Blakeley Schmidt Andersen
Patient Advocate, Rhode Island
Highlights
- Speaker, Innovations in care: What you know matters
- Diagnosed with triple-positive invasive ductal carcinoma at the age of 36
After growing up in Rhode Island, Blakeley Schmidt Andersen began her career in Washington, D.C., focusing on public health, the environment, and corporate social responsibility. Her experience includes supporting education programs at the National Institutes of Health, consulting on energy efficiency education and brand management for the Environmental Protection Agency, and contributing to sustainability initiatives for Fortune 500 companies.
Blakeley’s involvement with the cancer community began in the early 2000s when her young cousin, Anabelle, was diagnosed with medulloblastoma and treated at Dana-Farber’s Jimmy Fund Clinic. After Anabelle’s passing, Blakeley’s mother, Vicki, led the family’s participation in annual fundraisers for the Jimmy Fund.
In August 2012, while planning a move from D.C. to Boston, Blakeley’s mother was diagnosed with stage III ovarian cancer. To support her mother during treatment, Blakeley moved back to Rhode Island and adopted a hybrid work schedule. Despite receiving top-notch care, Vicki’s cancer progressed to metastatic ovarian cancer three months after completing her initial treatment regimen.
During this time, Blakeley met her future husband, Michael. Tragically, Vicki passed away in September 2015 after three years of treatments.
In October 2019, about a year into her marriage and thinking the worst was over, Blakeley discovered a lump while getting ready for work one morning. Soon after, she was diagnosed with triple-positive invasive ductal carcinoma at the age of 36. She met Don Dizon, MD, at the Lifespan Cancer Institute in November 2019, and after a lightning-fast round of fertility preservation, she began neoadjuvant chemotherapy in December. Following a lumpectomy, radiation, adjuvant chemotherapy, and a pesky pandemic, Blakeley was declared NED in March 2021 and started endocrine therapy.
Blakeley earned a bachelor’s degree in communication studies with a minor in leadership studies from the University of Rhode Island and completed a year of national service as an AmeriCorps NCCC corps member during college. She now lives in Rhode Island with her husband, Michael, and their American foxhound, Neo. Blakeley currently works as a trademark paralegal for a boutique intellectual property law firm.