Tammie Miller Daubenspeck

CENTER TWP — A Butler woman who is battling aggressive breast cancer will be the focus of an all-day fundraising event Saturday at the Belmont II on North Main Street Extension, near the intersection with Mercer Road.

For Tammie Miller Daubenspeck, breast cancer was always a back-of-the-mind possibility. Daubenspeck's mother, Harriet, is a breast cancer survivor, so she always felt being proactive with mammograms and self-checks was the right thing to do.

That's exactly what Daubenspeck did. And, like most people, she accepted the clean bill of health that came back after her mammogram last June, despite a nagging concern about a hardness in her left breast and an inverted nipple.

It wasn't until Daubenspeck attended a breast cancer awareness event held by her daughter's sorority at Duquesne University that she was prompted to go further.

“They were saying, you know your body the most, and if you feel like something is wrong, you need to say something,” she said.

For Daubenspeck, the advice hit close to home. Despite her mammogram that June turning up no issues, she had continued to worry. So despite feeling bad about pressing the issue, she went back to her gynecologist and asked for a follow-up.

“I felt like I was an idiot, to be honest with you,” Daubenspeck said. “I felt like, you know, I am just paranoid.”

It wasn't until months later, after pressing her doctor again about the issue, that Daubenspeck would get “devastating” news. A follow-up mammogram in October had found a massive, 9.2-centimeter tumor in her left breast.

The diagnosis left Daubenspeck, who is the primary breadwinner for her husband, Walter, and children Amanda Sybert and Brett Sybert, floored.

She started treatment at UPMC's Cranberry-based facilities, but eventually had to go on disability from her job in the sales office of II-VI in Saxonburg.

With treatment taking a toll on her body and financial concerns wearing her down mentally and emotionally, Daubenspeck said it's only been through the love of her family and the kindness of her friends and co-workers that she's been able to persevere.

“I am shocked at the generosity and the kindness of people throughout this,” she said. “I didn't know anyone liked me, let along loved me.”

Daubenspeck said her sister, Debbi Brown, has been her biggest supporter since her diagnosis in October.

“She would act like when I was going to the doctor's, I was going to Disney World,” Daubenspeck said. “It might sound silly (but) I truly cried every single day. And she was always there.”

Daubenspeck is currently going through her second round of chemotherapy, with plans for her to start radiation treatment after the current 12-week treatment regime ends.

But even after undergoing procedures to remove her left breast and 32 lymph nodes, there is concern among her doctors that the cancer may have spread into her ribs, Daubenspeck said. In the future she will have bone scans to determine whether that's the case.

“I just have to give God all the credit. I couldn't have done any of this without my love for God and his presence,” she said. “No matter what happens, I know I can handle it because of him.”

Saturday's benefit event at the Belmont II begins at 11 a.m. and runs to midnight, and will feature live musical entertainment from eight bands, as well as food, games, raffles and a Chinese auction.

There is a $10 cover charge, and Daubenspeck said proceeds will go to help the family deal with medical bills that have already topped $15,000.