In my twenties, I didn’t feel much different than most aspiring young adults trying to find my place. I had exceptional highs with great friendships, travel, and my early career. And devastating lows. The loss of loved ones will always highlight those years for me. Then, at the age of 32, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.  → Read More

The Divinyls 1990 hit, “I Touch Myself” is one of the best-known anthems celebrating female sexuality. When the song’s front-woman, Chrissy Amphlett developed breast cancer, she wanted the song to become an anthem spreading awareness about the importance of touching ourselves in the name of early detection for the disease.  → Read More

Seven years ago I learned two things. I learned that I had breast cancer and dense breast tissue. Tragically, I learned them both the same day. My tumor, detected through a self exam, did not show up on a mammogram that day.  → Read More

In the United States, approximately 1 million women are diagnosed with cancer yearly, and of these about 10% are diagnosed before age 45 when reproduction is still a possibility or goal. The cancer most diagnosed in women less than age 45 is breast carcinoma, and the treatments usually involve a multi-drug chemotherapeutic regimen that is toxic to the oocyte population resting within the ovaries. Surgical removal of the ovaries and pelvic radiation are also commonly used treatments to battle cancer that will eliminate or greatly diminish fertility by ablating one’s egg reserve.  → Read More

Hearing the words, “You have breast cancer” or “You are BRCA positive,” can result in a woman feeling as if she’s been hit by a stun gun, with the surreal feeling that she might be in the midst of a Fellini movie.  → Read More

Sitting on the couch after a long day at work, I went to adjust my bra and inadvertently grazed a small lump on my breast. I didn’t give it much thought because it was that time of the month and besides it’s not like it could have been anything serious, right? I was busy with work, short on sick time, and quite honestly I didn’t feel like spending the money for the insurance copayment so decided I would just wait until my annual exam in a few months.  → Read More