Emily’s “𝒮𝓉𝑜𝓇𝓎”.

Hello! My name is Emily Buchleitner. I am 32 years old. I was born and raised in the small town of Homeworth, Ohio. Where I come from, everyone knows everyone. I have always considered myself an outgoing person, I make friends easily, and above all, I love to laugh. My parents and older sister still reside in Homeworth. After meeting my now husband, Shane Buchleitner, I moved to Avella, Pennsylvania. Shane and I have been together for 8 years. We have been blessed with a 3-year-old daughter, Tessa. She is the light of our lives.

I was fortunate enough to grow up riding horses. I spent most of my life barrel racing. When I met Shane, I decided to make the switch to breakaway roping. Our family of three lives on a small farm. We have horses, dogs, and cattle. I thrive on riding and consistently try to get better at my sport. A quiet trail ride or roping cattle in the roping pen can make any bad day better.

Our daughter is just as obsessed with riding horses and the outdoors as her father and me. Tessa competes in youth rodeos on her white pony, Thunder (aka Bunder). We also enjoy camping with family on free weekends. We love outdoor activities.

Life for my family is busy. I am employed by UPS as a delivery driver. Depending on the season, there are times that my job demands 60 hours per week. My husband wears many hats. On top of being a loving husband and father, he works hard to support our family. He just finished up a contract job as a construction manager for a portion of a microchip facility in New York. He worked out of town five days a week for the majority of 2021. Currently, he is busy remodeling homes and shoeing horses. My mother-in-law is self-employed and able to watch Tessa while we go to work. We are fortunate to be surrounded by our family in our small community.

Shane and I had big plans in 2021. We were working hard to save up money to put an addition on our home. Last summer, we had plans drawn-up by an architect and we were planning to break ground in the Spring of 2022. We had another little secret… Shane and I were going to start trying for baby number two. Little did we know, God had other plans. All the money that we saved would not be going towards our dream home after all.

On a Monday in September of 2021, I felt a lump on my breast that forever changed my life. I called the doctor immediately. By Friday, it was confirmed… I had breast cancer. As the doctors dug a little deeper, they changed my diagnosis to Stage 4 Metastatic Breast Cancer. The cancer had traveled outside of my breast and into my lymph nodes. To say I was devastated is an understatement. How could this happen to a healthy 32-year-old with a family and a career? Well, cancer does not care. I spent an entire day full of anger. The next day, I woke up and decided that cancer would not define me. Cancer would not take over my life, and I would still do what I love. For this reason, I am living my life to the fullest and not taking a moment for granted. Because Tessa shares the same interest as my husband and me, we are embracing our lifestyle and encouraging our daughter to do the same. I want our daughter to be able to look back and say, “I didn’t even know my mom was sick.”

Cancer is prevalent on my dad’s side of the family. My father had stage 4 colon cancer then prostate cancer, my aunt Tracy had breast cancer then passed away from cancer in her pancreas and liver, my Uncle John passed away from lung cancer, My Aunt Vicki had breast, ovarian, and passed away from stomach cancer, my cousin Shawnie passed away from brain cancer, my cousin Michelle had breast cancer and passed away from lympoma cancer, My grandma had breast cancer then passed away from leukemia and My grandpa passed away from colon cancer. As a result, my sister (who had breast cancer at age 29) and I decided to have genetic testing. We both tested positive with a gene that is present for early childhood cancers. There is a 50/50 chance that our children, Tessa and my nephew, carry this same gene. My nephew tested negative for the gene. Tessa will be tested for the gene in the near future.

I am currently undergoing chemotherapy treatments. I am scheduled to have a double mastectomy the beginning of April with radiation to follow. Due to the type of breast cancer that I have, I will spend the next year visiting my oncologist every 3 weeks for IV infusions. Throughout this journey, I have recognized the power of being positive and trusting God. I am confident that my faith will carry me through.

Since starting this journey, I have written a list of goals that I WILL accomplish. Thanks to the good Lord above, I now see more clearly than ever before. I believe everything happens for a reason. Realizing your mortality makes you recognize and appreciate what is important in life. I am empowered by this journey. I encourage everyone to value the “small” things because they are moments in time that you will never get back.

Breakaway From Cancer would have a large positive financial impact for our family. Since diagnosed with cancer, I’ve been unable to work and our income has been cut dramatically. My husband has been the most supportive through this whole process and has made sure to be at every appointment and chemo treatment, which is an all day affair. My husband’s hours of working have been cut due to the emotional aspects of this journey. A support system is crucial when one is going through an experience such as this. The financial burden of everyday bills, plus medical bills, is overwhelming and when one is just trying to “breakaway from cancer” it adds a lot more stress.