About The Unexpected Gift

Why a store focused on people diagnosed with cancer?

When I was 42 years old, I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. It was a devastating diagnosis, not something I expected. It changed my life but it also gave me a gift.

There is so much more than just the diagnosis. There are physical and emotional struggles that come with the diagnosis, and then there is recovery. I understand what a person experiences because of cancer. The vulnerability and uncertainty of what the future holds is challenging.

I remember standing in a change room of a busy medical store trying on a surgical bra and a compression girdle. I did not know how it was supposed to fit, I was in the change room alone and I broke down.  Trying to figure out what you need and how it works, does not need to be a struggle.

When I was recovering, I joined organized support groups and it was there that I learned so many things that would have made things easier – but you don’t know, what you don’t know. By speaking with other people, I learned about products that would have been beneficial while going through treatment. It was the small things that would have made such a difference to my level of comfort while having chemotherapy and radiation.  Knowing a simple thing like getting your teeth cleaned before treatment started would have made all the difference to me.

So now I know what you don’t. This is why I opened the Unexpected Gift in 2015.  This is the knowledge I want to provide to you. I want to share my experiences with you – to help provide compassion and convenience. The Unexpected Gift provides comfort and safety that only a survivor can provide.

Cancer changed my life and that has allowed me to realize what is authentically important. My kids, my family, my friends and people are what life is about. Not the chaos we get wrapped up in. Enjoying the moment and hearing the laughter make challenges easier to overcome.

That is the gift.