Breast Cancer Nonprofit Hopes to Reach Out to Washington Metro Area

Two weeks from today, it will have been five years since Carole Trone lost her cousin to breast cancer.

Crickett Julius was 39 when she was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer, and just 4-½ months later she succumbed to the illness.

“This really affected me because Crickett and I were in the same grade together,” Trone said. “We had pretty much taken every step in our lives together.”

Trone and Crickett’s mother, Bonnie Julius, joined together to create Crickett’s Answer for Cancer, a non-profit organization that provides services and products that help breast cancer patients feel beautiful, even after losing their breasts and hair.

“Women will say, ‘You know I don’t wear any makeup … I’m old or I’m a longhaired hippie type,’ … but when they lose their hair, eyebrows, eyelashes, it can be more traumatic than losing a breast,” Trone said.

Julius, who lives in York, Pa., and Trone, who lives in College Park, reach out to vendors who sell wigs, mastectomy bras and lymphedema products that help with swelling. Trone said these items, which can sometimes run hundreds of dollars, aren’t normally covered by insurance.

They also find providers who offer pampering services, like massage and facials, and a hair stylist for wigs. Crickett’s Answer for Cancer pays for 100 percent of the cost.

When Crickett lost her beautiful, curly locks, she chose not to wear a wig. Her mother donated her unworn wig to the American Cancer Society; it was the organization’s gratitude that inspired Crickett’s Answer for Cancer.

The nonprofit is based in York, but Trone handles publicity from her home office in College Park. She said few women in the Washington Metropolitan area have sought the services of Crickett’s Answer for Cancer. 

“I don’t think that reflects how many in our area are affected by breast cancer,” she said.

Now that the nonprofit has succeeded in reaching out to women in the York area, she hopes to spread awareness here.

“I’d like to be helping the people in my own community in addition to people across the country,” she said.

To request assistance or make a donation, call Trone at 301-935-4411 or Bonnie Julius at 717-843-7903, or email CrickettsAnswer@comcast.net. To request assistance, you can also use the enrollment form that accompanies this post.

To receive monthly reminders to conduct a self breast exam, email CrickettsAnswer@comcast.net.

Truly touching stories by Crickett’s mother, cousin and niece, as well as more on the origins of Crickett’s Answer for Cancer, are on the website.