Montgomery Resident Fights Breast Cancer One Step at a Time

Dina-Jo Taylor and her family know all too well the anxiety and devastation following a cancer diagnosis.

In 2010, Taylor found out she had breast cancer, which eventually spread to her lungs. Then, in February of this year, the Montgomery resident received more alarming news. A tumor was discovered in her brain.

But luckily for Taylor, chemotherapy and radiation have since helped to destroy the cancer cells in her body.

“I’m a survivor,” she says proudly.

On Sunday, she and her family were among the hundreds of thousands of people across the country who participates in an American Cancer Society's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk. The purpose of the event is to create awareness about the disease and raise money to find cures and provide support programs and services for those facing the disease.

Since 1993, nearly seven million walkers across the United States have raised more than $400 million to help fight breast cancer through Making Strides events, according to the American Cancer Society.

The Fox Valley Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk was held at the Chicago Premium Outlet mall in Aurora. Taylor and her family were part of the Rush to a Cure team.

“I have three boys and they don’t want their mom to go anywhere,” Taylor said. “I want to fight this as long as I can.”

She is also fighting for the people in her life that are battling or have battled cancer, including her mother and a close friend who were both diagnosed with breast cancer, and another friend’s husband who has skin cancer.

“It seems like cancer is hitting everybody,” Taylor said.

This was her second year participating in the walk. She was also a part of the Relay For Life of Kane County Held at Elfstrom Stadium in Geneva. She is taking her Rush to a Cure team name to heart.

“I want to rush to cure all the cancer and people we can,” she said.