For Immediate Release
SBL Bonutti Clinic Team Supporting Co-Worker
For 20 years, Amanda Fitzmaurice has been supporting her peers in Occupational Medicine as a medical assistant at the Sarah Bush Lincoln Bonutti Clinic. Now they are supporting her.
The Newton mother of two teenagers had her yearly mammogram in June a week after returning from their family vacation. When the radiologist found something suspicous, the Sarah Bush Lincoln mammography staff asked her to schedule a breast ultrasound, and those results prompted a breast biopsy. On June 27, the 43-year-old learned that she had stage II breast cancer.
HER2 is a hormone-positive and aggressive form of cancer that calls for aggressive intervention, so Fitzmaurice began chemotherapy within a week of diagnosis. With just a few rounds of chemotherapy left, Fitzmaurice is confident that she will beat this cancer!
She now sports decorative headscarves to cover her baldness, but Fitzmaurice has continued to work throughout her treatment regimen. Her peers at the SBL Bonutti Clinic have formed a team and are supporting her by walking in her honor at the SBL Paint the Town 5K Warrior Run/Walk to be held on Oct. 13 in Mattoon. “It means a great deal to me that all these people are pulling for me and praying for my recovery,” Fitzmaurice said.
The annual color run/walk event features a pre-party with a warm up, balloon release and a station for cancer warriors to cheer on participants. Following the event, Casey native and country-music artist Garrett Biggs will perform on stage. Face painting, rock painting, inflatables, food and more are available at no cost to participants and their families.
The event starts and ends at 19th and Broadway, just north of KC Summers in Mattoon. Participants are encouraged to “dress up” for the event in tutus and other costumes, and they can register online at www.sarahbush.org. The 5K map is also available at the site. The cost is $20 and net proceeds support the Sarah Bush Lincoln Regional Cancer Center.
“This cancer has slowed me down and the chemotherapy makes me tired, but I have realized that I was worrying about a lot of stuff that just wasn’t worth worrying about. In the scope of life, I’ve just let a lot of things go,” Fitzmaurice said of the last several months. She has spent more time enjoying her close-knit family, including her husband, Michael, and children, Cade and Abbie.
To learn more about Paint the Town 5K Warrior Run/Walk, go to www.sarahbush.org.