“I have a fairly strong independent streak; it was issued with the red hair. I had to come to the point where I could say, ‘I need help.’ You have to have a support system and lean into it.”

MELISSA CULBRETH, 42, Wilmington, North Carolina, was diagnosed in 2009 with breast cancer. Despite three recurrences, she’s currently cancer free. A retired chaplain in the N.C. Army National Guard, she is photographed at Falls Lake with her dog, Lea.
Hear more from Melissa: dukecancerinstitute.org/melissa