I'm Still Me

WARRENTON, Va. (WUSA)- Just off busy Route 29 in Warrenton, Virginia, foot traffic is brisk at "I'm Still Me." But there's a tinge of sadness in store owner Victoria LaRosa's voice when she talks about her retail success. "Business is coming along, unfortunately. I hate to say unfortunate, but such is the case with cancer."

Cancer is the common denominator among customers at "I'm Still Me." The post-mastectomy boutique carries everything someone needs to get on with living after cancer. "We have wigs, hats, turban, eyebrows, eyelashes, mastectomy bras, breast prosthesis, lymphedemia management products..."

In other words, "I'm Still Me" covers you from head to toe for any occasion and even any season. Cindy Kelly, who is currently undergoing chemotherapy treatments for Stage 4 breast cancer "thinks it's wonderful." The survivor says when she was first diagnosed in 1999, it was very difficult to find what she needed in catalogues or even in Fairfax, Virginia stores. Her cancer returned in 2006.

Now she is battling the disease for a second time. But Kelly tells 9NEWS NOW that this time she doesn't have to travel so far to get what she needs. "It's just nice to have so many products to choose from. It's nice to have something locally that you don't have to travel one hour, an hour and half to find."

The name "I'm Still Me" is what Victoria LaRosa's mother said to calm the grandchildren after she was diagnosed with breast cancer. "They were all concerned she wasn't going to make it. She would say, "I've lost my breast, but I'm still me." Her family would use that phrase over and over again, after her sister was diagnosed. And then again when Victoria faced the beast not once but twice.

"I couldn't sleep on my stomach because it was so uncomfortable. So, I called my physician. And sure enough my cancer had returned. She said it was a very angry cancer this time. To me that meant it was like the Pacman game; chomp, chomp, chomping off parts of my breast or whatever."

Victoria says going through the cancer experience with her mother and sister, "who were always exhausted, who just felt poorly, who couldn't be jumping from store to store", was the catalyst that pushed her to provide a place for one-stop-shopping for cancer patients.

It's that deep personal connection that means so much to customers like 26-year-old survivor Janna Coppage. "When I first realized I was going to have chemo, I didn't think there would be any options. Victoria is fabulous. She's been through it. She understands your needs."