Sandi Troop and Molly Fritch, cofounders of Shout, speak about the importance of self examination at the Young Survivors panel Tuesday afternoon. Shout is a support group for young cancer patients. Lilly Chapa/The Daily

At age 31, breast cancer was the last thing newlywed Molly Fritch thought about. She regularly administered breast self-examinations, but didn’t realize this simple act would save her life.

Fritch, professional counselor for the OU Cancer Institute and co-founder of a breast cancer survivor group called SHOUT, was diagnosed with stage 2B breast cancer after completing graduate school nearly three years ago.

“My life changed in seconds and I feel like now it’s my mission to tell women about this,” Fritch told an audience of women Tuesday in the Oklahoma Memorial Union’s Governors Room. “If you feel anything, you need to get it checked out. I stand here today and there is no detectable cancer in my body.”

She spoke of her experience about surviving breast cancer at the “Young Survivors Panel” hosted by the Women’s Outreach Center as part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

“I went through six months of chemotherapy,” Fritch said. “It was an aggressive process. I just finished everything last year.”

Sandi Troop, also co-founder of SHOUT, had a story similar to Fritch’s.

“I was 32 when I was diagnosed with breast cancer,” Troop said. “I was in the Air Force and I was about to get out.”

Troop said she felt something funny on her breast, almost like a hard pea, and had the doctor check it out.

“It was an aggressive form of cancer,” Troop said.

Troop said she has had reconstructive surgery on both of her breasts, but did not have to undergo chemotherapy because the cancer was caught early.

“You’ve gotta know your body,” Troop said. “If you know deep down something isn’t right, it’s worth fighting for. You are an advocate for your own life.”

To prevent breast cancer, Troop said students should live a healthy lifestyle by eating natural foods and exercising regularly.

“Both of us are grateful for going through our cancer experiences,” Troop said of herself and Fritch.

Fritch said she has seen a lot of blessings unfold from this.

“When you face something, a life-threatening disease, it makes you value what’s really important,” Troop said.

Fritch and Troop spoke of how important it is for young women to be aware of the possibility that they can get breast cancer too, the youngest woman in SHOUT diagnosed with breast cancer being 23 years old.

“It was very moving,” said Caitlin Walker, science education senior. “It definitely made me want to check myself more often.”

Walker said she didn’t realize young people could get this too.

“Having the personal experiences told definitely brought it home and made it more real,” Walker said.

Walker said she has a co-worker who was diagnosed with breast cancer a year ago, and her co-worker is going through chemotherapy right now.

Kathy Moxley, director of the Women’s Outreach Center, said she had a friend who died from breast cancer four years ago.

“She was a new mom and it was quite a blow to her life,” Moxley said.

Moxley said many college students don’t seem to realize they are still at risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer even though they are young.

“By bringing SHOUT in specifically, we can help raise awareness that breast cancer can happen to anyone and there are things women can do now to reduce risk in the long term,” Moxley said.

She said the Women’s Outreach Center received a grant from Susan G. Komen to do breast cancer awareness on OU’s campus and she said this seemed to be informative for the students.

“I think what we heard our presenters say was good — ‘Know your body and do things for your health: eating well and exercising,’” Moxley said.