After breast cancer battle, Brown helps Alabama’s Forge Breast Cancer Survivor Center to strengthen others

Life was going smoothly for JoAnna Brown until she hit a detour: Breast cancer led her to forge a new path.

Busy at work and at home, Brown enjoyed her job as an executive assistant at Alabama Power. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until February 2021, when her world and that of her family was turned upside down by a call after her annual health checkup. The doctor had noticed a “suspicious spot” on her mammogram.

Brown returned for a follow-up ultrasound, and two weeks later a doctor performed a needle biopsy. The test confirmed she had early-stage triple-negative breast cancer.

Living with the reality of breast cancer

Brown underwent a three-pronged treatment at UAB St. Vincent’s Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama, starting with surgery in April 2021.

“I went through a double mastectomy, reconstruction and chemo,” she said.

During treatment, the side effects of chemotherapy were Brown’s biggest obstacle. She felt extremely tired after each chemo session.

“I was able to work,” Brown said. “I didn’t have nausea, so I was completely blessed from that perspective.

“Fatigue was the biggest problem that I had,” she said. “I had treatment on Wednesdays, and by Friday when I got off work, I didn’t get out of bed until I went to work the following Monday.”

That’s why she slept a great deal after chemo treatments. “My family would look at me and say, ‘You’re exhausted,’ and I was,” Brown admitted. “I would feel good for about a week and a half, until I went back.”

During a treatment, Brown recalled hearing a nurse tell another patient that, because she’d lost three pounds, she couldn’t receive chemotherapy that day. The news sounded alarm bells in her head.

“I was like, ‘Oh, mercy,’” Brown said. “I had a trip planned out West for October that I really wanted to go on, and if I skipped a treatment, I wouldn’t make it.

“I would go in there eating biscuits and strawberry jelly,” she said, chuckling. “They’d ask if I wanted to be weighed before I ate and I’d say, ‘Nope, this one isn’t losing a pound!’”

When Brown found that carbohydrates settled her stomach, she chose to eat potato soup, biscuits, cornbread and plain pasta. She admitted the diet was very bland, but it helped prevent the nausea that often accompanies chemotherapy.

“I’d much rather work on the weight afterward than be nauseated during that period,” Brown said. She persevered, completing all her treatments in September 2021.

Fueling the desire to improve life for those dealing with breast cancer

When Brown found out she had breast cancer, she spent a lot of time researching the disease and looking for nonprofits that could help. All she could find were for-profit organizations, which frustrated her.

“I was completely blessed with everything I needed from friends, family and coworkers,” Brown said. “But my heart went out to people as I went through it, thinking there has got to be an organization out there that can help people along their journey, that’s not for profit.”

She noted that items like a driving pillow become absolutely necessary when a patient leaves the hospital after a mastectomy.

“You don’t even know you need it at the time,” she said. “But when you have a double mastectomy and that seat belt comes across you, you will come out of the car. It’s things like that which I found frustrating.”

As Brown shared some of those issues with a coworker, the woman mentioned Forge Breast Cancer Survivor Center in Birmingham. Her coworker suggested that Brown consider becoming part of the nonprofit’s board. With many rural hospitals closing, breast cancer patients in Alabama and Mississippi travel an average of 110 miles each way for treatment. Many underserved patients rely on nonprofits for quality cancer care and resources.

Brown researched the organization and decided to take part in events with Forge.

“I felt like an undercover boss,” she said with a smile. “I went to events, and nobody knew who I was. I wanted to hear and see the reaction, the interaction, the relationships. This made it full circle for me.”

Brown became a board member of Forge Breast Cancer Survivor Center in 2024. She regrets not knowing about the center and its services earlier because they would have helped her.

“I wish I had known about it, because I have image issues, and I struggled losing everything,” Brown said. “If I had known about Oasis Counseling at Forge, I would have used it. Forge has counselors that can help you with the transition from having hair to not having hair, to pairing you up with somebody that has the same type of breast cancer as you and decided on the same procedures as you.

“You have those partnerships and relationships, and I didn’t have that,” she noted. “I have seen firsthand how beneficial that is.”

Brown appreciates that Forge is accessible to everyone, noting that cancer doctors and nurses at large hospitals are usually aware of the organization’s offerings. However, doctors at smaller facilities may not be aware of Forge and its services when a patient is diagnosed. Since joining the board, Brown wants to boost future marketing for Forge’s availability.

She pointed out that treatment is continuous for some. The fact that Forge has a hardship fund to assist people in trying circumstances – helping with bills and providing money for gas cards to get to treatments – is invaluable. These resources are vetted to help people maintain housing and provide food for their families, because nutrition is crucial to a patient’s recovery.

“Breast cancer is a journey from diagnosis until death,” Brown said. “Whatever you need in between, whether you live 50 years after cancer, you can still take part and have those relationships, events and things. Even if someone dies after that journey, the family still has access to counseling benefits to help them cope. Cancer does not discriminate by age, ethnicity, or anything else.”

Brown is very proud to be involved with Forge. She participated as a model in Forge’s annual Haute Pink Fashion Show on Oct. 3, with 10 other Alabamians affected by breast cancer.

Brown admitted she was out of her comfort zone, having never had a dress fitting from a designer, but she enjoyed it: “It was a fun experience having photo shoots.”

Brown’s focus now is on staying well and healthy. Her happiness includes getting involved in Forge Breast Cancer Center’s efforts to support breast cancer patients in their health journeys and assist survivors.

“We all go through things in life that are difficult, and I share openly about what I have gone through at various times in my life,” she said. “I do pray it helps others.”