ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. (WHAS11) -- Just before Christmas two years ago, Susie Byrd was told by the doctors at Hardin Memorial Health that she had breast cancer. The diagnosis was made worse by the type called triple negative.
"It’s very aggressive and deadly. That's probably the only thing I heard him say. He said a lot of other things, but all I heard was aggressive and deadly," said Byrd.
Byrd admits in those scary days and weeks after her diagnosis it was hard to stay positive about her future. Thankfully, she had some help from her oncologist, Dr. Adam Lye.
"When I first met her she was reluctant whether she was even going to do chemo," said Dr. Lye.
But her attitude changed quickly. In the battle for her life, Byrd decided she needed a physical reminder to keep fighting the cancer— pink boxing gloves.
"I'm a fighter by nature, but there were times that during the middle of the night I would put the gloves on and cry because chemo treatment was very hard. But again, the gloves were just a reminder to not give up and to keep fighting, because it’s very easy to allow yourself to go into dark places your thoughts to go into dark places," said Byrd.
"I never will forget, one of the first times I came in to see her for chemo treatment and I turned the corner and there she was with these big pink boxing gloves on saying I'm ready lets fight this thing and I said now we're talking, now you are where you need to be," said Dr. Lye.
It's a fight that Susie won. Her cancer is now in remission, and these gloves now have a new owner.
"I made the decision to give Dr. Lye my boxing gloves because he was in my corner he was my trainer, so once I was finished and I retired them I wanted to give them to him just as a reminder of how he has helped me and to encourage him to continue to help others and it was another way of me saying thank you," said Byrd.
Byrd is now doing some encouraging of her own. The Elizabethtown native has begun the process of starting a foundation called Triple Positive to spread awareness, promote early detection and help those battling breast cancer fund their treatments.