September 19th, the U-Haul will back up to Pink Ribbon, at 906 W. Main, Russellville, AR, load everything up and move it to 601 S. 21st Street in Fort Smith, AR. The official reopening will be October 1st, 2015. We will continue seeing patients in Ft. Smith during those two weeks.
Pink Ribbon got its start many years ago in Russellville, first as Jean’s, then Joanne’s. In 2009 Carolyn Gray incorporated it and changed the name to Pink Ribbon Boutique. Pink Ribbon Boutique it will remain.
When I purchased Pink Ribbon January 1, 2014, I had no idea the journey that laid ahead of me. Being a breast cancer survivor with lymphedema I assumed everyone knew what I did. I am not trying to be arrogant, I just had really good mentors and was directed to the absolute best care. I have since learned that is not always the case. I also learned that driving over 55,000 miles in two years will make lymphedema worse, causing you to make decisions sooner than you had expected.
It is my goal and the team that works with me to make sure everyone has a mentor/cancer coach to navigate them through their cancer journey. Cancer is not just the diagnosis and the treatment it is a journey for the rest of your life. If you should get lymphedema as a result of the cancer it is definitely for the rest of your life. We are here to help you each step of the way!!!!
We may be leaving the brick and mortar in Russellville, but we will still have a presence. Maranda Watkins, a certified mastectomy fitter, has worked with me over the past year and still lives in the Russellville area. She will be seeing patients, who cannot drive to Ft. Smith, by appointment in the Russellville area, we are just not sure where yet. That is to be announced. You can call the Ft. Smith office, 479-242-9277 and we will schedule the appointments. Maranda will also continue to work with Rosemary Roiniak, the Lymphatic therapist at Saint Mary’s in Russellville, with fitting for compression garments.
We are also expanding our presence to Northwest Arkansas. We are currently working with 3 lymphatic clinics in that area to serve people in need of compression garments. Ft. Smith, where I live, is centrally located between Northwest, AR and Russellville, AR allowing us to serve more people.
I know what it is to be diagnosed with breast cancer, go through surgery, treatment and then have lymphedema. I have been there, done that and Pink Ribbon is here for you!!!