By ALEXANDRA MASS
Every morning Tina starts her day with a positive action. Whether it is teaching to her students in a patient and loving manner or going for a brisk run around the town, she makes the most of every moment.
Tina is a breast cancer survivor ,but also a mother, an Under Armour spokeswoman, a tri-athlete, and an intellectual who is still looking to conquer life’s biggest challenge post recovery.
Kennis is the definition of a fighter makes sure to live life to the fullest every day. Known as “PinkRibbon Tina” on Twitter, she is not afraid to share her story and accomplishments to her followers.
Her accomplishments range from being an Under Armour brand athlete and spokes model for their pink ribbon campaign to starting her very own cancer support organization in the jersey shore area.
“I am inspired by many amazing survivors, and I am committed to empower strength in other cancer survivors, and it is with these survivors in mind, that I will enjoy celebrating my twelve year cancer survivorship in the best health of my life.”
Today, she continues to find her next big accomplishment and continues to strive in being a math teacher and triathlete. Strenuous exercise like this has actually been linked to a better quality of life for those who have been affected by breast cancer.
According to the American Cancer Society, “Physical activity has been linked to a 24% decrease in breast cancer coming back, and a 34% decrease in breast cancer deaths.”
Kennis was first diagnosed with breast cancer when she was only 29 years old. She was married with a one-year-old son during this time and was also teaching and supervising at Ocean County Technical Vocational Schools in mathematics.
Kennis didn’t think that at such a young age she would be able to even be affected by cancer in any way. After breast-feeding her first son, Trey, she discovered a lump in one of her breasts and
decided to get it checked out but was in no rush to do so.
She thought she was too young to develop cancer. However, after five months of consultations with six different doctors and specialists there was more to the lump than what she had originally believed. What was once identified, as a cyst became an atypical mass that lead to her diagnosis of Infiltrating Ductal Carcinoma.
The Heartbreak of Recovery
It was during the time of her diagnosis that Kennis also found out that she was pregnant with her second child. The pregnancy was then creating an imbalance in her hormones, which then was causing negative side effects with her cancer.
This led to the hard decision of whether she would have to terminate the current pregnancy in order to be able to handle the long battle with cancer that was only just beginning.
Her doctors strongly advised to have surgery to remove her tumor, terminate the current pregnancy and have an inspection of her lymph nodes done.
Kennis did not let this stop her from keeping a positive mindset. She knew that although there were many challenges testing her, she had to be there for her family and for herself through these struggling times.
In doing so she wanted all of her options laid out in front of her.
Traveling near and far she went to multiple gynecologists and specialists looking for guidance on what to do.
“The cancer was the easy part. The doctors had plans for the cancer. The difficult part was the pregnancy. With each day that I remained pregnant, the tumor could be growing at an exponential rate,” Kennis said.
Five of the six doctors recommended termination of pregnancy in order to save her life.
“With heavy hearts, I prayed and sent that little life back to heaven – this was the devastating first step of my cancer treatment,” Kennis recounted.
The Effects of Treatment
Her treatment consisted of four months of chemotherapy and two months of radiation. Although she lost all of her hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes she remained positive in what the end result would be from these treatments.
“This was a look I didn’t particular like on me. But I knew that by going through these treatments it was getting rid of these bad cancer cells.”
She kept this mentality that revolved around the fact that the cancer cells would be gone and she would come back from it stronger than ever. She then powered that positivity by making a change in helping not only herself, but also others going through a similar situation.
“In hopes to make a difference in the lives of women and men near and far, I often share two messages. The first is that breast cancer doesn’t discriminate by age. Young women get Breast Cancer, too. I felt so alone when I was diagnosed; none of my friends had Breast Cancer. Where were these other young women? I needed to meet them… or maybe one of them need to meet someone like me… and that’s when I knew I needed to be somewhat of a spokesperson for young women with breast cancer.”
Embracing the opportunity to improve the quality of life for women fighting breast cancer, Kennis concentrated on raising money and awareness.
“Redirecting my energy and focusing on the positive, I reached many women through speaking engagements, health fairs, and hosting a tremendously successful annual fundraising event, ‘In The Pink,’ proudly raising over $120,000 for local cancer organizations,” Kennis said.
After raising the funds, friends and family encouraged her to share her journey and successes as a public speaker as well as to local newspapers, magazines and public television shows.
Her story stood out from other breast cancer survivors because she took part in a rare genetic testing that was not always done with those that were going through recovery. This allowed her to be the keynote speaker at a press event for the Early Mammogram Bill.
Kennis worked effortlessly with Governor Chris Christie in 2012 to get this bill passed in New Jersey. This would ensure that all health care providers would cover mammograms for women who were younger than 40 years old by their insurance.
“Delivering my speech with very little hair of my head, my story made a big impact and that July, I stood next the governor, as he signed the bill into state law, mandating insurance companies to cover mammograms for women regardless of their age,” she said.
After she completed chemo Kennis looked forward to making every minute count in a day.
Kennis has even more accomplishments that she values more than that one. Her top one occurring in 2012 when she was chosen to be a part of Under Armor’s she’s a fighter campaign.
“Under Armour recognized me for the passion that is stirred inside of me as an athlete. My motivation comes from always trying new things: training as a Black Belt in Taekwondo, competing in several triathlons, Half Marathons and the Marine Corps Marathon.”
The positive energy she created by participating in all of these things did not stop there. In being active all the time it prompted her for the next big thing to do in her life post recovery.
“Keeping my body in check and challenging my physical strengths, I set a goal of earning a medal in
every state. Just last weekend, I traveled to San Francisco, California, where I ran the Diva Half Marathon and earned a medal in the tenth state in this challenge of mine.”
Kennis not only creates positivity in her own life but she radiates it in the lives of others. There is a hopefulness in her actions that prompts her to share her messages and what she has learned from her journey with breast cancer.
“In 2016 in the US, there will be an estimated 1,685,210 new cancer cases and 595,690 cancer deaths,” according to the Cancer Statistic Center.
It is this statistic alone that encourages Kennis to inform others of different things they can do to address early signs of cancer.
“My affiliation with Under Armour and local cancer organizations coupled with speaking engagements and fundraising events have given me opportunities to remind women and men to be more diligent with their own health-care. The tools are out there: Mammograms, ultrasounds, MRI’s, and even self examinations.”
She found that motivating other people not only helped her to stay positive as an athlete and a survivor but also as a mother. Referring to her son as her “guardian angel” and the one that helped her to get through al of the tough times that cancer brought along with it.
“And just as I believe Trey was sent to “save” me, Keira, my precious little Keira, I truly believe she was sent to “cure” me. Each day, as I look into the beautiful eyes of my baby girl, I am filled with the hope that she will never need to know about this thing called breast cancer. I will work hard to ensure that the cure is, in fact, on the horizon.”
I really enjoyed reading this article, particularly because it was really touching and motivating being that if a cancer survivor can get through a breaking point in life, so can anyone else. I learned a lot of statistics about cancer including how many cases there are yearly and deaths.