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Blake Anderson: Arkansas State coach’s wife Wendy dies following breast cancer battle

Wendy Anderson, wife of Arkansas State Red Wolves football coach Blake Anderson
Wendy Anderson, wife of Arkansas State coach dies. Pic credit: THV11/YouTube

Wendy Anderson, the wife of Arkansas State Red Wolves football coach Blake Anderson, died Monday at the age of 49 after a prolonged battle with breast cancer.

Coach Blake Anderson took to Twitter on Tuesday morning to announce that Wendy died on Monday night after a two-year struggle with breast cancer.

“My beautiful girl has gone home to be with Jesus… no more pain, no more suffering and praise Him no more cancer,” Anderson tweeted. “She passed as peacefully & gracefully as you could ever hope just a few minutes before midnight with me laying right beside her.”

Wendy celebrated her 49th birthday on August 15, only four days before she passed away.

Blake Anderson took an indefinite leave of absence from his duties as Arkansas State football coach Monday to tend to his wife. David Duggan, the assistant head coach and defensive coordinator, is serving as interim coach while Blake is away.

Wendy was diagnosed with breast cancer in the spring of 2017 and was declared free of the illness later in the year after treatment. But it returned in the fall of 2018 and she was diagnosed with Stage 4 triple-negative breast cancer.

The cancer spread rapidly to her lymph nodes, liver and lungs. She underwent surgery to remove the tumors, but things took a turn for the worse in the months before her death.

People have been saying their condolences on Twitter. Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson also took to Twitter this morning to share his condolences.

Senator Tom Cotton from Arkansas also paid tribute.

What is triple-negative breast cancer?

Triple-negative breast cancer, according to Breastcancer.org, is a relatively rare form of aggressive cancer that tests negative for estrogen and progesterone receptors, as well as for an excess of a type of protein called HER2 protein.

What this means is that the growth of the cancer is not being caused by estrogen, progesterone or HER2 protein, which is what happens with other forms of breast cancer. As a result, triple-negative breast cancer does not respond to treatment based on hormonal therapy medicines designed to target HER2 protein receptors.

This form of breast cancer constitutes only about 10-20 percent of breast cancer cases.

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