Two-time breast cancer survivor Annie Johnson walks the 2011 Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure with her daughter Jamayah, 8. (Photo: Michaela Duckett for Qcitymetro.com)
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When Annie Johnson was diagnosed with breast cancer for the first time more than a decade ago, she kept it to herself.

“I didn’t really tell a lot of people that I had breast cancer,” said Johnson, who is now 44. “I didn’t share my story. I kind of went through it, and that was it.”

When the cancer came back nine years later, Johnson didn’t keep it a secret. She says her willingness to open up about her disease the second time around allowed her to receive some much-needed support that she didn’t have the first time.

Last weekend, along with members of “Team A.J.” -- a group of about 30 supporters, consisting mostly of family members and a few close friends -- Johnson participated in the 2011 Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in uptown Charlotte. In addition to raising funds for research to find a cure for cancer, the race celebrates breast cancer survivorship and honors those who have lost their battle with the disease.

An estimated 17,000 people participated in the Saturday race. Runners came dressed in pink dresses, pink wigs, pink tutus and pink bras. Some brought their dogs, similarly attired.

We fight this as a family

In addition to prayer and keeping her faith in God’s healing powers, Johnson, who has 10 siblings, says the support of her family helped her survive the cancer.

“We cried together, and we prayed together,” she said. “That’s how we fought cancer. We fought cancer as a family. It’s not a whole lot that they won’t do for me. I never had to go a doctor’s appointment or do anything by myself.”

It was not the first time her family had confronted cancer. Johnson’s mother and two of her aunts all had breast cancer. She also lost a first cousin to the disease, and Johnson’s father died of bone marrow cancer.

Although her journey has been far from easy, Johnson said she knows she is blessed to have support from family and friends, and hopes that in return she can be a blessing to others.

“My prayer to God through all of this has been, ‘Place me where you need me to be. And let me say what you would have me to say to hopefully encourage someone who is going through it that needs some encouragement.’”

A Blessing from the start

After undergoing treatment the first time she was diagnosed with cancer, Johnson developed “female problems.” Doctors told her she would be unable to have more children. She accepted that as her fate, until a couple of years later when she conceived her youngest daughter, Jamayah, now 8.

“From day one, she has just been a miracle baby,” said Johnson.

For the past two years, Jamayah has walked alongside her mother in the Race for the Cure.

“We do the cancer walk every year,” Jamayah said. “For us, it’s like a little celebration.”

In addition to seeking counseling for herself, Johnson says she also sought counseling for Jamayah, something she wishes she had done for her two older children.

She enrolled Jamayah in a program for children of parents with cancer after recognizing the emotional toll that watching her mother suffer was taking on her.

She recalls an incident her daughter had at school.

“She had gone to school and was sharing with other students. She said to them, ‘I had to help my mom take a shower today,’ and the kids actually thought that was nasty,” said Johnson. “It really hurt her feelings.”

She said by participating in the youth support group, Jamayah was able to talk about her feelings freely because the other children understood what she was going through.

What did she learn from the experience?

“You should never be scared if somebody in your family has cancer,” says Jamayah. “It’s just something that they have to fight off and you have to be strong about it… be fearless.”

Laugh to keep from crying

In addition to having a strong support team, Johnson said maintaining a healthy sense of humor helped her to overcome her battle with breast cancer.

Last year, when she had a mastectomy, she initially planned to have breast-reconstruction surgery the same day but couldn’t because her blood pressure was too high.

“I had to pad my bra,” Johnson said. “A lot of times, I would forget, and I would run out the house. Then I would run back in and my husband would ask what I forgot and I would say ‘My boob!’ And we would just laugh about it. You laugh sometimes to keep from crying.”

Johnson also developed a knack for coming up with witty comebacks when asked serious questions about her cancer.

“Someone asked me if I had reconstructive surgery because of my husband,” she recalls. “I made this joke that I don’t even know if he knows they are there. And it’s actually just a joke, but in all honesty, he had nothing to do with it. The decision was totally mine. At 45, I’m still a young lady. If they can make a breast for me, then I was going to let them.”

If she had it to do again

Although it was a little less frightening because she knew what to expect, Johnson said her second bout with cancer was shocking. She had just celebrated nine years of being cancer free, and a couple of months before her gynecologist found the lump in her breast, she had a mammogram and things looked normal.

She added that the experience was also less frightening because she was at a different place in her life. Her priorities and outlook had shifted.

“The first time when the surgeon told me I had cancer, I was thinking ‘Oh, my God, I’m going lose my hair,’” she said. “It may have been immature, but a woman cares about her hair and what she looks like. I remember crying. I had been going to beauty shops since I was four and felt this was a million dollar head of hair.”

She doesn’t think her doctor took too kindly to her initial concerns.

“To her, I guess, it was like, ‘You’re concerned about losing your hair when you can be losing your life,’” said Johnson.

Johnson, then 34, mourned the loss of her gorgeous head of hair. She wore a wig the entire time.

“At that time, that’s where I was at,” she said. “This time, I wasn’t thinking about hair. I walked around here bald headed and let it grow back.”

She added that if she knew then what she knows now, she would not have kept her disease a secret.

“This time, I am 10 years older, and I am ready to tell my story,” she said. “I’m going to tell it because I have this testimony, and I’m going share it. I have been through it and I’m still standing. It’s a journey. But I have faith. I truly believe in God and I have faith. I know that’s what keeps me going - my faith in God and my faith in what he can do.”

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