Breast Cancer

About three years ago, Fox News correspondent Jennifer Griffin felt an orange-sized lump in her breast while weaning her third child. She figured she had a blocked milk duct or maybe an infection. She never dreamed it could be breast cancer. But she soon discovered that the conventional wisdom about the disease - who gets it, when, and why - does not apply to the aggressive subtype known as "triple negative. " "I thought when you were pregnant and nursing you were protected," recalled Griffin, 43, who blogged about her battle against triple negative cancer at jengriffinblog.blogspot.com.

Through Wednesday, Philly.com and The Inquirer will mark breast cancer awareness month by publishing a profile a day of transformative moments reported by patients. The series will culminate in a special Philly.com/Inquirer section on Thursday, and can be viewed at www.philly.com/breastcancer . Jennifer Bergstrom was just starting her life over. Her six-year marriage in Kansas City had ended, so she took a job that moved her to South Florida. This happened to now be the home of her first love, her college boyfriend, and their love rekindled.

From today through Oct. 17, Philly.com and The Inquirer will mark breast cancer awareness month by publishing a profile a day of transformative moments reported by patients. The series culminates in a special Philly.com/health Inquirer section on Oct. 18, and can be viewed at www.philly.com/breastcancer . "My little Sister, Debbi, was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer when she was 29 years old and pregnant," said Traci Walters of Texas. "They induced labor about a month early because the tumor was growing so fast because she was pregnant.

Through Oct. 17, Philly.com/health and The Inquirer will mark breast cancer awareness month by publishing a profile a day of transformative moments reported by patients. The series will culminate in a special Philly.com/Inquirer section on Oct. 18, and can be viewed at www.philly.com/breastcancer . Ronni Jacobs of Chestnut Hill is a single mother and has a special relationship with her two daughters, whom she raised by herself. The worst moment in her breast cancer journey was sharing the news with them.

Through Oct. 17, Philly.com and The Inquirer will mark breast cancer awareness month by publishing a profile a day of transformative moments reported by patients. The series will culminate in a special Philly.com/Inquirer/Daily News section on Oct. 18, and can be viewed at www.philly.com/breastcancer . Dawn Capone crashed into a tractor-trailer parked on I-95 and driven by, she says, "a man with a huge criminal record who was high. " The accident nearly killed her, but it also might have saved her life.

Through Oct. 17, Philly.com/health and The Inquirer will mark breast cancer awareness month by publishing a profile a day of transformative moments reported by patients. The series will culminate in a special Philly.com/Inquirer/Daily News section Oct. 18 and can be viewed at www.philly.com/breastcancer . "I remember the day that my phone rang," said Caryn Kaplan of Langhorne, "an ordinary workday. I learned that my breast cancer had returned and metastasized to my liver and bones.

Through Oct. 17, Philly.com and The Inquirer will mark breast cancer awareness month by publishing a profile a day of transformative moments reported by patients. The series culminates in a special Philly.com/Inquirer/Daily News section Oct. 18, and can be viewed at www.philly.com/breastcancer . Perhaps it was luck, fate, or a blessing, but weeks before being diagnosed with breast cancer, Karen Weiss read a book by Corrie Ten Boom called The Hiding Place . Weiss was amazed how the faith of the author, who hid Dutch Jews from the Nazis, grew only stronger as horrors mounted.

Through Oct. 17, Philly.com and The Inquirer will mark breast cancer awareness month by publishing a profile a day of transformative moments reported by patients. The series will culminate in a special Philly.com/Inquirer/Daily News section on Oct. 18, and can be viewed at www.philly.com/breastcancer . Lisa Barsky is a school psychologist and teacher in Bala Cynwyd. This is her story: "The most difficult moments for me in my delicate dance (not battle) with breast cancer were also the ones that were most transformative.

To know Brenda Jones is to get hugged by her. What happens next, often, is you want to send her some fabric. She's the breast-cancer battler I wrote about three years ago whose anger at getting sick found a juicy target in those hideous, backless Johnny coats that hospitals make their patients wear. As she was recovering from radiation treatment, she learned to sew, well enough to start producing fanciful flannel gowns she calls Hug Wraps. She'd given away about 150 of them to fellow cancer patients when I first visited her home in Southampton, N.J., on the edge of the Pine Barrens.

Through Oct. 17, Philly.com and The Inquirer will mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month by publishing a profile a day of transformative moments reported by patients. The series culminates in a Philly.com/Inquirer/Daily News section Oct. 18, and can be viewed at www.philly.com/breastcancer . "I am a huge golfer," says Laura Martin, 53. "I played on the boys' team in high school, in college at Duke University. I play in a lot of local Philadelphia Women's Golf Association events, with a 6 handicap.