It's virtually impossible to transition from Greg Focker in the movie "Meet the Parents" to a news article about two local breast cancer survivors and the Pierce County Relay For Life this April, right?

Wrong. Mei Mei's Cookies and Creamery owner Mei Mei Abdouch accomplished this scintillating segue with greater ease than chemo making her lose handfuls of hair in the shower this summer.

Many may remember the awkward dining room table discussion between the Byrnes and Greg Focker. Jack Byrnes, a retired C.I.A. agent and the father of Greg's girlfriend, Pam, catches Greg Focker in a white lie about growing up on a farm. He was from Detroit. Jack continued to crank up the pressure, asking him, "What animals did you milk, Greg?"

Focker replied he milked his cat, little Geppetto.

Dina Byrnes, Pam's mother, in bewilderment says, "I had no idea you could milk a cat?"

To which Focker replies, "Yeah, you can milk anything with nipples."

Jack Byrnes turns up the heat to white-hot by asking his rhetorical question, "I have nipples, Greg, could you milk me?"

"You have nipples, Greg," stated Abdouch during the interview, "that means you have breast tissue. Men and women get breast cancer."

"One in eight!" blurts out Sarah Jarocki.

Abdouch received a double mastectomy this past summer. Jarocki received hers in the summer of 2020.

"Flat and fabulous," said Jarocki. "When I get out of the shower, it is a daily reminder, obviously, but it's also a daily reminder I've come out on the other side and I'm healthy."

"It's a necessary evil to have to wear a bra," said Abdouch, "but we don't have to wear them anymore. Hal-le-lujah. If you're someone who wants them, then absolutely have the reconstruction, but if you don't, then that's O.K. The more we educate men on the impact they have on women, the easier it is for women to make decisions for themselves."

"The more there are articles like this talking about it," continued Abdouch, "the easier it is to talk about it."

Abdouch is currently in remission from cancer, but it's her second bout. Her first battle began 48 years ago. Growing up in Cottage Grove, Minn., she was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer of the nervous system. The cancer had consumed 80% of her body. The doctor told her parents there was a zero percent cure rate and they were simply just going to send her home. Abdouch’s parents told the doctor, "That was not an option."

"I was bald and everyone looked at me," she said. "Back then, people that were sick were hidden away. The more people are informed, the less alienated people like us are. This time, I was completely fine being out in the world, bald."

Greg, Peters not Focker, replied, "Fred Barr does it every day."

Abdouch and Jarocki laughed out loud, as they both know the former assistant volleyball coach and River Falls restaurant mogul. Abdouch replied, "Fred is such a pioneer for the women."

Abdouch and Jarocki say the worst part of breast cancer treatment wasn't the loss of breasts. Jarocki said her husband, Jim, told her, "They served their purpose already."

The worst part was the nerve tingling neuropathy in her feet for Abdouch.

"But, if I did step on a Lego, I wouldn't even care because I couldn't feel it anyway. That's the key to getting through it. It's the little wins of all the (expletive) that you have to go through. I didn't get mosquito bites all summer. Mosquitos hate chemo and radiation. That's a win."

Jarocki said her first thought was "Why me?" But then, she received some advice from her mother-in-law and started thinking, "Why not me?"

Both women have incredible journeys to share.

"My family has had every cancer but breast cancer, but I just checked that box, too," said Abdouch, with a tone sounding more like punching a hole on a buy 10 cookies and receive one for free frequent visitor card instead of a possible death sentence.

The cancer badge has hit double digits in Jarocki's family, too.

In 2018, after her dad passed away from colon cancer and her 7-year-old niece lost her cancer battle, Jarocki and her sister, Melissa, attended their first Pierce County Relay For Life.

"For me, Relay (For Life) is about honoring all of my family and friends that have been affected by cancer," said Jarocki. "When you hear the names read during the luminary, it's just moving."

Jarocki has moved from being a fundraising team member for Westside Elementary, her place of employment, to serving on the Pierce County Relay For Life leadership team. Both Jarocki and Abdouch will be sharing their journeys as two of the survivor speakers at the event.

The Pierce County Relay For Life will be held in the River Falls High School gymnasium from 5-9:30 p.m. Friday, April 11. This year's fundraising goal is $80,000 for the American Cancer Society.

The River Falls Rotary Club will be serving the spaghetti dinner and, new this year, the cafeteria commons area will feature numerous vendors for shopping and fun for the kids.

Jarocki and Abdouch are not only hoping for change with social stigmas surrounding breast cancer, they're trying to create change helping fund research to end cancer.  

"I know it may seem early, but the earlier the better if you're forming a team or joining a team," said Jarocki.

For more information on the Pierce County Relay For Life or to register a team, visit www.relayforlife.org/riverfallswi.

To remedy the Focker/Byrnes cat milking question, according to petshun.com, it is not advisable to attempt cat milking. Though cats do have mammary glands, attempting to manually milk a cat can be both uncomfortable and potentially harmful to the feline.