Why I'm here

The first few minutes of 2008 found me on a porch watching red and gold fireworks exploding in the distance. Behind me a rowdy group of my college friends chugged champagne straight from the bottles, and to my side they lit up cigars and congratulated each other on making it through the year.

Even with all the noise and light and excitement, I felt isolated. In my bubble everything was silent as I contemplated the events of the past year. Well… actually just one event — finding out that I was positive for the BRCA1 gene mutation. I had always known my risk of getting breast cancer was elevated. My mother died from it when I was three, and her mother died before I was born from Ovarian cancer. But actually seeing a piece of paper from a real lab with a percentage and a confirmation that I, in fact, was 3-7 times more likely than the average person to get breast cancer by the age of 70, really shocked me into thinking about things I had never thought about before. And that’s why, right there on that tiny porch, as the vapor of my breath mushroomed around my face, I resolved to share my thoughts and story with anyone who would listen.

So - here's my blog.

It's a place for me to share my hopes, fears, musings, and findings on the topic of BRCA and cancer risk. Please enjoy it and I'd love to get some feedback or start up a dialogue with anyone who is interested.