Her name is Nikki Tripplett, but people call her Trip. She is 38, lives in Houston, and works in internet marketing and real estate. Two years ago, at 36, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. The type of cancer she had was very aggressive, she learned, and the doctor recommended she move forward quickly with treatment. "[T]ime is not on your friend," the doctor explained. Originally, the doctor thought she had a single malignant tumor in her breast, but surgery revealed that she had four. Trip had a history of cysts in her breasts, so when she'd found "this little pea-sized knot" in her breast six months after one of the routine mammograms she'd been having every two to three years due to the cysts, she'd gone to the doctor right way and hoped it was nothing. But it wasn't.
Her treatment was grueling. She had one mastectomy. Then she had another one. She endured 16 rounds of chemotherapy, which left her bald. She underwent eight and a half weeks of radiation treatments. Eventually, she had a total hysterectomy and oophorectomy. During chemo, her hairless head drew looks, and she wondered if she could turn the attention into a mission. "I'll give them something to stare at," she decided. "How can I be normal," she wondered, "but my normal?" She wanted to bring breast cancer awareness to the black community. She already owned a grill. That's when she had the idea. Why not get a breast cancer grill custom made?
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