A Dairy Farmer’s Fight With Breast Cancer
In honor of breast cancer awareness month, we wanted to share the story of Anita Van der Laan, a dairy farmer from Oklahoma. You can read more about Anita and her family here or in the November issue of MILK. Here’s the story of her fight with breast cancer, we hope it will inspire you to listen to your body and seek medical care if you need it.
Two years after a tornado tore through the Van der Laan’s dairy, Anita was diagnosed with breast cancer.
“That’s been my biggest challenge,” she says. “I think about the tornado and I know God prepares you for tough times. I got diagnosed on Sept. 17, 2013.”
Earlier that summer, a Brown Swiss heifer named Gema hit Anita with her bottle during feeding time.
“It felt like I got hit with a baseball,” Anita recalls. “There was a big bruise that didn’t go away and it still hurt so I had it checked out.”
It turned out to be an aggressive form of breast cancer. While she felt she didn’t have time to deal with the cancer, her doctor told her she needed to make time.
Read or listen to Anita’s story on our sister-site, www.MILKbusiness.com.
Anna-Lisa Laca
Tue, 10/23/2018 – 12:36
Category
Dairy (General)
Leadership
Comments
News Article
Image Caption
Pieter and Anita Van der Laan immigrated to America and started their farm with a handful of cows and a dream in the 1990s.
Image Credit
James Pratt
Source: Dairy Herd