Erika Weathers was on a roll when she learned that she had breast cancer in 2004. Then, at 33, Weathers was living in Vinings, and working as a flight attendant for a local airline. She loves to travel, work out, and act, and those jobs and activities allowed the Middletown, New York native, to see the country, meet people from around the world, and entertain others. On that day, however, traveling, Zumba classes, and reading scripts were the last things on her mind.
“I was in the prime of my life,” said Weathers by phone from her home in Atlanta.
There is no history of breast cancer in Weathers’ family. She was the chosen one, and she still doesn’t know why she was chosen to go through what she went through.
“I’m the first one. It was like, ‘Why me? What’s going on in my body?” she said.
About getting the news that her life was going to change, she said, “That was devastating.”
Weathers, 56, is far from alone. Breast cancer will affect millions of Americans this year. Whether you are male or female, adult or child, the odds that you know someone who has had breast cancer inject itself into their life is high, according to data from the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc. (NBCF).
1 in 8 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer, according to the organization’s data. This year, there will be an estimated 316,000-plus women and nearly 3,000 men diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. One of those women was once Weathers.
Along with skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in this country. But there has been a significant decrease in breast cancer deaths since 1989, according to the American Cancer Society data. Early detection and awareness are reasons for thousands of lives being saved.
“Early diagnosis is key. Early detection, get it out of you, and get on with your life,” Weathers said.
The early detection of the cancer, Weathers’ positive attitude, and willingness to fight can all be listed as reasons she survived her first diagnosis. Along with being a flight attendant, Weathers is a realtor for HomeSmart, an Arizona-based brokerage firm, and an actress. Weathers has had roles in several Lifetime projects and routinely goes out on auditions. She also volunteers as a poll worker during local elections, and don’t forget those Zumba classes. She has also been an instructor in the past.
“I always have a positive mindset. You can only do what you can do, but it’s always better to have a positive mindset when you do it,” she said. “I just have to make everything work.”
That positive mindset came in handy when Weathers was challenged again. She was re-diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008 and again in late 2024. She had just finished celebrating 16 years of being cancer-free before this. Both times, she faced facts and approached hormone therapy treatments and radiation treatments with faith and a positive attitude. But it wasn’t easy. It never is, she said.
Following surgery on her left breast, the right had been removed years earlier. Weathers got the chance to go through a national rite of passage for cancer patients. During her first battles, she never got the chance, but she did this time around.
On May 9, 2025, she rang the bell at Emory University Hospital Midtown. That day, she was surrounded by family and friends.
Weathers is also an author. She wrote a book about her breast cancer survival and journey, “Free Me 2 Be Me,” which was self-published in 2021, after she was laid off during the COVID pandemic. The time off work as a flight attendant allowed Weathers to focus on telling her story.
“I took advantage of that time. I used to always say I wanted to write a book about my life,” said Weathers, who added that she wrote the book about her entire life and not just the cancer part of the story.
In the book, she also discusses her relationship with her father, Ronald Weathers, who, along with her mother, Jackie Zoldan, twin brother Chris, other brother Erik, and stepmother Carol Weathers, has impacted her life.
Asked if she has any advice for breast cancer patients going through what she went through, Weathers simply said they have to keep on keeping on.
“Get on with your life,” she said. “It just depends on how you are. I’m always looking for the next best thing to do in my life.”
Weathers is working on a second book, preparing for more real estate training, and working the polls for the upcoming November elections.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and for the past 40 years, it has been the national month of observance in the United States. Weathers enjoys speaking to groups and individuals as an advocate for breast cancer patients and survivors. She remembers needing to talk to someone who understood what she was going through
“Sometimes it’s easier to talk to someone who has been through it,” she said.
Erika Weathers has been through it and back.
“I just like to know that I can get to the finish line and to know that I can do anything I can set my mind to,” Weathers said.
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