Susan Cody Tosches – My Own Real Life Hero!
I know this woman who can make you laugh so hard your sides will ache. I know this woman who can tell such a riveting story that you won’t want her to stop. I know this woman who swims every day, used to run just as diligently, never forgets a birthday or holiday, always has a smile on her face, but can still come up with those clever quips about the latest fashion, or what’s going on in the entertainment industry. This woman finds time to watch Tyra’s new show, while still going to her thrice-weekly dialysis treatments. This woman is someone I have known almost my entire life. She placed in several beauty pageants, twirled the baton in school, modeled professionally, and was even a Raiderette cheerleader.
Susan Cody Tosches was the picture of health, and literally every man’s fantasy woman. I remember going to clubs with her and watching the men stop and seriously take notice. Without trying, she did this to men. I have to say it was a little intimidating sometimes. But it never affected who she was on the inside—an amazing person who loves life.
But life handed her a real blow years ago when it took away her health, and everything changed when her kidneys failed her. Susan came through over 100 surgeries and a bout of mouth cancer. Recently, she almost lost a leg. She has recently been in rehab and is learning to walk again. In the midst of all that, I received a birthday card on my birthday. It amazed me that she could remember my birthday at all while enduring such pain. You would think after all this, she’d be given a break—or give up.
Susan just received news that she may have breast cancer.
I had been going through a series of my own personal tragedies. My uncle just passed away from lung cancer, and I was in the trenches of helping the family with the funeral, shuttling family in from airports, and grieving. I at least took comfort in knowing that my best friend was healing from her latest surgery. What a shock it was to get this news—as if she hadn’t been through enough!
She told me that she was going to get a lumpectomy the following Tuesday, and in the same sentence joked about mastectomies.
If I have to lose a breast, then I am going to get some great fake ones that stand up and defy gravity!
We both laughed really hard at that one. How she could find humor in this situation was beyond my comprehension. But that’s Susan!
In honor of breast cancer awareness month, I am dedicating this issue of Agenda Magazine to my dear friend Susan Cody Tosches—who encompasses the strength that women need to fight against breast cancer and win. Susan has fought so much adversity in her own life, yet still manages to put a smile on our faces. She has worked hard to stay alive and has beaten the odds countless times. And now, she might be facing another battle.
In this issue, breast cancer survivors Edith Speed and Jan Emanuel tell their own stories about how they survived breast cancer. Edith and Jan teach us that we are stronger than we know, and they have proven that point by overcoming the disease and continuing to help others. Breast cancer might have changed their course, but it didn’t stop their lives.
So as this issue goes to press, I am praying that my friend Susan will be spared the fate of breast cancer and that her light will continue to shine for years to come. Yes, Susan, you are my own real life hero—an inspiration to women everywhere.
Kaylene Peoples
Editor in Chief
