Lisa Hardiman was in denial when her doctor found an acorn-sized lump in her right breast.
“I was like, ?It can?t be me. I?m only 40. This can?t be happening,? ” the mother of three said. “In the back of my mind, I was like ?This is nothing.? ”
But it was something.
On May 21, Hardiman was diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer, which had spread to both breasts. She immediately underwent a bi-lateral mastectomy and shortly after recovery, started her first phase of chemo.
As co-owner of the Let?s Dish regional headquarters in Baltimore, Hardiman faced colleagues concerned about her, the first being her business partner, Alexa Corcoran.
“Her life, and my life, changed in a day. We were humming along,worried about other things, and all of a sudden, we were thinking about Lisa surviving breast cancer,” Corcoran said. “As a friend, you feel very powerless. You can?t help make the cancer go away.”
Founded in 2003, Let?s Dish! allows customers to customize freezer-ready meals for their families. The company recently launched their Pink Dish! Campaign, an awareness and fundraising initiative that will provide Maryland and Northern Virginia families affected by breast cancer with meals at no cost.
Corcoran said that the Pink Dish Campaign materialized out of Hardiman?s experience. “We watched her go from designing meals to needing them. She couldn?t make dinner because she couldn?t reach the cabinets. It?s important to us that the family that is coping with breast cancer can sit down together and talk about work, or what the kids did in school that day. It?s an important part of knowing that you can get through [breast cancer.]”
As part of the campaign, Let?s Dish is encouraging people to go to their Web site to share their stories of dealing with breast cancer. For every story that is posted, Let?s Dish! donates $5 to the campaign. “We now have three pages of stories that have raised more than $10,000,” Corcoran said. “Most of them are from breast cancer patients, but others are about coping with a sister, a mother, a daughter or friend who had breast cancer.”
Hardiman recently started her second round of chemo. Her husband and three kids, son Torben, 10, daughter Berit, 8, and son Halden, 5, have been extremely supportive, she said. “They?ve been terrific. My kids are very interested by the whole thing. [My husband and I] wanted them to understand what breast cancer meant, that it wasn?t necessarily a death sentence. That people can be sick, and they can get better.”
There are three ways to participate in the Pink Dish! Campaign: sign up for a Let?s Dish! session; purchase Pink Dish! retail items; or Share your Pink Dish! story.
