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photo by Peter Hvizdak
was 32 and 19 weeks pregnant with her second daughter when she was diagnosed with Stage II invasive breast cancer in December of 2005.
She underwent a mastectomy and four rounds of chemotherapy before delivering a healthy, miracle named Kaylie six weeks early.
photo by Ruthanna Terreri
Melissa then finished up four more rounds of chemotherapy and had extensive reconstructive surgery.
Since becoming a survivor, Melissa has been a successful fundraiser for local and national organizations raising over $50,000 in the past two years and advocate for breast cancer research but found that her true passion was helping survivors. She was being contacted weekly by physicians asking her to reach out to newly diagnosed patients. As her circle grew she decided everyone would benefit from meeting each other.
In October 2007, the first meeting for breast cancer survivors under 50 in Connecticut was held with only 6 ladies in attendance. It was unlike any support group offered in the state and by January, the group had grown to over 30 women. The women are in all stages of the journey but are all survivors or, as some prefer to say, warriors, and they are all facing the same issues as their lives move forward. From this group of amazing women came the inspiration for this film.
Melissa currently lives in Guilford, CT with her husband and two daughters.
photo by Ruthanna Terreri
is a pianist and Emmy nominated songwriter.
She has been writing and performing children’s music for the last 13 years.
Jill has written and produced over 10 children’s CD’s.
photo by Ruthanna Terreri
Her catchy tunes have proven to be an enormous success amongst her target audience, motivating a wide range of kids to sing and dance along.
She is currently producing a series of music videos aimed at school age children (grades preschool to 4) that address the very serious growing problem among children in the U.S. in which one out of every four children is obese and lack a healthy lifestyle.
In September of 2007, Jill decided to get involved with the Terri Brodeur Breast Cancer Foundation, and entered to walk in a 26.2 mile walk. She raised over $2000 for breast cancer research. She trained for the walk with a group of women from Guilford and that's where she met Melissa Burns.
A few days after the walk, once the aches and pains subsided, Jill found it to be a natural progression to write a song about her experience. She asked Melissa for help with some of the lyrics and that is when the MAGIC began. Melissa's story moved Jill. The way Melissa has reached out to other survivors and the insight, knowledge and empathy she has shown Jill felt needed to be visually shared with everyone, survivors, their spouses, their families and friends.
Pat Lore
started her career as a television news reporter, chasing down criminals on the streets of Wilmington, North Carolina.
Through the years, she has interviewed politicians, celebrities, doctors, CEO’s, death row inmates and hundreds of people on the street.
In the late 90’s, Pat said goodbye to local news and joined the “World Business Review” news team, led by former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger.
From there, she began reporting for local ABC affiliates on the television show, “Business Now.” Pat’s in-depth stories focused on the emerging Internet and “dot com” revolution.
Subsequent to that, Pat founded Headline Productions, a full-service video production company. She has written and produced scores of corporate videos for Fortune 500 companies, and has been recognized with many industry awards for her producing and writing.
Pat has also partnered with Prentice Hall Publishing and renowned business author Kevin Keller of the Dartmouth Tuck School of Business, to produce several marketing video case studies for MBA students.
In addition to her reporting career, Pat is also an accomplished voice-over artist.
Pat is currently enjoying the daily discoveries of writing, producing and directing her first documentary. She is honored to be working on such a worthwhile project.
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