Andrea Standley - Breast Cancer Didn't Stop Her 

Andrea Standley has always been a woman on the go; nothing could keep her down, not even breast cancer. The Canyon Country grandmother of two teenagers, mother to two daughters and wife for 42 years says her positive attitude kept her going when she was told in 2013 following a routine mammogram that she had breast cancer. “I’ve been getting a physical since the age of 20 and I had my mammogram around Mother’s Day in 2013 after seeing an ad,” Standley said. “I went in for a biopsy and had a lumpectomy in June.”

Standley was told she had HER 2 Type cancer, a rare form that speeds growth of cancer cells (1 in 5 people get this type of cancer). She underwent 18 weeks of chemotherapy and six weeks of radiation. Standley credits her family and tightknit support group, including the staff and physicians at Sheila R. Veloz Breast Center. For Standley, who has always been very active and athletic, her positive attitude helped her keep life in perspective during the challenges she faced with breast cancer." I said, ‘Cancer, you and I are going on a journey, but at the end of the journey I’ll be saying goodbye to you.’” “It’s a choice I made whether to let it take over my life or not. I looked at it as very temporary and that I would get my healthy life back.”

Standley said she was very fortunate that Sheila R. Veloz Breast Center was in the community where she lived, and that Dr. Gregory Senofsky took care of her. “I have never felt in safer, better hands.” “It’s one of the best facilities anywhere; I am living proof of this truth,” she said. It’s like family there. Staff and doctors became my guardian angels in the discovery care and successful treatment of my breast cancer.” Whether coaching or playing, Standley has always been a sports nut and has been able to gradually return to an active lifestyle, which includes boating and surfing with her family, and going to the gym. “I’m getting there, getting my strength; I feel it coming back.”

Standley, who has been writing songs most of her life, has kept up with her love of music. She worked at Warner Brothers Music for 27 years and for the past nine years managed on online business for budding musicians—more than 1,700 new songs were the result. She shared a song she wrote recently during a special luncheon with fellow breast cancer survivors where she served as the testimonial speaker. The song was titled appropriately: “No Tag On My Toe Yet.”