Our Story
In August 2010, my family’s life would change forever. Everything I once knew to be true and great and kind in this world came to a crashing halt when my wife Julie was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. At age 34 Julie Ann Bankovich would have to put life on hold and learn to become a heavyweight boxer. Julie would have to endure multiple rounds of chemotherapy, a lumpectomy, a lymph node dissection, a mastectomy, months of daily radiation therapy, a brief pause while her body recovered from all the chaos it had just endured, then a tram flap surgery to reconstruct a new breast out of her tummy fat. Not to mention, all with a 2-year-old daughter in tote and our chances of ever having another child dashed. That alone would be enough for a first-round knock-out to most.
The key words in all that Julie had to endure between 2010-2012 was “lymph node”. It was probably the easiest procedure Julie faced at the time but the most telling of what would be to come. You see, if cancer finds its way into your lymph nodes, it means the cancer can come back anywhere it likes, whenever it wants. Usually in your bones, your liver, or your lungs. It was bad enough that Julie had to endure the physical and emotional scarring of being temporarily bald, not having a breast, not being able to have kids anymore but now, because her cancer was found in her lymph nodes, she had to always live with the possibility that the cancer could re-occur.
If you knew Julie, she didn’t let that hold her down. As time went on, her cancer became a distant memory. Her body healed, her hair grew back, and her checkups at the doctor were great. She was considered “cancer free”. She was back to her old self. She loved her daughter more than life itself, loved her family, and loved her friends. Julie loved to travel, try new restaurants, go to concerts and sporting events. Most of the time she dragged me way out of my comfort zone to succeed in "living your best life”. I have no regrets.
In October 2015, Julie and I decided to move into a new house one town over from our previous address. We had lived on a very busy street on a main road. We wanted our daughter to grow up in a neighborhood where she could make friends, play in the street, and where we could chat with neighbors any time you walked out the door. We wanted to feel a sense of community. We had just gotten all moved in and settled into our new neighborhood.
A few weeks later, Julie’s back was bothering her. She attributed it to all the heavy lifting and unpacking a big move can cause. The pain kept getting worse. She soon had this feeling inside that something was not quite right and bypassed going to her primary care physician altogether and opted to go straight to her oncologist. They did a bone biopsy in her back and then we waited for the results. Since Julies cancer had traveled to her lymph nodes, they say if you make it 5 years past your first “cancer free” diagnosis without reoccurrence, your chances of it coming back become less and less. Julie was almost at that 5-year mark.
The news from the oncologist was not good. The breast cancer had metastasized into Julies bones otherwise known as Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC). There is no cure for MBC. There is no “cancer free” from MBC. You are now unfortunately on borrowed time. How do you process this kind of news? What do you say? How do you act? In Julies case it was with selflessness, courage, and strength beyond anything I have ever seen in my half century of life so far. She refused to bow out of the fight to gain one more day with her daughter, one more night out with her friends, one more trip with her family. It was truly inspiring to witness Julie live her "best life" over the last few years.
The number of surgeries, clinical trials, nights in the hospital, nights in rehab, ailments and debilitations that come from fighting MBC you could never fully grasp, unless you have MBC or are a caregiver to someone with MBC. It has changed who I am forever. This disease truly does not relent. You have to be a warrior, or at the very least, a heavyweight fighter if you want to go a few rounds with MBC.
After living with MBC for 4 1/2 years, Julie took her final breath on April 5, 2020 to this atrocious disease. And while my heart still aches from her loss, we have started this foundation to honor Julie and remember all the great times we shared with her.
The Julie Ann Bankovich Foundation was started by Julie’s sister Valerie, Julie’s Aunt Kathy, and myself, Julie’s husband, Joe. Our mission is to bring joy and create memories for those that have been diagnosed with Metastatic Breast Cancer. If we can bring a smile to someone’s face by sending them to a concert with friends, planning a dinner night out with a loved one, or securing a family photo session with a professional photographer then we will have succeeded. These types of activities always put a smile on Julie’s face and gave her a sense of normalcy while she fought MBC. I know we will see Julies smile through all those we can help.
