On the night of December 17, 2007, my life was forever changed. My husband Ron & I were on an airliner on the way to Israel with my rabbi & a group of about 28 others.  It was my very first time traveling overseas. One week prior to leaving I had broken my left big toe in 4 places & was in a boot, on pain medication that barely took the edge off & found it impossible to get comfortable or sleep. Read more …

“Why I Surgically Removed My Breasts to Avoid My Legacy” – I am currently a 31 year old woman with two beautiful daughters and very happy to be living my life.  My vision of my world wasn’t always so rosy.  I grew up with a dark cloud hanging over my head.  The big “C” word took the life of my grandmother and threatened the lives of my two aunts and my mother.  If it happened to them, what was to stop cancer from striking me as well?  I was born with a predisposition to this disease and the thought of dying plagued me constantly.   When I realized that there were ways to defy my destiny…I did just that.  No one and no disease was going to stop me. Read more …

“Running Scared” – I choose this title because it was the actual act of running that led me to the right people. I was 14 when I was told that my mom was sick. I was at sleep away camp and was told mom was in the hospital having a minor surgery. My dad didn’t want me to worry. The truth was she was undergoing a complete hysterectomy. At the age of 38, my mother, Shevi Reiss, was diagnosed with stage 4 Ovarian Cancer. No signs, no symptoms, not a single person in the family prior to her was sick. Read more …

Hi there. My story begins when my older sister called me to tell me she found a lump on her left breast. As most caring sisters say, “It’s probably nothing”. I had a small lump on my right breast years ago and it was only a cyst, as would be hers I assumed. Unfortunately, I was wrong and she was diagnosed with stage I, triple neg. breast cancer. That was only the beginning of our Breast Cancer family history. Read more …

My name is Brittany, and I’m a 23-year-old previvor from Knoxville, Tennessee. I would like to share my story, but I feel like it’s necessary to begin with sharing my mom’s. In 2007, at the age of 44, my mom was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of breast cancer known as “triple negative” breast cancer. This was the last thing that she or I expected to hear, because no one in our family had ever been diagnosed with breast cancer. Read more …

My name is Megan, I am 24 years old, and am a BRCA1 carrier.  When I was 12 my Nanny past away from Ovarian Cancer, through those 12 yrs I had watched her fight breast cancer on and off. There were a few times where she was put into the intensive care unit, and was told she would not make it. Two out of the three times they were wrong. Read more …

I am of Ashkenazi Jewish decent (my grandmother was born in Germany and was Jewish). My sister, 13 months my elder, died of breast cancer in 2002. She was diagnosed at approx 32 yrs of age.  I am now 53, and have been an engineer- project manager at IBM for 31+ yrs. Read more …

My mother’s sister died of breast cancer in her early 30’s. My sister died of breast cancer in her early 40’s. My mother had breast cancer in both her late 40’s and late 60’s but didn’t die of it. Many of my female counsins on my mother’s side have had breast cancer. Read more …