he met with her physician, who ordered up a mammogram and ultrasound, but the results did not show the lump was cancer. Eden and her physician agreed to monitor the lump over the next year.

Unfortunately for cancer, a biopsy was completed on July 5, 2016, after the lump had grown. Eden was diagnosed with Stage 2b breast cancer.

Eden made the decision to have both breasts removed during the surgery, so she could have a better chance of never having to repeat this experience. It was a drastic move, but one made with the future in mind. A wife and mother of two young girls meant she needed to do everything in her power to be around for the long run.

Surgery was completed on August 8, 2016. While in the operating room, a team of plastic surgeons followed past the oncologists to begin the initial breast reconstruction work of adding tissue expanders inside Eden’s chest. Every three weeks, doctors would push a saline solution into the expanders, causing the skin to expand for future breast implants.

Eden, who is a police sergeant at the Culver City Police Department in California, returned to work in January of 2017. Life had changed for the better for her and her husband through this experience.

A Plane Ride To Never Forget

Eden’s husband is also a police officer and had to fly to a training course in Alabama that June. While on the plane, he met a fellow police officer, and during their discussion, he learned about the increasingly popular CrossFit workout. Her husband actually did a session at CrossFit Mudtown in Hoover, Alabama. Afterward, he quickly called Eden and told her how amazing the workout was and that she needed to look into it as well.

You see, during Eden’s experience with battling breast cancer, she knew things in her life needed to change. Like so many adults turning 40, Eden realized some of the health and fitness choices she’s made in the past may not have been the best. Because of what she had faced, she was looking for something to give her the best chance of living out a healthy life. Since that phone call from her husband, both of them have been members of CrossFit Tribe in Los Alamitos, California. 

Eden’s health and fitness were improving, until during a routine check-up with her oncologist in December of 2018, it was discovered she had metastatic breast cancer. This is when cancer has moved away from the chest area. Her left armpit area had at least 6 cancerous lymph nodes.