Cindy Trice: The Voice She Almost Lost

Cindy Trice was 35 years old when she finally became a veterinarian. She had just graduated. The career she had worked toward was finally beginning. And then, in what should have been a season of celebration, she received a diagnosis that stopped everything: advanced stage cervical cancer. 

There is no preparing for that kind of news. There is no handbook. One day you are planning your future, and the next you are sitting in a doctor's office learning that everything you imagined for yourself is no longer guaranteed. Cindy had to let go of the plans she had made and face something she never expected. Cancer does not care about your timeline. It does not wait until you are ready. 

Treatment was hard. Recovery was harder. And what came after was not a return to normal, because normal no longer existed. Cindy had to rebuild her life from a different starting point, one she did not choose. But somewhere in that rebuilding, she found something she had not anticipated. She found her voice. 

Cindy is now a veterinarian, speaker, serial entrepreneur, cancer survivor, and patient advocate for Cervivor, an organization dedicated to cervical cancer survivors. She is also the co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer at KickIt Pajamas, a company that designs stylish, comfortable, and functional clothing for women at every stage of their cancer journey. What started as her own worst chapter has become the foundation for helping other women through theirs. 

Her advocacy work is personal, but it is also urgent. Cervical cancer is one of the only cancers that can be completely eliminated. We know what causes it. The human papillomavirus, or HPV, is responsible for nearly all cervical cancer cases. We have a vaccine that is safe, effective, and has been around for decades. We have screening tests that catch abnormalities early, often before they become cancer at all. If cervical cancer is detected at its precancerous stage, treatment is straightforward. Australia is on track to become the first country to eliminate new cases of cervical cancer entirely, possibly by 2035. The science is not the problem. The silence is. 

Cervical cancer is what doctors call a "below the belt" cancer, and that phrase carries weight. In many communities, there is shame attached to it. Women feel embarrassed. They do not want to talk about it. They do not want to admit they had it. And because no one talks, other women do not get screened. They do not vaccinate their children. They do not catch it early. They end up where Cindy ended up, in a doctor's office hearing news that could have been prevented. 

Cindy believes that those of us with a cancer story have a responsibility to share it. Not because it is comfortable, but because staying silent costs lives. When one woman speaks, another woman listens. She gets screened. She asks her doctor questions. She vaccinates her daughter. The ripple effect is real, and it starts with someone willing to say out loud what most people want to keep hidden. She talks openly about her experience because she knows what it could mean for someone else. A conversation at the right time can change everything. A story shared honestly can push someone to make an appointment they have been putting off for years. That is the power of using your voice when it would be easier to stay quiet. 

Today, Cindy lives in Bradenton, Florida with her husband and three dachshunds. She loves to cook, plan travel adventures, and write rap lyrics for hamsters. She carries her experience with her, but she does not let it weigh her down. She has turned it into fuel. She has turned it into purpose. 

She is living proof that the worst thing that happens to you does not have to be the end of your story. Sometimes, it is just the beginning of a different one.