Gatesville breast cancer survivor starts weekly support group

A Gatesville breast cancer survivor is giving Coryell County women a place to sit with others who understand the toll of diagnosis, treatment and recovery, without having to leave town for support.

The Coryell County Breast Cancer Support Group meets every Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m. at The Gathering on Main, 2429 East Main St. in Gatesville. The meetings are open to any woman who has received a breast cancer diagnosis, including women still in treatment, women who have finished treatment and women who were recently diagnosed.

Founder Annie Wibbenmeyer said she started the group because no support group was there when she needed one. Wibbenmeyer was diagnosed with small-cell breast carcinoma on Valentine’s Day 2022, an experience that shaped the group’s purpose: to give women a place to talk with people who understand the physical and emotional strain of cancer, exchange information and simply be around others who have lived through it.

The first meeting was held Thursday, March 5, as a meet-and-greet. Attendees received a six-piece gift set along with food and refreshments, a small but deliberate welcome for women who may be arriving nervous, exhausted or unsure of what to expect. Wibbenmeyer said the group is open to women of all religions and walks of life, and she wants it to last forever and be open to everyone in Coryell County.

The timing matters in a county where a diagnosis can quickly become a family-wide burden, affecting spouses, children, caregivers and work schedules. Coryell County had 83,093 residents in the 2020 census and an estimated 85,592 as of July 1, 2025, a population size that can make close-to-home support especially important for women who might otherwise need to travel for help.

Local cancer care already exists in Gatesville. Texas Oncology has treated patients there since March 2013, and Coryell Health says its oncology location offers diagnostic imaging, laboratory services and a pharmacy to help make treatment more manageable. The new support group adds something different: peer connection that does not end when an appointment does.

That need is large. The Texas Department of State Health Services says breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in Texas, with 21,083 new diagnoses and 3,535 deaths expected among Texas women in 2024. The same state data brief counts 225,082 Texas women as breast cancer survivors. Nationally, the American Cancer Society says about 1 in 8 U.S. women will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in her lifetime, and its Reach To Recovery program has long connected newly diagnosed patients with trained survivor volunteers for emotional and practical support.