…decided that I’d write a memoir about my breast cancer journey. During treatment, I learned that African-American women are diagnosed at an earlier age and later stage than white women and we are more likely to die from breast cancer than any other race of women. I wanted to share my story from diagnosis to reaching the five year cancer-free milestone with the hope of removing the fear associated with breast cancer and thereby increasing early detection.
Luckily, I made it to my five year anniversary. However, in July 2014, right before I published my memoir, my breast cancer returned and this time it was stage IV.
There is no stage V.
I was having muscle spasms in my back and discovered that the culprit was a lesion on my T12 vertebrae. The recurrence made me more determined than ever to publish my memoir so I turned to crowdfunding to make it happen. My goal was $10,000 but I raised over $13,000 in two months.
By February 2015, I was cancer-free again and in October of 2015, my memoir, Dig in Your Heels: The Glamorous (and Not So Glamorous) Life of a Young Breast Cancer Survivor was published. Promoting my book and sharing my story has been one of the highlights of my life. Inspiring other women to believe, be positive, and never give up hope has been very fulfilling. I want to do what I can to reduce the breast cancer mortality disparity in the African American community.
Typically, 10 percent of the proceeds from the sale of my book goes to breast cancer research and outreach. However, upon learning that cancer patients in my fatherland, St. Vincent & the Grenadines in the West Indies often forgo treatment and die because there isn’t a treatment center on the island, I wanted to be a part of making a treatment center there a reality.
The St. Vincent & the Grenadines Medical Association is aiming to raise $250,000 to establish an oncology center. Initially, I wished that I had sold more books so that I could fund the entire center myself—similar to what Rihanna has done in Barbados. But after I thought about it, I realized that I could give 100 percent of my net proceeds now and maybe my commitment to be “all in” would inspire others to join me in this endeavor.
For a limited time, my memoir will not only engage, inform and inspire women, but it will bring hope and healing to a nation. All of the proceeds from Dig in Your Heels will go toward the oncology center in St. Vincent & the Grenadines.
I know what it’s like to go through a cancer battle and it’s important to receive care close to your loved ones and not have to worry about added expenses. Having cancer is burden enough.
Follow Karla’s journey on social media: Twitter: @karlaliving; Instagram: @diginyourheels and @karlaliving; Facebook: Facebook.com/KarlaABaptiste