Joy

My name is Joy Kampen.  I was born in New Orleans, LA. I have two children and four grandchildren and have recently remarried to my wonderful husband.  I am the Alum Director of You Night Empowering Events which is an organization that embraces and empowers women of all cancers during and after their diagnosis. We ‘gift’ them a nine-month program in which we give them back their confidence, make them feel beautiful again, and teach them that they are NOT DEFINED BY THEIR CANCER.
I was diagnosed with a Melanoma on the bottom of my foot in 1998. There were two possibilities why I developed a Melanoma:

1) I fell asleep on a pier near the water lying on my stomach during midday.  I had a serious sunburn and fever blisters. This occurred in 1962. I was a teenager

2) in 1980, while pregnant, I walked in our garage and stepped on a nail. (in the exact place where the Melanoma occurred). In later years, I didn’t pay attention to it because I had keloid skin, so that area was always raised.
In 1998, I went to a Podiatrist for another reason, and he looked at my foot and said, “This is a Melanoma; you need surgery immediately.”
I had back to back surgeries two weeks apart, and then the incision split open. I didn’t want a skin graft because of my history of keyloids and my my extreme sensitivity to anything under my feet. It took eight months for the open wound to heal.

In 2009, I had breast cancer – DCIS. Stage O. I had a bi-lateral mastectomy at MD Anderson and later had implants. In 2019 I found out that I had the recalled implants and had to have them removed.
I am very healthy despite my two cancers, and I help other women who are struggling with their cancers.