Cathy Grybos is generally an active person, and it was while working out one day that she noticed pain in her ribs. She thought maybe she had pulled a muscle. But a few weeks later, she found a lump on her breast. She still wasn’t thinking the worst, but when she went to her primary care office, she could tell from the look on the doctor’s face what the biopsy eventually confirmed – Cathy had cancer.
She recalls the emotional moments of having to tell her family about the diagnosis, including her young kids. Reading them a story while trying to convey the heartbreaking message. It was the first of many examples of the mental toll that a diagnosis can have on a patient, and the strength required to live through it.
Cathy’s initial treatments started with going to the hospital once a month. Then, when new medications started, appointments became more frequent. This pendulum of a schedule would swing back and forth, sometimes once a month, sometimes four times a month. And she did it all while continuing to work full-time.
Cathy is a case worker at a correctional facility. She calls her job her passion. She had originally worked as a correctional officer, then had moved around to a few other jobs, but had always wanted to get back into the corrections field. And she’s lucky that her employer has been flexible with her, allowing her to take time off as needed. But eventually Cathy used up all her leave time, and is down to almost nothing. And when she needs to miss work for appointments, she’ll have to go off payroll.
It shows the financial strain a diagnosis can cause for a family. Especially in families like Cathy’s, where the health insurance is tied to Cathy’s job. It adds to the already emotional roller coaster, having to worry about what the financial future is going to look like, with no end in sight to treatments and care.
Cathy and her family received help from the Joe Andruzzi Foundation in the form of a payment toward their monthly mortgage, and Cathy was extremely appreciative. It showed her a window into the need to be aware of what is available to patients.
“People don’t really experience the hardship that can come along with cancer or any other type of diagnosis until they experience it. It’s very hard sometimes to be open about it and reach out for help from any of these resources. But I really think they should be more well-known and put out there.”
Cathy is now living with her stage-four diagnosis. She continues to be an active parent to her kids, and works as much as she can. She lives the way she wants to, despite everything she is going through. She is selective of who she opens up to about her cancer journey, because of the fear of people feeling bad for her. She’s found that it is actually she and other patients like her who have to be the strong ones when they tell others the devastating news. She has found the strength she didn’t even know she had through it all.
“Sometimes when you experience this, you find what’s inside of you that you didn’t know that you had. And that can be surprising; it can shock you. I’m not saying this is something that I ever wanted to experience, but this is something that I’m learning about myself.”
Postscript:
Sadly, Cathy passed away in May 2026 after her courageous battle with cancer, shortly after we spoke with her. Her family permitted us to share her story with the Joe Andruzzi Foundation community. We are deeply honored to remember Cathy.
