MONICA MANNEY
Special to The Leader
Imagine after doing a monthly self check, you find a lump on your breast.
You brush it off, ignore the pain and wait a while to tell your doctor.
When you finally decide to talk to your doctor you are surprised to hear her medical advice: Ignore it.
For two years, this was Mercedes Holloway’s reality.
“The doctors acknowledged [it]. ‘Yeah it was there but you’re twenty-six so it’s not a big deal.’ I would get my birth control, [and] come back the next year,” said Holloway.
Although she listened to the instructions of her doctors, they’re advice could have been fatal.
Holloway had no knowledge of breast cancer in her family.
But after switching doctors, her concerns were confirmed when she was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer.
“. . . My birth control was feeding my type of cancer,” said Holloway.
And her doctors were feeding her birth control.
Incidents like this are not isolated occurrences.
Serena Williams recently highlighted the struggle of women of color in doctors offices after her doctor ignored her concerns postpartum.
Following her post, the internet was filled with similar stories of Black women who shared experiences of negligence.
“There’s a separate type of treatment, there’s disparities for Black women,” said Holloway. “Take away my skin color. I’m still human.”
After chemotherapy, Holloway used her experiences to fuel her action and ensure this negligence would not happen to anyone else.
That’s when she created “For Our Daughters.”
“We want to teach young women how to communicate about their health. . . A lot of the reason we don’t is confidence, we don’t want to bother the doctor. We get our one minute while we’re in there and then we get the bill for a few hundred dollars,” said Holloway.
If you have been to any doctor you may know the game of waiting only to feel like the doctor comes in and rushes out.
You wait in the waiting room for the doctor to come. The doctor names your illness, gives your prescription and sends you on your way.
“I’m challenging that one minute if it means that I live a longer, healthier life,” said Holloway.
“For Our Daughters” travels to high schools to teach young women how to advocate for themselves. This way they can challenge that minute if it means a better understanding of their body and healthier living.
“If you’re not sure you’ll be able to remember, write down questions that you may want them to answer. . . No one else can speak for you, tell you what’s going on in your head, in your heart [or] in your body,” said board President Deidra Duell. “The worst case scenario [is] you’ll get the answer to your question and you’ll know where to go from there.”
In all of their messages, “For Our Daughters” makes clear the need for women of every age to stand up for themselves.
“You have to be your own advocate,” said Duell.
“You are the CEO of your health,” said Holloway.
“It’s your body, you determine. Do research. Listen to your body,” said survivor Melanie Hicks.
Each year, Holloway throws a formal gala to celebrate the survivors who have become the champions of their health and are still fighting for themselves.
But the participants would much rather be called something else.
“I’m a warrior, I have the fight and scars to prove it,” said Hicks.
The gala gives space to survivors to celebrate their fight and helps raise money for their continued efforts in the community.
“The [gala] atmosphere itself [makes] you feel like it’s just for you. . . like a party thrown just for you,” said Hicks.
If you are interested in the organization, Fredonia’s Sister Circle will be holding a pool party this on Oct. 6 to raise funds for the non-profit.
All of the proceeds will go to “For Our Daughters.”
There will also be an option to donate without attending. Both can be handled in the ticket office.