Tanja Thompson on stage right before she delivers her powerful TEDx Talk "From Tragedy to Triumph" on being a breast cancer survivor. Because surviving breast cancer is just the beginning of the story.
Tanja Thompson with her son Tysne on Halloween. This is after my first chemotherapy treatment in October 2010, my hair was all gone. Instead of hiding in the shadows of shame and despair, I dressed up as Aang, a character in the Avatar: The Last Airbender movie.
The doctor didn't inform me my breast cancer treatment radiation burns would be so severe, intensely painful and uncomfortable. This is the results of my breast cancer radiation burns going through my chest penetratingly to my back.
Thompson has been cancer-free for ten years. In April 2019, she delivered a passionate TEDxAshburn talk about her ordeal entitled "From Tragedy to Triumph."
I GIVE Breast Cancer Survivors their HOPE back! I show them how to LIVE LIFE without the constant stress and worry about their DIAGNOSIS being a death sentence!!!?
LEESBURG, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES, September 10, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Tanja Thompson is known throughout the industry as the ?fixer.? Thompson helps organizational employees, managers, and supervisors address and resolve conflict in the workplace. A Conflict Manager is one of the most critical positions in a company. ?If employees can?t effectively communicate with each other, it?s difficult to work together for the good of the group. ? Tanja S. Thompson
Transformational Resolution Group (TRGp) provides a valuable service to any organization in conflict. Employees who may feel as if they are unfairly treated or marginalized by leadership or disrespected by co-workers can develop poor work habits or health issues. The behavior of others can negatively impact the workgroup and the organization's mission.
A variety of tactics are used when working with a diverse workforce. Thompson says, ?One size doesn?t fit all, but there are several things that are a must no matter the clients". They include staying impartial, listening, and using reflective questioning, an approach where gathered information is used in a question. Its paramount the parties are looking and speaking to each other and not the mediator, this allows for greater understanding and perspective.
Thompson has the appearance of someone who has everything under control and all the earmarks of a successful woman ? highly educated, 25-year retired military veteran with a rewarding stellar career, Phillip her loving husband, Artisha, Taylor and Tysne their children, Faith their loving granddaughter. But in fact, Thompson didn?t have it all, nor was she able to keep it together when tragedy struck.
Caring for Herself
In her role as a conflict resolution practitioner she must maintain her neutrality at all times. Tanja's role as a mediator and conflict has prepared her for some of the most challenging situations in her life. Her youngest son, Tysne (pronounced Tyson) was born at 23 weeks of gestation, in 2014 he required a kidney and liver transplants at age 15 due to portal hypertension. At the time of the transplant, the doctors knew the kidney was inferior.
They immediately told the family Tysne would be back on dialysis and need a new kidney in 18 ? 24 months. To God's glory and grace, that kidney has sustained Tysne for six years. Then one day, the family received the gift of life call. On January 20, 2021, the call was of a possible donor and to come into Walter Reed Bethesda Navy Hospital for surgery. Tysne went into surgery for his 2nd kidney transplant on January 21, 2021.
In 2005 and again in 2010, Tanja was diagnosed with breast cancer. She underwent a bilateral mastectomy, eight rounds of chemotherapy treatments, and 45 radiation sessions. Leaving her left breast with third-degree burns on her chest with radiation burns radiating to her back. Tanja asked Phillip to shave her head - her hair was literally falling out into her hands. Sadness, depression and despair consumed her, even though she was an excellent mediator, patient advocate, and health navigator, non of these could help. ?I was in a dark, unforgiving depression. There was a hopelessness in me,? Thompson recalled. ?The Big C didn?t care about me. It wanted to take my life". My Chief and husband recognized I needed help and directed me to a military mental health therapist.
Thompson?s grandmother, Willie Mae Harris, was a shining light of help that brought her out of the darkness. ?My granny used to say, 'Baby, hold on to what you got and let the rest go.' That meant to fight for what you have now and not worry about what might be. She also taught me to pray and plug into an internal energy of light. I had to change how I viewed cancer and was to no longer view it as a death sentence.
Today, she coaches other survivors to give them hope of their diagnosis. Her first book, ?What to Expect When You Weren?t Expecting Breast Cancer" is available on her website www.tanjathompson.com
Early Detection Saves Lives
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Thompson encourages women and men to check their breast monthly for signs of cancers like lumps, rashes, discharges from the nipple(s). ?In 2005, when I was in the [U.S] Air Force, several women in my command were diagnosed with breast cancer. One was already at stage four she died fourteen months later. I truly believe early detection saved my life."
Consider being a patron to The Breast Cancer Move Foundation a 501(c)3 non-profit your generous donation will help women and veterans with life saving resources.
In 2012, Thompson found a lump. She didn?t tell her family and friends because she didn?t want their pity nor for them to have to experience the breast cancer ordeal again. She later learned the lump was benign.
According to BreastCancer.org, about 1 in 8 U.S. women (about 12 percent) will develop a breast cancer within their lifetime. In 2021, an estimated 268,600 new cases of invasive breast cancer were expected to be diagnosed in women. About 41,760 women in the U.S. are expected to die from a breast cancer diagnosis.
For women in the U.S., breast cancer death rates are higher than those for other cancer, besides lung cancer. The most significant risk factors for breast cancer are gender (a woman) and age (growing older). Women under 50 have experienced a significant decreases in breast cancer diagnosis, as a result of advanced treatments, education, earlier detection through screening, and increased awareness.
In women under 45, breast cancer is more common in African-American women than in white women. Overall, African-American women are more likely to die of breast cancer. For Asian, Hispanic, and Native-American women, the risk of developing and dying from breast cancer is lower than that of African-American or white women.
Reach out to Tanja as a speaker for your October Breast Cancer Awareness event.
Tanja S. Thompson
The Breast Cancer Move Foundation
+1 301-437-9491
speak@tanjathompson.com
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