Sharsheret Intern Experience

This is my first post on the Sharsheret blog; hopefully it will be my first of many. Sharsheret has gone from being an organization that I always heard about from my mother and read about in the Jewish Standard, to an active part of my life. This past summer I was one of the Sema Heller-Netivot Shalom Interns and it gave me the opportunity to join the Sharsheret team forever and truly make a difference. My experience at Sharsheret was so much better than I could have imagined. I learned so much about the fabulous programs and support Sharsheret has to offer to young Jewish women facing breast cancer and all of the volunteer opportunities that they provide for individuals to make a difference in their own way.
I am now back in college, at the University of Maryland, but my Sharsheret work has not ended. This past semester I co-chaired “Manicure for a Cure”, which was an event through Hillel and several other campus organizations held on campus and all proceeds were given to Sharsheret. What girl could pass up a cheap manicure and an opportunity to give charity?! We had a wonderful time! The Sharsheret video was streaming on screen and the room was decked-out in pink; pink M&M’s, pink lemonade, pink napkins and we had great Sharsheret giveaways and booklets. I look forward to planning more Sharsheret events here at school, spreading the word about this wonderful organization and getting more people involved!

DOES YOUR FAMILY MATTER?

By Niecee Schonberger, MS, CGC, Genetics Program Coordinator, Sharsheret

As a Genetic Counselor, part of my job is to construct family trees with information about medical history, ages of onset of various conditions, etc. of family members going back several generations. It’s amazing how many people don’t know what Grandma Leah died of, how old sister Sarah was when she was diagnosed with cancer, what caused the death of cousin Jacob at age 7, how many children aunt Millie had, and so on. Why is this important? You ask.

It’s important because your family history gives the best idea of whether a condition, such as breast cancer, may be inherited or is simply the result of sporadic, individual factors, which is the case in 90-95% of breast cancers. If it seems to be inherited, then genetic testing may be helpful. If it’s sporadic, genetic testing may be a waste of time plus a lot of money.

So, here’s a plan. In just about every family, there’s a “family historian”, someone who knows all about everyone. If you sit down with her or him, you’ll probably get an earful and learn things you never knew, but along with the tidbits and the gossip, you’ll learn the useful, and sometimes surprising, information that can be important when you try to gauge whether there is a genetic susceptibility in your family. What have you learned about your family that you never knew? How did it help you?