BY IRIS B. HOLTON
Sentinel City Editor

Giving up is not in the vocabulary of Mrs. Sonia Franklin, especially when it comes to her health. Having already been diagnosed with cancer twice, Mrs. Franklin said she is preparing to undergo treatment for a third time.

Mrs. Franklin said she was employed as a Membership Coordinator with BICSI, a technology company, in 2010. Mrs. Franklin said the company had great benefits.

However, on May 21, 2012, an implant was surgically removed and she was re-diagnosed with Triple Negative Cancer of the left breast. She underwent extensive surgery and was out of work for more than the 120 days allowed under the Family Medical Leave program.

Mrs. Franklin said, “I received a telephone call on August 2 that said, ‘you are released.’ That was two weeks after my surgery. This is why we need health care reform. If not for the sake of my husband having medical coverage, I would not be able to receive cancer treatments.”

However, Mrs. Franklin said she took it all in stride. She is currently preparing to undergo radiation and chemotherapy treatments following the surgery.

She was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1999. Ten years later, in 2009, she was diagnosed with Triple Negative, a very invasive type of cancer that strikes about 75% of African American women.

A Tampa native, Mrs. Franklin is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest (Daisy) Jenkins. She is married to Pastor Reginald Franklin and is the mother of two and grandmother to three.

Mrs. Franklin is the First Lady of First Missionary Baptist Church of Wauchula, where her husband is the senior pastor.

Mrs. Franklin said the cancer germ is prevalent on her father’s side of the family. Her paternal grandmother died of breast cancer at the age of 78. Her father’s sister, who is 75 years old, was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this month.

Mrs. Franklin refuses to allow life’s disappointments to get her down. She continues to work with Sisters Network, Inc., to educate women about breast cancer.