The Star Spangled Salute is brought to you by Ideal Feet

Today’s Star Spangled Salute honors 42-year-old Navy Veteran Tiffany Fenix.  October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Tiffany is sharing her story about the imporance of a phone call. Tiffany said, “I had some tissue removed back in 2008, and never thought about it again,  but then this VA nurse called me to check in. I had no intention of getting screened, but she pressured me to come in and that’s when they found the cancer.” Tiffany, had a bilateral mastectomy this summer at the Washington DC VA Medical Center. She credits the VA staff who treated her, and the nurse who made that call, with saving her life. Less than a month after her reconstructive surgery, Fenix is back at work, chopping wood and riding around in her F-150 with her dog, Aspen. She is not done with appointments, and she is still processing all that she has been through in the last six months, but Fenix is using her experience to encourage Veterans to take screening seriously. “Veterans don’t ask for help. That is why the people at the VA who keep calling, keep coaxing us to come in are so important,” she said. “Listen to them, get screened. And if you get a diagnosis, be vulnerable and open. Don’t just close into a cocoon. Reach out for help, it is there.” Congratulations on being a survivor Tiffany and THANK YOU for your service.