Resident honored by cancer group
The Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation recently named Boulder City resident Kathy “Joy” Huijbregts a person of courage for 2018 for her personal journey as she battles breast cancer.
Huijbregts said she was initially diagnosed in 2014 shortly after she moved to Boulder City. She had surgery in January 2015 and the cancer had metastasized by April. Her doctor was able to remove all the cancer during surgery. Huijbregts said she was cancer free for 22 months until it came back in spring of 2017.
“That’s when I decided to look at everything,” she said about her treatment.
From that point on, Huijbregts said she focused on traditional medicine as well as natural options. Now she has a team of eight health care professionals for treatment and, in September, was back in remission.
“I don’t even think about having cancer anymore,” she said.
When she received the award Nov. 17 at the 25th annual Profiles of Courage Award banquet, she said she was shocked because she never looked at her efforts as courageous.
She also said was an honor to be recognized by a place that was friendly and understanding of people with cancer.
Huijbregts is working on a book, “After-Shocks — The Sacred Journey of Cancer,” that highlights all the research she has done for her treatment. She said it should be released no later than fall of 2019.