Having a pink hair extension is the least of Kaye Cooke's concerns after what she has been through.

After seven surgeries, six months of chemo and two months of radiation she has been free of breast cancer for 10 years.

“I'm a much better person,” she said this afternoon at Shannon Golden Home Designs, where Ashleigh Roberson was adding pink feathers as a fundraiser for a digital mammography camera at Halifax Regional Medical Center. “Material things don't mean as much to me as my relationship with family and God.”

The 10 cancer-free years have given her a chance to watch her four grandchildren grow. Through the cutting, the radiation and drugs, she never thought of giving up. “I would not let myself get to that point. There was no pity.”

She goes for checkups every three months and in March will be celebrating the official tenth anniversary in her battle against breast cancer.

Closeup of the feather.

Asked what she would do if someone asks about her pink hair extension, Cooke said, “I would pull up my shirt and show them where I've been cut seven times. This is my symbol, my pride and joy.”

Today was the third time Roberson, who works at the Renaissance Salon and Spa, did a pink feather drive. The first one was at the hospital where she installed some 94 feathers.

Roberson with touches of pink in her hair.

Some of her clients at the Renaissance have been through breast cancer treatment, Roberson said. Through them she has learned important lessons. “You don't sweat the small stuff. There are always others who are worse off than you.”
Brandy Mabrey works in the cat scan department at HRMC, where different departments are doing different things to raise money for the camera, which costs around $690,000.

To get that camera, she said, will mean the hospital will get patients in and out faster. “It will allow us to double what we do in a day. The image is much clearer. It can help us catch something much sooner.”

Maybrey's role in the project, however, goes beyond it being her idea. Her mother, Kathy DeBerry, is a breast cancer survivor. “I see every day, professionally and personally, what breast cancer can do to the individual patient and their families,” she said in an email to rrspin.com. “Everyone knows someone that has been affected by this and I believe that has been the reason for my success in this fundraiser.”

For those who still want to participate they may call Roberson Tuesday through Friday at 252-537-8500 or contact Shannon Golden Home Designs at 252-326-9481.