Editor’s Note: This is a two-part story with the first part having the stories of Pearlie Meaders and Shirley Gladney, next week will have the stories of Barbara Whitely, Charlotte Miller and Jewel Evans.
Saturday, Power in Pink held its inaugural Power in Pink Banquet at 7 p.m. at the John Lane Hall in Weir.
The room was packed and a sea of pink as many came out to support those who are still fighting, celebrate those who’ve survived, and honor those who won the battle in eternity. The group of women came together a few years ago, just to walk in solidarity of the fight for cancer. Valarie Meaders and Barbara Whitely said the group began three years ago, and they wanted to
do something to show their support and for others to celebrate.
“I did things like this when I was in New York,” Whitely said. “And I wanted to do something here. We thought about Louisville, but we decided that we wanted our own place.”
Meaders said a few of the ladies decided to began the walk, and the turnout with just word of mouth turned out well. And that’s how Power in Pink came together, a group of women who wanted to show unity and solidarity against something that has altered their lives forever.
The women, either survivors or know someone who won their battle in eternity know the affects and effects of cancer and they don’t just want to share the knowledge with themselves, but with their community and celebrate while doing it.
“This year, we had a lot of people and next year it’s going to be even bigger,” Whitely said.
Meaders said this year when the group met in February, they began talking about the banquet.
“We didn’t want to get a speaker, we decided that we would tell our own stories,” Meaders said, whose mom won her own battle in eternity with a different form of cancer.
But, she said she still understands the impact and the indent that cancer can make.
Entertainment for the evening were the quartet group, the Gospel Travelers, who encouraged those in attendance to “keep the faith.”
Pearlie Meaders, Charlotte Miller, Shirley Gladney and Jewel Evans told their own stories, in their own way, of their battles with cancer. They told of how they were scared, but they dug in and they continue to dig in and fight with everything that they have.
Shirley Gladney
Although nervous, Gladney told the story of her own battle. She said her battle took place two years ago. “It was a hard pill to swallow, a very hard pill to swallow,” she said. She said for her, it was the support and love of her family that carried her through.
“I’d like to thank my family for their love and support,” she said. She encouraged those in attendance to get a yearly mammogram.
Because, breast cancer does not only affect women, but it affects men as well.
Pearlie Meaders
In 2016, Meaders said she went and got a mammogram and it was normal. But, in August 2016, she found her own lump. She had another mammogram and a biopsy and was diagnosed with Stage 3 Triple Negative breast cancer, the most aggressive form of cancer in African-American women.
“I had a lumpectomy, chemotherapy, and radiation. They moved 12 of 18 lymph nodes. I was clear for a year, but in 2018 it came back in the same spot and same size,” Meaders said. She said it came back as Stage 3 Triple Negative. “Thank God it could’ve went to Stage 4, but it stayed the same.”
Meaders said it was an unexpected detour, but she had the support of her husband, Eldres Meaders and her family and she was ready to fight. This time, Meaders had a mastectomy.
“I asked my husband and he told me “You do what you gotta do to live,” she said.
So, she went through with the mastectomy. “And guess what, it came back again,” she said.
“And this time, I just did chemo. I was good until 2020. I had a PET scan, and it came back in another spot. By, this time, I was tired of chemo.”
She said the support of her husband helped her to fight on, but she was tired.
“He told me ‘Nuh uh, we’re not about to do this. You’ve came this far. You’re going to fight and you’re going to fight until the end.’ And that’s what I’ve been doing,” she said.
She said this time she was on chemo pills and again it came back, this time close to her lungs.
“This time I asked the Lord, ‘Lord, what is it that you want me to do? Because I knew it was something he wanted me to do,” she said. “They say God gives his toughest battles to his toughest soldiers.” She said this time, she rang the bell. And six months after ringing the bell, it came back again.
“As of today, I’m on chemo. They’ve approved me for Keytruda. This time it came back behind my port, and it’s in my muscles. So, they’re going to do chemo to shrink it and them do the surgery. But you know what, God is good, and I have a lot to be thankful for,” she said. “I always go back to the Book of Job and what he went through. Job’s wife told him to “Curse God and die.” And he told her, “Woman, you sound like a fool.” She said Job never gave up and her never took his eyes off of God.
She said it doesn’t have to be cancer, one financial crisis, one decision can alter your life forever and take you on an unexpected detour.
Meaders said her cancer journey has strengthened her, and through it she’s learned alternative ways to live. She now does her own research about what to use, what to eat, how to take a more holistic approach against cancer.
“Basil, bay leaves, rosemary, all of those things are parents use to use works. I even make my own homemade antibiotics,” she said. “Because it came back in my lymph nodes, I now make my own deodorant.”
“You have to help yourself. God put me here to help someone and that’s what I’m going to do, help someone else,” she said.
