My Story

However, in 2014 she had a recurrence in her left breast and a new primary in her right breast. After her double mastectomy and successful delayed DIEP flap breast reconstruction she made the decision to open the nonprofit organization DiepCFoundation.org to provide support, education, and resources for those affected by breast cancer facing mastectomy. Her focus is fostering patient engagement in cancer care, specifically breast cancer. She is the co-lead on the World Health Innovation Summit shared decision-making expert group. Terri is a consumer patient advocate serving on the DoD-CDMRP for the breast cancer vaccine under the leadership of Dr. Vincent Tuohy of the Cleveland Clinic. Terri participates as a patient advocate on the PCORI Engage for Equity PLUS project. She created and hosts the DiepCJourney podcast interviewing patient advocates, healthcare professionals, and individuals interested in the survivorship journey to provide resources and lived stories to listeners. In her spare time, she loves spending time with her two grandchildren, cooking, gardening, and reading. She is an avid weightlifter as a prescription for bone health after being on Anastrozole for her breast cancer.

Her advocacy work can be found at: https://www.diepcfoundation.org/