Following the birth of BriAna, Corinne discovered a lump in her left breast, causing her to have her first lumpectomy at the age of 19. Within that same year, Corinne learned that she was a carrier of the BRCA gene. “I remember being scared but also fearless. There were a lot of conflicting feelings,” she sadly recalled. Much of Corinne’s attitude towards her diagnosis was due to her young age, but being in an unhealthy marriage was also an influencer. “Things were pretty bad during that time … I mean to a point of a failed suicide attempt,” she said. Looking for any form of emotional support, Corinne took her condition as a cry out for help. “I remember looking for his sympathy… anything.” Faced with risking her health, Corinne decided to move on from her marriage and invest in herself. She moved back to Lacombe and enrolled at Dillard University. After Dillard, she continued her education at the University of New Orleans where she received her degree in Urban Studies and Regional Planning. Trying to get her life in order, Corinne found herself back at the doctor’s office due to breast calcification. Only 22 years old, she was faced with radiation treatment. Finally, things began to move forward for Corinne and she seemed to be ascending on an upward path when she met her love, Yul “Yogi” Villavaso. After almost ten years of dating, Yogi and Corinne married in 2011. Corinne created a healthy family environment. She now had two children, her daughter BriAna and her son Brenden, born in 2005. Life normalized for her at that point and, in 2014 after many fertility issues, Corinne was blessed with her third and youngest child, Christopher. “It was a blessing, but things changed shortly after that,” she said. Corinne was attending her normal postpartum checkup when the doctor seemed unusually nervous about something. “Her face dropped as she began to address some things that were a little strange going on in my body,” she recalled. After an anxiety-ridden round of testing, her doctor referred her to a breast doctor. “They saw a mass there but they weren’t sure about the situation. They were like, we can biopsy it or we can do a mastectomy,” Corinne recalled. Facing this issue for the third time in her life, Corinne felt overwhelmed and confused. “I asked the doctor what he would recommend,” she said. Having a genetic mutation and the inconclusiveness of the discovered lump, it was only natural for there to be some concerns. “I asked him, ‘If I were your daughter, wife or mother, what would you suggest?’” Pushing for solid and honest advice, Corinne wasn’t surprised when the doctor suggested the double mastectomy. After four surgeries, including a botched reconstruction, Corinne felt self-conscious about many things. One of those things was not fitting into her old bras. “I remember looking at bras I had that were brand-new and thinking, I really don’t want to buy any new bras.” After contacting a bra company about an unsuccessful bra exchange, Corinne decided that she was going to take matters into her own hands. “I came up with Hannah’s Klozèt,” she explained. Corinne recalls an unforeseen phone call while in the hospital from newly elected Louisiana State Representative Jimmy Harris offering her a job as his Legislative Assistant. She r e m e m b e r e d thinking “that was unexpected. What made him think of me for this job?” She accepted the position as a divine message from God. This opportunity Corinne with her dad, Murlin DuCre allowed Corinne the flexibility to focus and launch Hannah’s Klozèt with a bang. From there, Hannah’s Klozèt was born with an objective to recognize facets of breast cancer and reconstruction that affect surviving women but are rarely talked about. Funds raised from the inaugural Resiliency Gala benefited 23 Breast Cancer Warriors with bras and provided 3 months of lawn care services to assist a male breast cancer patient. When asked what the term meant Corinne explained that, “It’s simply the way my Haitian-Creole grandfather said ‘closet.’” And when asked how it related to the organization she explained that it’s a place for survivors to feel comfortable while receiving things that they need, such as undergarments. “I plan to do several things from fundraisers to community outreach programs,” said Corinne. “We try to think about the other factors like other costs and things that go undone and unfunded when people are battling cancer.” Corinne not only carries herself humbly with pride, she also shows the true definition of resilience. “In April we are planning a bike ride/walk in Lacombe and this will be one of many events like it.” Said Corinne in closing, “My hope and goal is to continue to inspire the way people have inspired me.” Corinne and her husband, Yul PHOTOS BY QUINN GORDON S E P T E M B E R / O C TOB E R 2 0 1 7 breakthrumediamagazine.com | BREAKTHRU MEDIA | 7
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