At Think Pink for Women’s Wellness, Palisadian Shares Her Secret to Beating Cancer with Grace

By ERIKA MARTIN | Reporter

When Brooke Crane attended last year’s Irene Dunne Guild Think Pink for Women’s Wellness event, she was blissfully unaware that the afternoon would be the watershed in a life-changing chain of events that immediately began to unfold.

For this year’s function, held May 11 at the Bel-Air Bay Club, Crane returned as keynote speaker, delivering a message of strength and hope inspired by her battle with Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

The Palisades resident first became aware of her symptoms the night she returned home from last year’s luncheon, where Dr. Chloe Bird spoke on the need for women to listen to their bodies.

“She repeated this many times, to the point where I said to myself, ‘Okay, I get it. If I ever feel a tightness in my chest I promise I’ll get it checked out,’” Crane joked. “I’ve been healthy my whole life, so I figured the odds of this happening to me were slim to none.”

That very night, she noticed a strange feeling, “sort of like a fat man sitting on my chest.” Twelve months and 12 rounds of chemotherapy later, Crane has endured the unthinkable and beat the disease with an open mind, positivity and a little help from her friends.

She shared the lessons she’s learned from her battle with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a blood cancer that starts in the lymphatic system. It is a relatively rare form of cancer, accounting for only .5 percent of all cancer diagnoses in the U.S.

Having initially dismissed her symptoms as psychosomatic, she echoed Bird’s message, advocating for women to be mindful of their bodies.

“It’s hard. We often get caught up taking care of everyone else—our husbands, our children, even our neighbors—before ourselves,” Crane said. “I matter. I deserve to slow down, listen to my body and take action if necessary.”

In the weeks following her initial chest pain, Crane felt fatigued and noticed a reoccurring cough, but didn’t take action until she discovered a dime-sized bump on her right clavicle. While inflamed lymph nodes are often benign, after getting a few opinions she wound up in St. John’s emergency room.

“I really don’t think I would have gone to the emergency room that night if I hadn’t heard Dr. Bird speak that day,” she said. “To be honest, I felt a little silly wasting their time, when I was pretty sure I’d be back in a couple hours with maybe bronchitis or pneumonia.”

A lengthy series of tests pointed to something more serious, and Crane was admitted to the hospital that night, receiving her diagnosis the next day.

“Wow, me? Cancer? Really?” she remembered thinking. “So what is Hodgkin’s lymphoma? I didn’t have a clue.”

But she greeted her journey with optimism and resolve. Springing into action, she consulted family friends who had battled cancer and came away with two life-saving pieces of advice: make the first 48 hours count, and get an opinion from multiple specialists, no matter what.

“I have to say, the phone calls and research we did that first day really set us on a path that felt manageable, even though it was frightening,” Crane said.

She also emphasized the importance of friends and family, whose support she maximized via organization, even appointing a Chief of Staff.

“So many people want to be helpful and it’s so wonderful. But to be honest, all of the attention can be overwhelming,” she said. “So we decided to give people specific tasks and jobs. Designating tasks really helps streamline everything.”

Friends were also instrumental in brightening up chemotherapy sessions, which Crane treated as opportunities to connect with friends.

One friend came to most treatments in costume to lighten the mood. At the first, she donned boxing gloves and brought a sign reading “Round 1;” for the last, she dressed as a marathon runner and covered the medical equipment in finish line tape.

But perhaps the most lasting effect of the treatment will be the outlook Crane gained from deciding to say yes to everything people offered her, which she said has made her stronger, deeper and delivered bonds and friendships that didn’t exist before.

“I realize now that this mindset not only helped me heal, but helped others heal too,” she said.