Knoxville nonprofit hosts 5th annual breast cancer comfort basket wrap party

What This Story Is About

• A Knoxville nonprofit held its fifth annual breast cancer comfort basket wrap party Saturday, honoring 33-year survivor Lynne Williams with a plaque.

Why It Matters

• October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and organizers say the baskets let people in cancer treatment know they aren’t alone during what can be a lonely journey.

What Happens Next

• About 30 baskets will be hand-delivered to people undergoing cancer treatment across Knoxville and Knox County.

For Context

• Founder Vivian Shipe started the basket program five years ago after watching her mother and sister go through cancer.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - A Knoxville nonprofit brought community members together Saturday to fill baskets with items meant to bring comfort to people battling breast cancer.

I Am the Voice of the Voiceless hosted its fifth annual Comfort for the Journey Breast Cancer Basket Wrap Party at the Connect Ministries Building on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Baskets made entirely from donations

Everything inside the baskets was donated by the community, according to founder and CEO Vivian Shipe. Items include journals, books, socks, lap blankets, shawls, pink glasses, lip balm, hand-crocheted pumpkins and peppermints to help with nausea.

Shipe said community members spent time putting the baskets together before taking them to someone going through cancer treatment. Organizers said baskets have also been made throughout the month, bringing the total distributed across Knoxville and Knox County to about 30.

The nonprofit has worked with UT Medical to provide baskets to patients undergoing cancer treatment.

Shipe started the basket program five years ago. Her mother was a four-time cancer survivor, and her sister and several friends and church members have also gone through cancer.

“We know that it’s one of the hardest journeys when you’re going through cancer treatment, from the first diagnosis to the minute you ring the bell, that time in between, that it can be a lonely time for many people,” Shipe said. “And so what we try to do is we just try to step up and say, we just enclose them with love and say, we love you and we’re here for you, and you don’t have to go through this by yourself.”

A 33-year survivor’s story

Lynne Williams, a 33-year breast cancer survivor, was honored with a plaque at Saturday’s event. Williams, who turns 73 in January, was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 39. The tumor was located underneath her nipple and was described as being the size of a period on a page — too small to detect through self-exam and not visible on a mammogram.

Williams said she went to the doctor after noticing a discharge from her nipple. A sample of the discharge tested positive for cancer. She was given the option of a lumpectomy or a mastectomy and chose to have the breast removed because of the tumor’s location. She also took part in a clinical trial testing a higher chemotherapy dose over a shorter period of time.

A year after finishing chemotherapy and her mastectomy, Williams became pregnant. At the time, in 1993, doctors recommended waiting five years after treatment before becoming pregnant. Williams said her oncologist suggested she have an abortion for medical reasons and spoke with her for about 20 minutes trying to change her mind. Williams said she refused, telling him God had given her the child.

Williams said the oncologist then called her primary care physician. She said that physician asked her if congratulations were in order, and when she said yes, he told her he attended a weekly prayer group that would hold her and her unborn child in prayer.

Williams gave birth to a daughter, who is now 31 years old. Her daughter is now the mother of five daughters and is pregnant with her sixth child, a boy. Williams said she breastfed her daughter without needing supplements.

Williams said she lost her hair during six months of chemotherapy and chose to go without a head covering indoors.

“If anyone didn’t like the fact that I was bald and not covering my head, it was their problem, not mine, because I was alive and proud,” Williams said.

Williams also said men can get breast cancer and pointed to actor Richard Roundtree, who was a breast cancer survivor and later became a spokesperson with the American Cancer Society.

“Not alone”

Williams said she continues to help others going through cancer treatment because of the support she received during her own treatment.

“Because when I was in treatment, there were people that reached out to me that did for me, that made me feel important, that made me feel special,” Williams said. “And so it’s important for me to make sure that other people that are in treatment know that they’re not alone and that they’re special.”

Williams said she wants people to know there is life after breast cancer.

Saturday’s baskets will be hand-delivered to people undergoing cancer treatment across the Knoxville community, including through churches and home visits.