Waiting for a Cure Foundation offers support for breast cancer survivor

PINE BELT, Miss. (WDAM) - Hattiesburg native Michelle Lott planted a seed for helping others through their breast cancer journey. Now, she is seven years into her own struggle with the disease.

“Regardless of what the doctor tells you, you need to stand on God’s word,” Lott said.

Fighting with faith, Lott has lived her life with that mindset since her breast cancer diagnosis.

“I’m dealing with breast cancer,” she said. “I got diagnosed in June, July of 2015.”

As a school teacher, Lott got her mammograms during the summers. She said it was routine until her doctor called her.

“Got called back for another appointment to see a surgeon, and they did a biopsy, and it was almost like a dream,” Lott recalled.

But the reality of her breast cancer diagnosis meant Lott would endure a lot of treatments, so much so that she had to retire from teaching.

“Eight rounds of chemo and 30 rounds of radiation. After that, I went through a year of remission,” Lott said.

Lott said she used that time to be there for others fighting breast cancer by volunteering with the Waiting for a Cure Foundation, but when remission didn’t last, she became one of the women needing help. The founder of the foundation, Dawn Gillis, explained what it’s all about.

“22 years ago, we created the foundation to help women who are diagnosed with breast cancer,” Gillis said. “By helping, what we do is help get prosthesis if they need that, or bras, pay off medical bills for them, especially for those who do not have the funds to do so.”

As the founder, Gillis said that when women like Lott are fighting for their lives, mounting medical bills should be the last thing they have to worry about.

“And that is where we step in, and we try to pay off as many of the bills as we can,” Gillis said.

Lott said her medical bills were over a hundred thousand. She said insurance helped, but waiting for a cure filled the gaps.

Gillis also offered what money couldn’t buy.

“She would call me to check on me, to encourage me, bring little happys like plants and little door knockers to put on my door during Breast Cancer Awareness Month; you know, just the small things,” Lott remembered.

It’s the intangibles Gillis gives and the financial help of the foundation that is getting Lott through her latest treatments in Atlanta.

The promising news is that Lott said her scans have been clear for a year.

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