'Why not me?' A breast cancer survivor brings new meaning to helping women feel like themselves again

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. - For nearly two decades, Selene Johnson has helped women navigate changes that can affect how they look and how they see themselves.

As manager of AdventHealth's Eden Spa and Boutique in Altamonte Springs, Johnson helps patients find wigs after hair loss, personalized mastectomy bras, prostheses and other garments following breast cancer treatment.

AdventHealth also offers Eden Spa and Boutique locations in Orlando, Winter Park and Winter Garden, giving women across Central Florida more options to find personalized support during and after cancer treatment.

For Johnson, those fittings have never been only about products.

"They've gone through so much," she said. "They get diagnosed, they lose their hair and they've got to feel like their new self."

"Why not me? Because I'm just like my patients."

Early in her career, Johnson saw how deeply cancer affected the women she served.

"If I'm going to be quite honest, it was very, very overwhelming," she said.

Nine years into her work at Eden, cancer changed her own life.

In September 2017, Johnson learned she had stage 3, triple-positive breast cancer. She went through chemotherapy, 38 rounds of radiation and, later, a mastectomy with reconstruction.

After years of caring for women with cancer, she found herself on the other side of the experience.

"Why not me?" she said. "Because I'm just like my patients."

As she faced treatment, Johnson drew strength from her closest circle.

"I felt like I was strong enough to defeat cancer," she said. "I thought about my children, my husband and I did it for them."

Today, Johnson brings that experience into every conversation at Eden Boutique. She knows what it feels like to lose her hair and to see cancer treatment change how she sees herself. That perspective helps her understand why the right wig, bra or prosthesis can mean so much.

The goal, she said, is to help women feel "like herself, or close to her new her, after cancer."

Johnson's Hispanic heritage also shapes how she cares for others. The 2026 Hispanic Heritage Month theme, "Unidos, Somos Más," or "Together, We Are More," reflects values she says have long guided her life and took on deeper meaning during her own cancer journey.

"You're someone else's testimony."

"My Hispanic roots have taught me the importance of family, compassion, resilience and caring for others with genuine love," Johnson said. "Caring for others is more than my job. It's about building relationships and being a source of hope."

Her heritage and her experience as a cancer survivor now shape the way she cares for the whole person. She listens closely, builds trust and pays attention to what each woman needs in that moment.

"As soon as they come in, I ask them, 'How's your day?'" Johnson said.

If she hears discouragement, she responds with hope.

"You're here for a purpose, a reason," she tells patients. "You're someone else's testimony."

Johnson no longer has to imagine what it feels like to sit on the other side of the fitting room. She has been there.

And when a woman faces the uncertainty of breast cancer, Johnson shares the message that carried her through her own journey.

"Stay positive, pray and don't lose hope," she said.

For Johnson, the most meaningful part of the work is meeting women in a difficult moment and helping them move forward with greater confidence and the reassurance that they do not have to face cancer alone.

Click here to learn more about Eden Spa and Boutique.