The Pink Paper Fall 2013 | Page 8

Special Feature The 1ST Annual Pink Pioneer List Joni Aldrich, 55, lost her mother, husband and many friends to cancer. She felt her husband’s journey was a legacy that, “Newbies” could learn from, so she wrote and published five books in one year, including: The Saving of Gordon, The Cancer Patient W-I-N Book (workbook) and Connecting Through Compassion. Joni is the CEO of Basket of Care, a company that specializes in creating practical gifts for those experiencing a life crisis. She is also a national speaker and the co-founder of W4CS Radio - The Cancer Support Network. “HOPE is a one-syllable word that will keep you going when all the other more impressive words have failed to sustain you.” —Joni Aldrich Nancy M. Cappello, PhD., began her breast cancer journey 9 years ago when she was diagnosed with advanced stage breast cancer in February 2004 after “normal” mammography reports for a decade. Through this experience she learned that mammograms miss every other cancer in dense breasts, so she founded Are You Dense, Inc. and Are You Dense Advocacy, Inc. Along with “My advanced stage diagnosis compelled me to use my personal narrative and decades of science to change a fatal flaw in breast cancer screening. Implementing our Mission is filled with as many disappointments as victories - but at the end of the day, my motivation is the impactful exchange of a late stage tragedy with an early stage diagnosis. This is life’s highest calling.” — Nancy M. Cappello, PhD. 6 THE PINK PAPER Fall 2013 the Connecticut legisla