In honor of Pam Baker
For many years, Pam Baker has trained in taekwondo and was ready to earn her black belt when she found out she had breast cancer—late stage aggressive invasive carcinoma.
“My head started spinning and I had to figure out what to do,” Pam says. She went to UNC oncologist Mark Graham in Cary who teamed up with doctors at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill to figure out how to best care for Pam. They didn’t count on her determination to still take that grueling martial arts test.
“The doctors worked with me and treated me as a whole person, not a cancer,” she says. “They understand the three components of healing: body, mind and spirit. TaeKwonDo is my spirit. I had to do it.”
After three rounds of chemotherapy—and with nine more months of treatment ahead of her—she took the test. She kicked, ran, punched, broke boards, and sparred for eight straight hours. At the end, exhausted but elated, she earned her black belt. And then she underwent nine more months of chemotherapy, radiation, and a bilateral mastectomy.
“I’m now a seven-year survivor,” Pam says, “And I don’t think I would be here if I didn’t go to UNC.”
Grateful for the excellent care provided by UNC, she decided to join Lineberger’s Patient and Family Resource Center as a patient coordinator to help educate patients and comfort their spirits.