as to where she would find work in her late fifties having earned a high school diploma. This was just the beginning of her problems. Soon after being laid off Berry went to the doctor for a check up and was informed that she had cancerous cells throughout her blood and a small lump in her breast. Immediately she became very worried and scared because she knew that breast cancer is a very serious and more often than not a terminal illness. Ms. Berry was already a very religious person and felt pretty secure in her relationship with the higher power but, after her diagnosis she noted that her everyday life changed by making it a point to become closer to her family, friends, and God. Berry used her family, church members, and prayer to pull her through her ordeal. Luckily Ms. Berry caught the cancerous cells in her body early and through treatment she was able to get rid of it before having to go through much more serious treatment like years of chemotherapy and/or the loss of her breast. Berry made it clear that her months of treatments and doctors visits was a very fightening experience and it definitely made her appreciate her body more. When Berry was posed the question: “Does the media and the market do enough and/or depict women with breast cancer fairly,in her opinion?” She answered, “Yes.” In her opinion America is doing a great job at promoting awareness of breast cancer and facilatating efforts to come up with a cure and better treatments of the illness. Unfortunately, Berry did not have insurance due to her layoff before being diagnosed, so she had to pay for her medical expenses. Today, Berry has completed her treatment and is enjoying her life one day at a time.