Bags that carry you through: Local breast cancer survivor fills totes to help other survivors

Plano resident Debbie Stallings was speechless when the doctors gave her the diagnosis: breast cancer.

“I just stood there when he said it. I didn’t know what to think,” she said.

Always part of the Susan G. Komen races each summer, Stallings decided to go one step further and find other ways to get involved.

Stallings now makes Journey Bags – totes that carry the necessities to and from doctor’s visits – to give as gifts to other breast cancer survivors.

Each bag contains numerous items, such as a small blanket, a bracelet, a reusable water bottle, a pocket journal and various breast cancer awareness items. Each bag can be personalized and adjusted to fit the survivor’s needs, Stallings said.

“Having the bag is a great way to hold items to and from the doctor’s office,” she said. “As a gift, they not only show the survivor that we care and are there to support them but that there’s emotional support there as well.”

Stallings said the idea came to her when she realized she wanted to get more involved with breast cancer awareness.

“Then the idea just came to me to put together the bags as gifts to other women,” she said. “As a survivor, I came across a lot of people who wanted to do something, but didn’t know what to give to help me through the process. I wanted to use my experience to create a Journey Bag for other survivors.”

Three weeks before receiving her diagnosis, Stallings’ two sons just happened to give her a pink ribbon workout bag, knowing her involvement with various Komen events and support of the organization.

The same bag carried her belongings to the dozens of doctor’s appointments, biopsies and surgeries throughout her journey.

“I spent a lot of time in cold waiting rooms, so I put a blanket in my bag; I had my iPod there so I could listen to it while having scans; I had my appointment book to keep track of doctor’s visits and my journal to write in while I was waiting,” she said. “All of the things in my Journey Bags are things that women could use during their journeys.”

She often receives e-mails from other survivors who have either given or received her Journey Bags.

“I keep every single e-mail and revisit them regularly,” she said. “Reading them puts a lump in my throat because they [the survivors] will tell me how this bag has helped them and how I’m an inspiration to them for being a survivor reaching out to other survivors.”

Stallings launched her Web site in October 2008, and it immediately found success.

“Feedback and interest in my Journey Bags is very, very good,” she said. “There is a boutique in Florida that is carrying my products, and recently a spa in New York asked to carry some bags.”

Stalling had her last surgery three weeks ago and is currently in remission. Now that her schedule isn’t filled with doctor’s appointments, she hopes to spend her free time focusing on making more Journey Bags and branching out to more retailers.