An Interview with Mary Pat Boyd of Boyd Silver Works
January 28, 2008 by Lesly Maranan
Filed under CANCER
I’m very happy to have to the opportunity to share with you an interview that I recently had with Mary Pat Boyd, owner and creative genius behind Boyd Silver Works, a unique custom jewelry design service specializing in cancer awareness pieces. Mary Pat is a two-time breast cancer survivor and a tireless advocate for cancer awareness and prevention through her volunteer work with the American Cancer Society. When I first came in contact with Mary Pat, I was intrigued and inspired by her stories of grace and strength under very trying circumstances. We’ve since become fast friends, and I’m so glad that she’s agreed to share her story with Batting Cancer readers. Your business, Boyd Silver Works, is focused solely on creating beautiful cancer awareness jewelry. How did you first start making your works of art? I’d been working with metal for some time before my first cancer diagnosis, but my cancer awareness jewelry line began with the Silver Ribbon Ring that I designed while going through the first cancer battle. I began making awareness jewelry because I wanted to share hope through jewelry design.
Have you always been in a creative profession?Always. I’ve worked in various mediums throughout the years but I really enjoy the metal working a lot.
Before you were diagnosed with breast cancer the second time, you had difficulty convincing your doctor that something was wrong. What advice would you give to someone who is currently having trouble communicating with their doctor? My first cancer was estrogen negative. The second cancer (in the same breast) was Paget’s Disease. The mammogram for the second cancer didn’t reveal the tumor and my doctor didn’t think that I had cancer again. I know my body though; and a nagging feeling hung over me so I sought a second opinion. Women need to realize that we’re entitled to more than one medical consultation. If you doubt what someone is telling you, seek advice from someone else. And if you don’t have a good rapport with one doctor, then find a different one. This is your body and you need to be an advocate for yourself.
Describe your volunteer work with the American Cancer Society.I’m proud to be a volunteer through the Reach to Recovery program that the American Cancer Society offers. We’re certified volunteers who interact with cancer patients and survivors. The ACS attempts to match volunteers with patients based on cancer similarities, etc. It’s a wonderful outreach program.
You’ve had to face a number of personal struggles in your life — what do you consider your greatest sources of strength?I talk to cancer patients, survivors, and their loved ones often so I know that my own story is very unremarkable. Their stories touch my heart and humble me. I draw a lot of strength from those that I’m in contact with and I’m proud to be a voice in the war against cancer. I honestly believe that we can make a difference, and that belief gives me strength and propels me forward.
What would you like to share with readers who are currently undergoing cancer treatment? Statistics clearly show that an early diagnosis will prolong one’s life or save a life, so it’s important to do monthly self exams. And get that mammogram! A mammo can’t detect all cancers, but it’s a terrific tool against the disease. Also, a cancer patient often feels alone and isolated, but she doesn’t need to carry her cancer fears bottled within. There are many volunteers and caring people who will listen to her concerns, so I think it’s important that she reach out to others for help. Talk with your family, friends, and medical experts. You’re not alone in this battle.
Some individuals find that their relationships with friends and family members undergo a great strain after they are diagnosed with cancer. What advice would you give to caregivers and friends of cancer patients? Read more December 7, 2007 by Lesly Maranan What factors into the quality of life score? Marital status, for one. Patients who were single, divorced, or widowed had significantly lower quality of life scores, which correlated with a decrease in survival. Another interesting find from the study was that if quality of life improved during the study, so did the patient’s chances of survival. Read more November 7, 2007 by Lesly Maranan A few weeks back, I mentioned how I decided to start volunteering at my local cancer center. After completing the orientation and waiting two weeks to get my background check, I finally finished my first shift as a volunteer this morning. Today I trained with a more experienced volunteer who, like most of the volunteers at this particular institution, has decided to donate her efforts after someone close to her had been diagnosed with cancer. She gave me a quick orientation, and we were off – in the four hours’ time that we spent on our shift at the diagnostic clinic, we assisted nearly 400 patients from the waiting area to the phlebotomists’ rooms to get their blood drawn. A lessons learned from my first day as a volunteer: 1. It’s pretty likely that someone else is having a worse day than me, and they’re probably more cheerful that my grumpy self. I’ll admit it: I was cranky this morning because I had stayed up late working, slept right through the alarm clock, AND hit traffic on my way in. By the time I checked into the volunteer office, I was fifteen minutes late and had my full-fledged grumpy pants on. About five minutes into my training session, I started to feel really foolish. Many of the people that I met that day had just been diagnosed in the last few weeks and had the regular patterns of their lives disrupted, yet they were remarkably cheerful. It sure put things in perspective and it made me feel silly for being so selfish. 2. Everyone who spends time doing cancer research ought to spend some time with patients if they don’t already. Before my recent move, I had been working at the bench-top to help validate a new chemotherapeutic for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). One of the things that made it really difficult on the research end was to find funding for our projects — often times, we’d have to justify to our funding sources why we would want to spend our time finding treatments for diseases where ”only” 30,000 Americans every year were diagnosed. It’s hard after seeing patients to put an “only” before any number, no matter how small. When I go back to to the laboratory next year, you can be sure that I’ll have a better grasp on why it is so very important to find better ways to treat and manage all stages of cancer. 3. There are volunteer positions to match every kind of personality and disposition there is. At MD Anderson, there are over 70 different ways a person can volunteer. You can choose a position depending on the different degrees of patient contact you want, personal disposition, and skill levels. While your particular institution probably doesn’t have quite as many as Anderson, please consider volunteering anyway. Your volunteer coordinator will help you find something that suits your needs. All in all, I don’t regret my decision to volunteer, and I hope that you get a chance to do so, as well! 
How does your spina bifida affect your daily routines?I was 3 days old when I had the spina bifada surgery and there was early concern about hydrocephalus. Aside from the possibility that the early radiations may have caused my cancer, my adult life has not been affected by the spina bifada.
Quality of Life and Cancer Survival
Filed under CANCERLessons learned from a cancer clinic volunteer
Filed under CANCER
