Montrose Local, LCHS Graduate Beats Breast Cancer

When Erin Malone started chemotherapy and began losing her hair, she hosted a head-shaving party and rocked a pink Mohawk.

The 27-year-old graduate was diagnosed with breast cancer in February but with the support of her family and friends she now is in recovery and stronger each day.  

“I’m solid,” Malone said. “I found a lump in the shower on my own. I kind of waited a week or so. I popped into my gynecologist’s office and talked to her.”

Malone’s doctor insisted she have an ultrasound that day. The next treatment was a biopsy.  

“Within three days I found out everything,” Malone said. “It was a crazy week.”

Her doctors were aggressive about her breast cancer and that month Malone had surgery. Because of her young age, doctors told Malone she was cancer-free after surgery.

She was used to horse back riding, dirt biking and the long commutes to Orange County where she works as marketing assistant at Heritage Foods. All that stopped while she recovered and worked from home.

A Healing Process

“The hair’s coming back. I actually loved being bald,” she said.

Wearing dangly earrings and funky jewelry helped her feel beautiful and confident again after several chemotherapy treatments, Malone said.

She initially followed her doctor’s advice to stay away from Internet research while you’re battling an illness.

“When you’re in it, do not go online when it comes to research because you will start psyching yourself out,” Malone said. “Most of the forums or blogs that you find are people who are having terrible experiences.”

Facing reconstructive surgery worried Malone so she began to visit the website Real Self, a forum for people to share their reconstructive surgery stories, Malone said.  

“It’s actually hard to feel sexy again,” Malone said. 

Malone has additional surgeries for her breasts, but the websites have given her peace of mind, along with support from her family and friends. 

She healed by attending hospital workshops with her boyfriend, CVHS grad Matt Gershik, family and friends.

“I lucked out because I had a good support system,” Malone said. “A lot of people don’t. I was at Huntington Hospital and , they’re extremely supportive."

Another thing that helped Malone was Facebook. She started sharing her experiences with breast cancer online with her friends and family.

“I started throwing it out there and people who I thought wouldn’t give a shit were like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry,’” Malone said. “I got a lot closer to people I never thought I would before.”

“It was very nice to have that support of so many people.”

She also started telling her story through her independent blog Rock it Hard.

“I like to write a lot and it was an outlet,” Malone said. “I said, ‘Okay, I’m just going to throw this out there. People should know what really happens.’”

On her blog she tackles surgeries, what it’s like to wait for mammogram results and even shares hand drawn anatomy lessons. 

Then came her big wig decisions.

Malone’s friend and hair stylist Laura Hilton, a graduate who works at , helped her pick out wigs and shaving her head.

Becoming an Advocate

Malone warns that cancer can and does happen to young people and the science community doesn’t have enough research to detect patterns or behaviors that cause it. 

Although she admits to smoking, no prior history of breast cancer is in Malone's family.

“You never know, there’s not enough evidence of anything to figure it out,” Malone said.

Today she walks away from her breast cancer in a new role and plans to become more involved with a Los Angeles-based organization called Boarding for Breast Cancer, a nonprofit organization that combines board sports and breast cancer awareness.

“This experience has turned me into an advocate,” she said.