{"id":9603,"date":"2023-08-14T17:07:55","date_gmt":"2023-08-15T00:07:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/?page_id=9603"},"modified":"2025-12-17T11:42:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T19:42:15","slug":"patient-story-building-hope-together-samaritan-health-services","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/about-samaritan\/together\/patient-story-building-hope-together-samaritan-health-services\/","title":{"rendered":"Building Hope Together"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t

Building Hope Together – Jeanetterand Sonia's story<\/h1>\n\t\t\t
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Sadly, Sonia passed away from cancer in October 2024. Her story lives on as a powerful tribute to her unwavering strength and fighting spirit. (Photographed above, on right.)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cHaving each other to lean on helped get us through.\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

~Jeanette Campagna and Sonia Graham<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\t<\/section>\n\n\n\n

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Breast Cancer Survivors Look to a Future Filled With Hope<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It was a relationship that evolved in the most unconventional way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sonia Graham and Jeanette Campagna had a casual friendship and business connection through the Newport Chamber of Commerce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their relationship quickly turned into a support system and a lasting bond as the two women fought their individual battles with breast cancer (see their stories below<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Graham had discovered a large lump in her left breast during a routine self\u2011exam in February 2020. The following month, an aggressive form of breast cancer was confirmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI remember it like yesterday,\u201d said Graham. \u201cIt was March 26, 2020.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\t<\/section>\n\n\n\n

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Campagna had received her own breast cancer diagnosis a few months prior in November 2019 following a routine mammogram.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still adjusting to her own breast cancer diagnosis and weighing her next steps for care, Campagna still remembers the call from Graham.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was taken by surprise when Sonia called me and shared the news about her diagnosis \u2014 it hadn\u2019t been talked about during other interactions we had,\u201d said Campagna.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Campagna was a sounding board and offered a wealth of knowledge as Graham began her own fight against cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe talked and texted frequently; it was a priority that we check in with each other,\u201d both Graham and Campagna said. \u201cHaving each other to lean on helped get us through.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\t<\/section>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cNever take life for granted \u2014 you only have one!\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

~Jeanette Campagna<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\t<\/section>\n\n\n\n

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Fast forward to early 2021. Graham is officially in remission and Campagna proudly celebrated being one year cancer-free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shortly after reaching these milestones, the two women decided they wanted to help women struggling with breast cancer in their community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe talked about getting involved with an already\u2011established breast cancer awareness walk,\u201d said Graham. \u201cBut it was important to us we support local, both the women impacted by breast cancer and our community that surrounded us with compassion throughout our fight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\t<\/section>\n\n\n\n

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Then in April, Graham received a call from Campagna \u2014 her words exactly, \u201cWe are doing this! We will create our own breast cancer awareness walk.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite Graham\u2019s initial apprehension, Campagna\u2019s experience with developing similar events along with their shared passion, quickly turned any concerns into excitement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two women met at Nana\u2019s Irish Pub, a favorite of theirs in Nye Beach. It was then that their idea blossomed to reality and into an event they would host later that year at Newport High School on Oct. 9, 2021 \u2014 Coast Busters Walk.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\t<\/section>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cIt was important to us we support local, both the women impacted by breast cancer and our community that surrounded us with compassion throughout our fight.\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

~Sonia Graham<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\t<\/section>\n\n\n\n

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The day of the event was more successful than either Graham or Campagna imagined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMore than 100 people showed \u2014 including my son who traveled all the way from Washington D.C.,\u201d said Campagna.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt also raised over $14,000,\u201d said Graham. \u201cThese funds will go back to our community that supported us whole\u2011heartedly so that we may help women struggling with breast cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neither Graham nor Campagna had plans to make the Coast Busters Walk an annual event. But, after the success of the first and the community\u2019s request to keep it going, that is what it became, with the second annual event scheduled to occur on Oct. 1, 2022, at Newport High School.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\t<\/section>\n\n\n\n

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Elated with the community\u2019s response, the women shared their vision for the event in years to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne day our goal is to be known as the co\u2011founders of the Coast Busters Walk and to be able to hand the reins over to someone else \u2014 so we can just be participants,\u201d Graham and Campagna said with a smile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Graham and Campagna expressed their gratitude to title sponsor NextHome Picket Fence Realty, not only for their sponsorship but also for the thoughtful medallions they prepared for participants, as well as the many other sponsors of the 2021 event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upholding their promise to keep the Coast Busters Walk proceeds local, Graham and Campagna worked with the Pacific Communities Health District Foundation to allocate monies toward the Women\u2019s Cancer Fund. <\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\t<\/section>\n\n\n\n

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Schedule Your Mammogram<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A mammogram can find breast cancer before you have symptoms or notice a lump, and early treatment gives you more options. New advances like 3-D mammography is the standard of care at all Samaritan Diagnostic Imaging locations. This technology has increased the detection of breast cancer and decreased false positives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Learn More About Breast Care<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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Join a Cancer Care Seminar<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Our Cancer Care Virtual Seminars are free to anyone interested in learning more about cancer. From breast health to nutrition guidance, cancer prevention and more, our local experts will guide you.  Watch one of our previous seminars:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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