(MOBILE, Ala.) - Hundreds of working moms are not only battling work and family, they're also facing the fight for their lives with breast cancer.
One working mom who says she refuses to become a victim.
It's enough to have to think about juggling a 40-hour work week and raising a family - let alone having to go through chemotherapy and reconstructive surgeries.
A lot of women would just give up. Not Andrea Farrell of Mobile. She says she hopes to be an inspiration to others.
Watching Andrea move, you would never know she is in a war with cancer.
"At 36 years old that's not something you're expecting to hear," she explains of her diagnosis. "It almost felt like a bad dream, like I was watching someone else's life."
In January, Andrea was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer.
She had a newborn baby who depended on her, a husband, and a job.
After the initial shock, Andrea says she knew cancer wasn't going to beat her or stop her very busy lifestyle.
When her doctor told her she needed to cut back on work, Andrea said no way.
"I believe 99% of everything is mental and God never hands you anything you can't handle." she explains. "She told me I needed to go part time at work but that wasn't an option for me. I needed to maintain some form of normalcy."
Andrea, a former NFL cheerleader, continued to exercise hard and eat right to stay healthy and not let the chemo get the best of her. She never deviated from her normal day to day routine.
"I pushed myself, put on my wigs, my makeup and go out the door," she says. "Other people's reaction was worse than my own. I found myself consoling them."
Andrea also had a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery.
Local 15 is a proud sponsor of the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk.
It's October 27 starting at 8 a.m. at the Mobile Civic Center.
