Courtney Shihabuddin, creator and founder of The Pink Warrior, performs a breast self-exam to advocate for breast cancer awareness. Credit: Renee Freeman Photograph
While October is filled with 5Ks and pink ribbons for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, The Pink Warrior looks to bring awareness out of the bounds of a calendar.
The Pink Warrior is an online shop dedicated to guiding women through their breast cancer journeys, via both for-purchase products and free resources, according to its website. Courtney Shihabuddin, an assistant professor of clinical nursing at Ohio State, created and founded The Pink Warrior in 2022, less than three years after her own breast cancer diagnosis.
Shihabuddin, whose mother and aunt have had breast cancer three and two separate times, respectively, first found a lump on her breast via self-exam at age 24. Though the biopsy came back benign, Shihabuddin’s OB-GYN placed her in a high-risk screening program to receive a breast MRI or a mammogram every six months.
Upon moving to Columbus, Shihabuddin enrolled in The James Cancer Hospital’s high-risk screening program and had a “totally normal” mammogram in August 2019. In February of 2020, her routine MRI came back “grossly abnormal.” She was diagnosed with invasive lobular carcinoma and lobular carcinoma in situ.
“That was scary, that kind of language,” Shihabuddin said. “My only surgical option was a double mastectomy, but it was 2020, and my mastectomy was supposed to occur in April of 2020, which was a tenuous time. And they actually canceled my mammogram and told me it was because it was an elective procedure. I struggled with that a lot. It was terrifying.”
Luckily, Shihabuddin’s surgery was moved up to April 6, 2020. Testing on her breast tissue revealed that Shihabuddin’s cancer had been caught before it progressed into her lymph nodes, and she wouldn’t need chemotherapy.
“I credit that entirely to being in this early screening program because my cancer was so deep that it wasn’t palpable, I couldn’t feel my tumor,” Shihabuddin said. “It was aggressive, it wasn’t there six months before. I think about the recommendation that we wait until the age of 40 for starting mammography screening. I probably would not have made it to my 40th birthday if I hadn’t been in this program.”
Shihabuddin, who is also a nurse practitioner at the Columbus Free Clinic, said it was this realization that prompted her to advocate for young women and educate them about their potential risk, especially since screening mammograms are not covered by insurance for women under 40.
“Young women need to know their bodies because no one else is checking them,” Shihabuddin said. “If we’re waiting until 40, we’re losing people.”
Eryn Gilson, Shihabuddin’s marketing consultant, said the two were out to lunch when Shihabuddin shared her vision. Gilson didn’t need much convincing.
“Courtney has always been a fierce advocate for breast cancer awareness and raising funds, and also doing it in such a mindful way that really makes sure that she’s putting the breast cancer warriors first,” Gilson said. “We picked ‘warrior’ because we wanted to make sure that The Pink Warrior would be a resource for anyone within their stage of the breast cancer fight, whether that is a supporter, a family member, a loved one or the actual fighter and warrior themselves.”
Shihabuddin said her unique perspective as both a breast cancer survivor and a health care provider has enabled her to create a supportive and informative community around The Pink Warrior.
“I’ve been there, I know how scary it is,” Shihabuddin said. “But also I know how to kind of dumb it down so it’s less scary. And when I put together a resource, I put it there for somebody who’s not in the medical profession, and that’s my goal so that you come to the site and you’re not feeling the overwhelm that you’re feeling on WebMD or wherever it is that you’ve gone initially.”
With an emphasis on “actionable steps,” The Pink Warrior aims to elevate breast cancer awareness from a mere talking point to a more effective movement, Gilson said.
“October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I feel like everybody knows that,” Gilson said. “It’s more about what are you doing beyond putting the pink ribbon on a backpack? Or, as far as other brands, what are you doing to take it a step further? And I don’t know that there’s a lot of that happening now.”
Shihabuddin agreed.
“As somebody in the community who is an advocate, who’s very involved and vocal, especially in October, we’re exhausted,” Shihabuddin said. “Every 15 seconds somebody else is diagnosed with breast cancer, I think we’re all aware. I think what we need to do is change breast cancer awareness to breast cancer action.”
Between educating women on how to perform breast self-exams, donating directly to breast cancer organizations and “advocating loudly” for increased research on metastatic breast cancer — which disproportionately affects younger women — Shihabuddin said there are countless opportunities to support the breast cancer community.
Buying from The Pink Warrior’s shop is one of these opportunities, Shihabuddin said.
“We have things specific to people going through cancer, like a chemo survival kit,” Shihabuddin said. “We also have lots of things that aren’t cancer-specific, but 10 percent of all of our proceeds go to breast cancer organizations. So by making a purchase, you’re supporting the community and the research behind it. And that’s just one facet of The Pink Warrior.”
More information about The Pink Warrior can be found on the website, and more online resources for young women on breast self-exams can be found on Know Your Lemons, according to Shihabuddin.
“I am so inspired by what Courtney does, every single day,” Gilson said. “Really, truly her heart is in it, and I think that that sets her apart from any other business that puts a pink ribbon on anything. The Pink Warrior, it’s at the heart of what we do.”
