At 36, Brooke Taylor Has Battled Cancer Twice, Now She's Working To Spread Joy To Others
U.S Farm Report GWG Rural Gone Urban Feature Part 1
At 36 years old, Brooke Taylor has many chapters to her life.
"After I graduated from Oklahoma State twice, I went on a circuit of working in the food and agricultural industry,” says Taylor, who now resides in Gore, Okla. “I started in Oklahoma City working in for commodity organization before taking the switch over to the agency side, working then in Oklahoma City, North Carolina, Texas, Tennessee and Wisconsin before returning to Oklahoma.”
Taylor's post-graduation chapter kept her constantly on the road. And six years ago, she says she woke up one day with the realization that life just wasn’t for her.
“If only there was a way to do what I do now working for large and international ag and food organizations, but in rural Oklahoma, and that would be the life, and somehow we made that happen,” she says.
She launched a company, Rural Gone Urban, in rural Oklahoma at a time when she had no internet at home. The business blossomed into a dream come true. That dream got even better in 2018 when Taylor found out she was pregnant.
“It was the cherry on top of all of the things that I’d ever wanted. I was living in Oklahoma, I had this job working with really big, important agricultural brands, while creating a family. I didn't think anything could get any better,” she says.
Taylor describes her pregnancy as very normal.
“I did notice there was a spot in my breasts that kept getting a little larger, and I brought it up to my medical team, multiple times. They said, ‘No, this is just part of being a new mom. This is what your body does,’” she remembers.
But for Taylor, something was still wrong.
The Diagnosis
Maybe it was her maternal instinct already kicking in, but Taylor was right.
“And so my 38-week appointment, I literally ripped my shirt off in that doctor's appointment, and I said, ‘I’m not leaving until you feel this,’” she says. “And I watched the color drain from her face.”
Her doctor referred her to a breast health specialist, and within 15 minutes of leaving her 38-week appointment, she received a call from the specialist’s office to schedule an appointment the next day.
“That next Monday, he called me at 8 a.m., and he said, ‘I'm sorry, kiddo. It's cancer,’” Taylor remembers.
The diagnosis? A very aggressive type of breast cancer that primarily affects women under 40.
“And by 2 p.m., I found out the child I was carrying was a girl, and she entered the world via c section so we could get that [treatment] party started,” she says.
A baby girl named after her great grandmother who was a dairy farmer in Indiana.
“So, Elsie James Taylor is the reason that I’m still here today,” says Taylor.
A New Mom Undergoing Cancer Treatment
Just days after giving birth, Taylor says she was treated to the entire breast cancer buffet.
“I had four different types of chemo. During that time, I had an infection they had to clean out. I had two cases of shingles,” says Taylor.
She was undergoing the treatments all while still working and transitioning into life as a new mom.
“After that, I chased it with a double mastectomy. I chased it with five weeks of radiation during a pandemic. I had a preventative hysterectomy, and oophorectomy, which means before my daughter was a year old, I said, ‘Here are all my reproductive organs, please don't come back.’ I had reconstruction surgery, and then I was good,” she says.
Positive News After Treatment
The news after the intense treatment? It was positive. Her body had a complete response to chemo. No cancer was left.
She lived life for about a year in complete remission. Her follow-up appointments and scans after she finished treatment showed the cancer was gone.
“And then Christmas this last year, I was driving home from my parents’ house, and my family had been sick all week,” she says.
It was also during that drive a year ago that she felt a swollen lymph node on her neck.
“My husband said don't overthink it. So, I didn't,” she says.
Taylor started on antibiotics, just thinking it was from the same illness that had been running through the family. But then weeks later, she saw photos of herself and knew that something just wasn’t right.
“So, I called my doctors and I went in I said, ‘I don't know what's going on, something's broken.’”
The Cancer Was Back
Once again, her instincts were right.
Stage four cancer. It was heartbreaking news that she shared on her Instagram.
“It was back. It was mad. It was so mad. I got the results. The pet scan on the anniversary of the day my dad had passed away from cancer. So, really just twist over the knife on that one. I learned that the breast cancer had returned—it was in my neck and clavicle, my ribs, my spine, and then most of my pelvis,” says Taylor.
The cancer was everywhere. As the news sunk in, Elsie James was still just two.
“You've given me a metastatic diagnosis, which means end game. It's what it means statistically. No one really makes it out that if you have metastatic triple negative breast cancer, and the average lifespan after that diagnosis is 13 months, which is this March for me,” says Taylor.
With the diagnosis came other news. A cancer-fighting medicine that had been in trials for 10 years had just been approved by FDA.
“Because I had responded well to a platinum-based chemo, because I am a BRCA1gene mutant carrier, I checked the boxes for this medicine. And it's working for me,” she says.
It’s not been smooth sailing. That medicine that’s helping her fight cancer, also caused Taylor to undergo nearly 20 blood transfusions this past summer.
“And I’ve had clear scans. I've looked at the scans, I've seen the March scan, and then the scan in June and the scan in September. And while my doctors won't say that it's gone, it's not there,” she says.
The Reality of Living With Cancer
Taylor says it’s a miracle she’s here, but the reality of beating two aggressive forms of breast cancer is something that doesn’t go away.
“I went to a girls’ dinner this past week and we were talking about teachers and who else you might have for pre-k or first grade,” she says. “And all I could think about was, we're all just there talking like it's okay and it's normal, and I might not even meet those teachers. It's just, it's just my reality.”
Her reality of not knowing if she’ll be here to see her daughter’s milestones are her reality today.
“I would be lying to you if I told you that it’s not hard,” say Taylor.
Leaving a Legacy Larger Than Cancer Through the Rural Gone Urban Foundation
Yet, it’s not stopping her from doing what she’s always done. Taylor’s cancer battle is one she shares on social media, documenting the ups and the downs of fighting cancer twice.
And as a young wife and mom, she also wants to leave a legacy that’s bigger than cancer.
“And so I had this idea of what if I created something while I was still here, that way I could control its roots and its foundation. And then whenever I graduate to heaven, that people continue that living legacy for me,” says Taylor.
That’s how the Rural Gone Urban Foundation transpired.
“It came out of thin air really, and it's the best thing that's happened from this year,” says Taylor.
The mission? Investing in strong women doing brave things with three pillars of support. All the pillars reflect Taylor’s life and heart in some way.
“So the first pillar of the foundation is investing in B and C students, because gosh, they work hard to they're probably the entrepreneurs of the world that we need,” says Taylor.
The second is investing in small business owners, which stems from her second season of life…
“When I launched my small business, I was living in an apartment in a horse barn. I had no internet. I had no infrastructure. I was reading irs.gov on Friday nights to figure out what was going on. And I had lived a career in very large corporate environments, but doing it on my own was a whole different ballgame,” she says.
And the third pillar is supporting others battling cancer.
“I just haven't come up with a better name than love bombs for cancer fighters,” says Taylor.
Taylor says worrying about bills, childcare or things around the house is a lot for cancer fighters, especially ones who don’t have a huge network of support. So, the foundation will not only award women with financial grants, but also do the little things to help cancer fighters however they can.
Taylor first announced the foundation on Instagram, an effort to leave a legacy of giving.
“We raised almost $25,000 in like 48 hours,” she says. “That's grassroots; that’s like $5, $10, $50 donations. It's wild.”
In less than a year, the foundation has raised close to $50,000, all thanks to generous donors and the foundation’s board.
“On behalf of the board, not just me, we want to gift entrepreneurs who are already doing the hard work and let them know we see you, we value you and we want you to succeed,” she says.
The Foundation Will Start Spreading Joy in 2023
The board has already overcome the paperwork and others hurdles of starting a foundation board, and in 2023, the Rural Gone Urban Foundation will start to spread that joy to others.
“I am the chair of the scholarship committee, so I'm pulling that committee together, right now. We're going to open the application process, and this spring, and we're going to give away $15,000, this spring semester,” she says.
Then, Taylor says the foundation will also get to work on the love bombs.
“March is triple negative breast cancer awareness month, which is the type of cancer I was diagnosed with, so it's important that we start launching in March,” she says.
Taylor's Memory Building Trips with Family
Taylor says while the foundation supports others, she’s been able to take Elsie on a few memory building trips of their own this year, including one to New York.
“We went to a Mets game. She ran on the field. We saw the Lion King,” she says.
During that trip, they also made a special visit to a jewelry store and picked out bracelets together.
“Someday, whether I’m here or not here, she will open gifts that we picked out together on the day she graduates high school, the day she graduates from college, on her wedding day and the day she becomes a mom,” says Taylor.
One item Elsie was drawn to was a delicate bracelet with a lady bug.
“At that time, all I can think about is what about when this story becomes full circle and she is has her first baby. What if I’m not there? It's just a ladybug. But if that's all I can do, I mean, I’m going to do it,” says Taylor with tears.
Taylor may be a mom now, but she knows what it’s like to go through monumental moments in life without a parent.
“As a child who lost a father to cancer, those are the days where I was surrounded by the most people, and I kept looking around to see if he was there. I’ve never told anyone that,” she says. “And I was 6 when he died."
As Taylor looks to the future, she’s not only thinking about her only family. In a season of giving, Taylor is working to make a difference year-round.
“This has been the most humbling year of my life," she says. "Through tears, in my weakest moment of saying, ‘My daughter's not going to remember me,’ to breathing foundation that people also believe in.”
And she says instead of living life like every day could be her last, she’s simply living life to the fullest every day she can.
“It's not up to someone how what the outcome looks like, but it is up to us how we live through it; how we identify the silver linings,” says Taylor.
Taylor says her faith has grown even stronger since her initial diagnosis three years ago, and while she’s not scared to graduate to heaven, she’s not ready just yet.
“The thing I’ve struggled with is, how can I ask for me to be a miracle when maybe the miracle is that I’m here right now, anyway,” says Taylor.
Taylor's mission isn't finished yet. She says she'll continue to work to raise money for her Foundation. If you'd like to help support her efforts and donate, visit the Foundation's website.
