Our Voices: A Blog by Links, Callers and Volunteers

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Monday, January 5, 2009

Link Training Teleconference

Please join us tomorrow evening, Tuesday, January 6, 2009, 8:30-9:30 p.m. (EST), for our Get Connected Link Training Teleconference. During the Teleconference, Sharsheret's Clinical Supervisor, Shera Dubitsky, will offer guidelines for serving as a peer supporter, resources to share with other women facing breast cancer, and a role play simulation. Manager of Volunteer Services, Rebecca Schwartz, will review the various ways you can use your experiences and skills to Get Connected in your community. The Teleconference will conclude with a Question and Answer Session, during which we will address many of your questions about serving as a Link. To access the Teleconference, please call Sharsheret for more information at (866) 474-2774.

Our Voices

Almost immediately after I recovered from my TRAM (reconstruction) surgery, I knew that I wanted to be a Sharsheret Link. The surgery was the most life altering thing, but getting through it and recovering made it all worth it. I wanted to be able to help prepare another woman for this and hopefully let her know she would get through it and come out a stronger person.When I got the call from Shera Dubitsky to become a Link to Marcy, I was in the middle of relocating my family to another state and starting a new job. However, there was no way though that I would turn down the opportunity of helping another survivor. Marcy was going to have the same surgery as I had. She explained that she was an active woman with an athletic build and had to gain 30 pounds for the surgeons to harvest some fat for her new breasts. We would joke- she was trying to gain 30 and I was trying to lose 30 - we could swap closets!It was great talking to Marcy. We are both strong women who share a good sense of humor and are able to laugh in the face of adversity. I really hope that I was a help to Marcy. I know she was a help to me. I found her strength to be awesome and inspiring. The only thing that gets me though is that I'm still working on those last few pounds and I bet Marcy has lost all of hers!!
Sharsheret is a national organization of cancer survivors dedicated to addressing the unique concerns of young Jewish women facing breast cancer. Sharsheret, Hebrew for "chain," was founded in 2001 by Rochelle Shoretz, a former Law Clerk to United States Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who recognized the need for a breast cancer organization that would provide culturally sensitive support for Jewish women after her own diagnosis at age 28. Since the organization's founding, Sharsheret has responded to thousands of phone calls from health care professionals, Jewish organizations, women's organizations, women affected by breast cancer, their families, and friends. Sharsheret's efforts to support young women and educate health care professionals have been recognized with prestigious awards and significant media coverage.