By: Diane Becker Krasnick
Sharsheret National Advisory Board member

I just received a copy of your newsletter and was quite pleasantly surprised at its content. I have no idea how I got on your mailing list, but I'm thrilled to know that a group like yours exists I am BRCA 1 positive and am an 8 year survivor of stage 3b breast cancer with 20 positive nodes. I had a bilateral mastectomy, bilateral oophorectomy, 18 months of weekly chemo and 5 weeks of daily radiation. I was also one of the 1000 women included in the clinical trial for Herceptin. Before I moved here [St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands] 2 years ago from Madison, Wisconsin, (to become the Cantor at the Hebrew Congregation of St. Thomas), I gave a number of presentations about Jewish breast cancer hereditary issues and the BRCA mutation. Also, check out my personal breast cancer website: http://www.onlydiane.com/. I would love to be a Sharsheret Link!

By: Nira Berry
Sharsheret National Advisory Board Member

Sharsheret was well represented today at the press conference at the Capitol! It was really moving when Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz gave her background to the press today. There wasn't a dry eye in the room, including the Congresswoman herself, when she spoke of her own experience this year battling breast cancer. She had me and the other breast cancer organizations stand next to her (maybe you can catch her press conference on TV) and spoke to me afterwards about Sharsheret. I attached a photo! (I am on the left)

Sharsheret in Washington, DC

By: Nira Berry
Sharsheret National Advisory Board Member

Wow! Meeting with Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL) today was very interesting and exciting! I'm so happy to learn about this Legislative bill that she is proposing to be passed by Congress. Its nickname is "The Early Act". This bill is proposing nationwide early detection, early education, early information -early everything! The bill is also proposing grants to organizations that support young breast cancer survivors. It's gotten approval already by the CDC and they are planning for this to have a major impact as far as educating the public as the anti-tobacco campaign did years ago. I can't tell you how happy I was that this is finally being done! This is a photo of me (in the middle) and a few other organization representatives such as Hillel, BBYO in front of the Rayburn House Office building where the meeting was held.

Our Voices

I am a breast cancer survivor, and recently contacted Sharsheret, because I would like to become a link.

Like an invincible teenager, I was never going to get cancer. This mind set led to almost never doing self breast exams, and waiting 3 years between routine mammograms. What a shocker when that routine mammogram in August 2007 (at age 44) led so quickly to the diagnosis of the big “C.”

We dreaded telling the kids, but couldn’t delay, as we were worried that they would hear about it inadvertently from a phone message. They took the news better than expected, and offered many words of encouragement. Our son, who had just turned 12, approached me in the kitchen to say “It sucks that you have cancer.” Our 7 year old daughter wanted to feel the lump, although with her one tiny pointer finger, she wasn’t able to really feel anything. Then for the next few days, she approached me often to say “I’m sorry you have a bump, mommy,” and “How did you get that bump?”

Being active duty in the Navy, I received my medical treatment at Bethesda National Medical Center. I was blessed with an excellent and compassionate medical team, everyone from the doctors, my nurse case manager, the hospital corpsmen, and the humorous therapists in Radiation Oncology.

I learned a lot about my family, friends and acquaintances during this time. Some found it uncomfortable to talk with me, but many of my relationships deepened tremendously during this time, and it still brings tears to my eyes to think of the overwhelming support and love that I received from family and friends.

Take It From Me: Recording My Experiences in My Own Way

By: Ellen Kleinhaus, Ed.M., M.A
Project Manager, Sharsheret

Tomorrow night Sharsheret is presenting a Free National Teleconference, “Take It From Me: Recording My Experiences in My Own Way” from 8:00 – 9:30 P.M. (EST). We are excited to have three guest speakers:

Linda Blachman, MPH, MA, Founder and Executive Director, Mothers, Living Stories Project speaking about writing and recording your life stories.

Janet Ruth Falon, MLA, Creative Writing Teacher, University of Pennsylvania, discussing the process of journaling through breast cancer as a means of self-awareness and self-expression.

Jill Cohen, Blogger of Dancing With Cancer: Living With Mets and a “New Normal” sharing with us the reasons why she blogs.

A transcript of the teleconference will be available on Sharsheret’s website, http://www.sharsheret.org/, in the upcoming weeks.

We would love to hear your thoughts on this teleconference and please feel free to share your own experiences by commenting below.