Kristin Bahny is very familiar with cancer. She lost her father to colon cancer and her mother is a two time breast cancer survivor. It meant that cancer, for her and her brother, was always front of mind. Given her mother’s older age when diagnosed with breast cancer, Kristin wasn’t too worried when she found a lump. She did however, bring it up to her doctor, who suggested more testing. She notes, “I was in denial because my mom was so much older when diagnosed. Up until the minute they told me, I was convinced it wasn’t cancer. I should have, but I didn’t see it coming.” Indeed, at 34 years old Kristin had breast cancer.
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Barbara Bigelow is a force in the world of breast cancer. Cancer has been apart of her life for twenty years. She was originally diagnosed with early stage breast cancer and entered treatment. What proved to be even more shocking was that in her first year of treatment, her two sisters were diagnosed with breast cancer. Sadly, one sister passed away of metastatic breast cancer.
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Donna Brady, Robin Tamburrini and Linda Heney are closer than your average sisters. Together they have faced unimaginable grief. In 1979 their grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer. She would battle the disease for many years before succumbing in 1999. Similarly, their mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1993 and passed away in 2012. As a result of the family history, the three sisters were diligent about self checks at an early age. It would turn out to be life saving for Linda, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013, one year after her mother’s death. She received a lumpectomy and radiation. Though a nine year survivor, Linda notes, “it scares me because both my grandmother and mother had the same pattern- clear of cancer for a number of years before the cancer returned and ultimately, they both lost their battle.”
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Rebecca Kitchen was on her way to urgent care when she decided to stop home for a quick shower. While showering she noticed a lump in her breast. Not thinking much of it, she brought it up to the urgent care doctor just in case. He too believed it to be a cyst, or something minor given Rebecca’s young age of 30. To be safe he sent her for a mammogram and ultrasound, both of which came back inconclusive. Three biopsies later, Rebecca was diagnosed with stage three ductal carcinoma breast cancer. It came as a complete shock: “it was so far outside the realm of possibilities for me. I would never have even thought it was possible.” Indeed, Rebecca had no family history and later genetic testing would reveal she also had no precursors.
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