GREENSBORO, N.C. (WFMY) -- In 2014, Greensboro native Rachel Bixby ran her first Women's Only 5k Walk & Run with a friend to support the cause.
One year later, she had her first mammogram at Cone Health’s Breast Center of Greensboro which led to a breast cancer diagnoses.
Rachel had no family history of breast cancer and was only 40-years-old.
What followed was surgery at the Cone Health outpatient surgery center and eight weeks of radiation, all before Thanksgiving.
Even as Rachel suffered from treatment-related fatigue and muscle and joint pain so terrible it was often a struggle to walk up the steps in her home, she was determined to return to the Women’s Only 5K Walk & Run in 2016.
She crossed the finished line this time as a survivor, with her husband and children cheering her on. This year she's walking again in solidarity with other survivors and in support of those who will benefit from free mammograms.
The Women's Only 5k Walk & Run is October 6th in Greensboro. Proceeds benefit the Cone Health Mammography Scholarship Fund and the *Alight Program. They both provide mammograms, financial assistance, educational and emotional resources.
For more information, visit their website.