Allison Hicks speaks to members of Vermonters Taking Action Against Cervical Cancer. Below is the text of her speech:

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Thank you for inviting me to speak. My name is Allison Hicks. As some of you know, after my diagnosis of cervical cancer and treatment in 2004, I started the Hicks Foundation with the mission of eradicating cervical cancer in Vermont.

We are all here because we are committed to preventing and helping those with cancer.

I was a stage 2b cancer survivor. I had a radical hysterectomy, I have been through multiple surgeries, radiation, chemotherapy and years of recovery.

My life was irrevocably altered by cancer.  But before I go further, I feel like I have to confess to you all: I often don’t feel justified calling myself a cancer survivor. Compared to the other stories I hear, I sometimes feel like my cancer wasn’t that bad. After my treatment, and to this day I rarely associate with being a cancer survivor. Let me explain:

Cancer is a gigantic word. It is big. It’s suffocating. It’s scary and I feel tiny in the face of it.

There were times when I never wanted to hear the word CANCER again. After completing chemotherapy and radiation, the last thing I wanted was to be engulfed again by cancer. I couldn’t conceive of ending something so large, something that often feels like it is growing faster than we can even conceive. 

I didn’t want to make cancer plans, I didn’t want to talk about statewide objectives. I didn’t want to build a network of survivors. I didn’t want to do anything that would cause me to dwell on the hugeness of cancer.

Don’t get me wrong, I am thrilled that you are all out there, thinking and planning and devoting yourself to initiatives and plans. I am always inspired by my fellow advocates nationwide who are strengthening the survivor network. And I’m actually excited to lend whatever voice I can to this work.

But I knew that my role was somewhere else. I wanted to find my place within this framework and I had to feel vibrant again.

So I ignored cancer for a while, the word Cancer, at least. I thought of it as my launching pad, but I refused to dwell on it. I thought about my own goals. And in the end it was very simple:

No matter how big, no matter how threatening, no matter how insidious cervical cancer can be, it is nearly 100% preventable. I can’t tell you how empowering this fact is to me.

The more I learned about cervical cancer the more energized I felt to do something. Without question, I was completely able to throw myself behind the belief that WE CAN ERADICATE CERVICAL CANCER IN VERMONT.

With that goal, the work of the Hicks Foundation became clear. I wasn’t working to slay the humongous Beast of Cancer. I was working to empower women. One by one I felt that I could reach women.

I was working to provide the tools and access and education that lets them fight cancer in their own lives. I was spreading education and access and motivation. I focused on education, on screening, on vaccination. This became the heart and soul of The Hicks Foundation.

As The Hicks Foundation grew, eradiation took the place of cancer in my vocabulary. It wasn’t huge, or scary. In fact, it felt entirely possible and focusing on helping women help themselves was incredibly inspiring. 

Working with The Hicks Foundation I felt anything but tiny. I talked to women, I met with doctors, I joined with advocates and I identified with them, not with cancer. 

So now The Hicks Foundation focuses on education, on resources, on access to prevention and screening. And at our core, we don’t think of it as a fight against cancer. In fact, we named our education campaign "Mission Possible" because we believe that eradication is within our reach. It is entirely possible.

Let’s be honest, trying to “stop” cancer feels like standing on traintracks as the train barrels down, with only your hand up to stop it.  I’m sure we’ve all had moments when our work feels like that.

So, at The Hicks Foundation, we got off the tracks. Instead we look at HPV and cervical cancer as the vehicle that we can use to educate women. To inspire them to take care of themselves and others. And that drives us. Cancer, for better or worse, has momentum and The Hicks Foundation harnesses that momentum, not to run us down, but to carry us toward eradication. Together we can eradicate cervical cancer in Vermont.

Thank you for joining us as we move forward together to eradicate cervical cancer in Vermont!