When Brittany Pronia felt a lump in her right breast accompanied by sharp pain, her primary care physician ordered an ultrasound that was performed on her 29th birthday. The results came back as abnormal and in October 2014 she was diagnosed with Stage 1A, triple-negative, invasive ductal carcinoma with spots of ductal carcinoma in situ throughout her right breast.
After her diagnosis at Langley Air Force Base’s medical group, Brittany received a handout with a list of local breast cancer support. The handout described Beyond Boobs! as a meeting place for women who were diagnosed at a younger age. Two years later, Brittany is now an enthusiastic Boober! and will represent BB! as one of the models in A Calendar to Live By 2016.
Brittany and her husband of six years, Phillip Jr., live in Hampton with their children, daughters Piper, 5; Presley, 2; 
and Alexys, 13; and their son, Anthony, 10. Their pit bull, Hazmat, and their cat, Jax, add plenty of fur and love to the family. Brittany works as a reliability engineer at Caterpillar Marine Asset Intelligence.
Here Brittany shares her summer plans, the lengths she went to as a teenager for Backstreet Boys concert tickets, and how she feels about being selected as a Beyond Boobs! calendar model.
What is your favorite Beyond Boobs! event or activity?
So far, my favorite Beyond Boobs! event has been Breast Fest and Mr. Breast Fest is definitely the reason why! I’ve only been with Beyond Boobs! for about seven months, so I haven’t been around to attend everything, but I definitely enjoyed the guys strutting their stuff in custom-made bras, trying to raise some cash for this awesome group of ladies, myself included.
What are your summer plans?
Family, family, family! Living far away from everyone turns vacation time into time spent visiting family. I plan on spending the Fourth of July with my parents, brother, and niece back home in Alabama while visiting others, as well. I’m also taking my girls to a family reunion for my husband’s family in Arkansas that, unfortunately, he will miss since he is on deployment.
What is your favorite dessert indulgence?
I *bleeping* love ice cream!
Who was your teenage celebrity heartthrob? How did you show your undying love?
My teenage celebrity crush was Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys. I had a wallpaper of posters and magazine pages covering my bedroom walls and was even fortunate enough to get tickets to their Millennium tour for my 14th birthday by camping out overnight at a Blockbuster to be the first in line to purchase them. At the concert, I showed my love by writing (in Sharpie) “I LOVE YOU, NICK!” across my stomach and lifting my shirt up as he flew over me on some sort of surfboard thing on his way to the stage. I was able to snap a picture, and I’m pretty sure he was looking at me, LOL.
What does being selected as a calendar model mean to you?
As a calendar model, I feel I represent those who should NOT get breast cancer, but, somehow, still do. I started my period at 13 (not too young); I had my first child at 24 (not too old); I breastfed two babies for a total of 18 months; I haven't gone through menopause; I'm a healthy weight; and I have no family history of breast cancer. I feel that seeing my story will make other young women more aware of their bodies and help them to become better advocates for the health of their breasts. If, in the least, that leads to one more self-exam or, at the most, that helps save a life, then being a calendar model means everything to me.
What was the most impactful moment of your calendar model photo shoot?
The most impactful moment of my photo shoot was filming the video. I was asked by the videographer what I would say to one of my daughters if they were diagnosed with breast cancer. Of course that thought had crossed my mind, and continues to do so, but I had never had to vocalize that to anyone else before. It led to an overwhelmingly emotional response that I was not expecting, especially since I had been so strong through everything else.