Christy Webb has spent the last 22 years faithfully serving the children and families of Cullman County through the Cullman County Department of Human Resources. Now, as she undergoes treatment to fight the breast cancer diagnosis she received earlier this year, her co-workers are looking to return the favor and are asking for the community’s help.

Between her personal and professional life, Webb leads a busy life. Her supervisor, CCDHR director Amy Smith, said she has “basically done every job in child welfare,” during the course of her 20-year career. Currently, she works with prospective foster parents, helping them receive the required training and licensing before they will be able to bring children into their homes. Webb is also the liaison for the 40 foster homes in the CCDHR network.

Between her husband, Ed, — who works as the Hanceville High School Assistant football coach, and her son’s fireplug football schedule, Webb is also heavily involved in the local athletic scene. So, it is understandable how her yearly mammogram in 2023 was delayed. When she was able to schedule her checkup early this year, it came with an unwelcome diagnosis.

On March 7, Webb’s birthday, she received a call from her physician informing her the tests had revealed several abnormalities and more tests would be needed. A second mammogram, one ultrasound and a biopsy later, in April, Webb was diagnosed with Triple Negative Invasive Ductal Carcinoma — the most aggressive form of breast cancer with the highest rate of recurrence.

“When I first got diagnosed I was a little upset and mad and stuff, but I just came to terms with it and told myself ‘I have it, there’s nothing else you can do about it except to continue on, fight it and hope it never comes back,’” Webb said.

While doctors typically target estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors and the HER2 protein when treating breast cancer, patients with a triple-negative diagnosis lack these receptors which makes treatment much more difficult.

Webb has already completed one 12-week cycle of chemotherapy treatment and is currently in the midst of a cycle of Doxorubicin treatment, more commonly referred to as “red devil chemo” due to the drug’s vibrant red color.

After her final round of chemotherapy Oct. 15, Webb will begin preparing for her double mastectomy, which she expects to take place in November, and will receive five weeks of radiation therapy. She said she will also need to receive immunotherapy treatment until at least April 2025.

During her initial round of chemo treatment, Webb said she experienced relatively few side effects and only missed two days of work each week — Tuesday, when she received her treatment, and Thursday when she said she typically experienced the worst side effects. Even then her absences were often the result of the compassionate reprimands from her co-workers.

“I felt like I needed to go to work even though I was tired and didn’t have a lot of energy because I didn’t feel bad. They finally had to just tell me that they knew Thursdays were my bad days and that I needed to stay home,” Webb said.

Webb said the “red devil” hasn’t been quite as kind. A 2012 study published in the Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology described Doxorubicin as “one of the most potent of the Food and Drug Administration-approved chemotherapeutic drugs,” whose primary limitation is its toxicity to non-cancerous cells. Since beginning this round of treatment, Webb said she has, at times, only been able to work eight hours a week.

Webb said she couldn’t be more thankful to her husband for taking on the extra household chores and making sure their son gets to his practices and games and his encouraging “pep talks.” Her co-workers have also been a source of support who continue to encourage her to prioritize her health and if needed, even take naps at the office. Nevertheless, she has remained determined and consistent about showing up as frequently as she is able.

Smith said Webb’s devotion has earned her a highly favored position among Cullman County’s foster parent community. Webb has also worked closely with families looking to adopt children from the system and has personally “been the catalyst for at well over 100 children finding their forever homes,” according to Smith.

“She’s really a leader around here,” Smith said. “She dives into whatever she does with her whole heart. That is just the person that she is and you can’t help but to want to help her.”

CCDHR staff and several foster parents have organized smaller activities around the office to show their support for Webb, but as she begins preparing for the next chapter in her treatment regimen, they wanted to “do something bigger.”

CCDHR is asking anyone whose lives Webb has impacted, and those who have been impacted by her story, to show their support during a community wide “pink out” Friday, Oct. 25. To help ease Webb’s rising medical costs employees will be contributing $5 donations to forego the usual dress code and several local businesses, including Scooter’s Coffee and Downtown Nutrition, have agreed to donate a portion of their proceeds from that day to Webb’s fight.

Smith said a Facebook page has been created where community members are able to make personal contributions to the Webb family and are encouraged to post pictures of themselves with family members and friends wearing pink in a show of solidarity.

“What we are hoping for is that people will donate something to help Christy out but can also post their pictures to show her just how many people support her,” Smith said.

Although Webb’s resilience masks it well, she does acknowledge the gravity of her condition and contributes her positive outlook largely to the love and encouragement she has already received from her family and, of course, her co-workers.

“I have the absolute best coworkers. I don’t know how people do this and go through treatment without [a support system] like this,” Webb said.