THE CALL THAT
Changed my Life
I'll never forget the day I received that most fateful and unexpected call from my doctor.
It was Thursday July 15, 2021 at about 1 PM, when my surgeon called to ask how I was feeling after my D&C.
Then she said the words, “I’m so sorry…” – my world went into slow-motion – “to bring you the bad news…the polyp was cancerous.”
Then she said the words “oncologist…”, “discussing treatment options…”, “Monday…”, and “total hysterectomy.”
The conversation was a blur.
And, the weekend following was long and emotional, before my husband, Jaime, and I met my GYN/ONC, and could start getting answers.
I kept fear at bay as memories came flooding back.
I’ve been spiritually aware since I was a child. But there was one night in particular, I was recruited for a mission. My mom came in my room and her ever-smiling face was solemn. I’ll never forget her next words: “Do you believe that if we pray, that daddy can heal from cancer?”
I said, “Yes.” and we got to work. I was only nine years old, but I truly believed with all of my being that prayer could heal my father. My daddy, a loving, but troubled, post WW2 combat veteran, and purple-heart recipient, died a little over a year later after a vicious battle with lung cancer, chemo, radiation and multiple surgeries at the young age of 57.
Although I was young, I knew enough to know that smoking and drinking had caused his illness. Even so, I never gave up on the fact that a person could heal spiritually and emotionally, and reverse illness physically. We just didn’t really know how this could happen…or what to do.
By the time I was in my late teens,
it seemed like my entire family was wiped
from the map, in the span of 8 years.
My dad, my grandpop, my grandmom, my other grannie and my dear aunt: all gone from cancer or other chronic illness. Even our beautiful German Shepherd, Max, died of cancer.
Practically the last one standing was my mom. Then, my mother got diagnosed with breast cancer. I was devastated. Because for me the word “cancer” meant a long, drawn out, cruel hearted death sentence.
I was considering to go away for graduate school, but I gave up on those plans to move out of state and went to pharmacy school close to home, to be close to my mom. After watching her go through 5 years of chemo, radiation, hair loss, double mastectomy and repeat botched surgical procedures to her little body, she was finally given the green light.
On her long awaited 5-year anniversary visit to her oncologist she was declared cancer free. But, that same day, she told Dr. Rose, “You know, my hip hurts… I just thought I should tell you.” The next scan revealed total skeletal metastases. She passed away about a year later.
Even as I was grieving her loss and financially struggling, working 3 jobs, to pay my last semester of tuition, I still believed healing and miracles were real and achievable. I was only 26, but I vowed to go into the pharmaceutical industry to cure cancer. And I spent that last 25 years in Pharma research, development and medical affairs, and 17 of those years were in oversight to global oncology products. I did what I set out to do…or so I thought.
I was adopted at birth, and had no genetic markers of cancer. I was always healthy and fit.
So, when my cancer diagnosis came, it seemed so ironic, and didn’t make sense. Thankfully, it didn’t, because it gave me a little bit of time to pause and find meaning behind this scary situation. I then spent a solid year doing a deep dive of the medical data to sort out the facts from the fraud online. There is so much more to uncover than just blaming our bodies, hiding our stories as shame and passing it off as bad luck.
EC was my wakeup call, and a catalyst for positive change. Now, at the ECF, our goal is to bring you data-driven facts, summaries, and holistic tools, tips and groundbreaking resources specific to this cancer via monthly Zoom calls, podcast episodes, in our onePEACHvoice educational platform, at our PEACH at the BEACH annual retreat and fundraiser, and through ongoing public health awareness initiatives. Because, what I’ve seen in mixed online cancer communities online is grim and misleading at best.
If you are reading this story, you are not alone. There is hope for you. And we are glad you are here. We want to hear from you, amplify your voice, and shout your success stories from the rooftops. There are so many things you can do to empower yourself along your healing journey, especially when you have a community behind you, to create a lifestyle of wellness and well-being. Start with downloading the free tools I created for you. Once you are an insider on our list, you’ll have access to our email and so you can send us your most pressing questions.
So, when my cancer diagnosis came, it seemed so ironic, and didn’t make sense. Thankfully, it didn’t, because it gave me a little bit of time to pause and find meaning behind this scary situation. I then spent a solid year doing a deep dive of the medical data to sort out the facts from the fraud online. There is so much more to uncover than just blaming our bodies, hiding our stories as shame and passing it off as bad luck.
EC was my wakeup call, and a catalyst for positive change. Now, at the ECF, our goal is to bring you data-driven facts, summaries, and holistic tools, tips and groundbreaking resources specific to this cancer via monthly Zoom calls, podcast episodes, in our onePEACHvoice educational platform, at our PEACH at the BEACH annual retreat and fundraiser, and through ongoing public health awareness initiatives. Because, what I’ve seen in mixed online cancer communities online is grim and misleading at best.
If you are reading this story, you are not alone. There is hope for you. And we are glad you are here. We want to hear from you, amplify your voice, and shout your success stories from the rooftops. There are so many things you can do to empower yourself along your healing journey, especially when you have a community behind you, to create a lifestyle of wellness and well-being. Start with downloading the free tools I created for you. Once you are an insider on our list, you’ll have access to our email and so you can send us your most pressing questions.
THE CREATION OF THIS ORGANIZATION IS MY GREATEST CONTRIBUTION TO SCIENCE YET
My goal is to educate the public, close the diagnosis gap and to keep our community of #overcomers healthy for life.
And it is all for you.
Who is Dr. Anne Arvizu?
Anne Arvizu, PharmD, FASCP, PCC, is a pharmacist, researcher, public health educator, executive coach and former global medical affairs executive. Anne’s company, Corelife Group, Inc., is a premier global management training, consulting and advisory firm partnering with oncology focused healthcare and biotech companies to create mission-driven, productive teams and implement scalable business plans. She has advised the C-Suites and boards of dozens of top fortune 500 Pharma companies.
After serving 25 years in Pharma, and watching teams and leaders experience corporate burnout, Anne created The Corelife Method, a values-centric, coach training and certification program, to help mission-driven leaders in crisis stay balanced while achieving their dreams and goals. Anne is a prolific podcaster, Keynote speaker, medical content publisher, and the author of the book, Affluent Minds, Core Expressions for a Rich and Wonderful Life.
Anne created the Endometrial Cancer Foundation (ECF) as the world’s first and only not-for-profit initiative to bridge the gap between the boundaries of healthcare and healing and bring needed awareness to this burgeoning disease.
At the ECF we believe that the diagnosis of EC can happen up to 18 months earlier, as at-risk women and front-line healthcare professionals alike are educated on what to look for. EC is on the rise globally and the time is now to support the transformational initiatives we are creating here at the ECF.
We can find the cure, together.
Please donate today.
Meet The Leadership Team and The Board
executive team
Dr. Anne Arvizu
Founder, President & Board Chair, The Endometrial Cancer Foundation
Carole Delorme
Director, Patient Advocate
Debbie Boumans
Director; Senior Program Director, Miami Dade FLP
BOARD OF ADVISORS
Todd Eury
Director, Founder and Publisher of Pharmacy Podcast Network
Dr. Jaime Arvizu
Senior Vice President Medical Affairs & CMO, Corelife Group Inc.
Dr. Jennifer Marquez
PharmD, BCOP, CPGx, Founder and CEO of PharmDNA, LLC
OUR ANNUAL RETREAT
PeachAt The Beach™
We are currently planning our first PEACH at the BEACH retreat to take place in 2023! For the first time ever, we’ll be gathering this community of women, not in mixed support groups with other cancers, but in their own element, where they can find friends, battle buddies and be encouraged live.
This three-day event includes two days of deep soul filled conversations, transformational coaching tips, talks and tastings, and concludes with a beautiful gala. We’ll teach lessons on how to prevent recurrence, overcome this cancer and stay physically, mentally and emotionally healthy for life. Our guest speakers are healers and entertainers and experts, to help guide us all into well-being. We are so excited to meet our ladies live and for those who can-not attend for health or other reasons, we hope to provide a hybrid digital experience that is equally inclusive and transformational. (No peach left behind!)
Days one and two are focused on you! (And we have a special separate event
planned caregivers!)
Day three we will end with a fundraising gala open to all with tables
sponsored by our generous donors and corporate partners.
The guest of honor will be our women and we will highlight
stories of hope and overcoming.
We are changing the face, language and outcomes of cancer.
We can’t do this without you. Please partner with us today. Together, we can gather a global community, generate life-saving research, educate the public, broadcast our success stories, create access for our underserved communities, and make the all but silenced voice of the EC patient heard.
