If Not For You, Do It For Your Kids

I am absolutely thrilled to be welcoming a guest blogger today, who is not only a friend but also someone with an incredibly important cause, one that is vital that we all learn about. When you read her words, and learn of her story, I have no doubt you'll be so very thankful that you did. And not only that, but it could SAVE YOUR LIFE. It is that important. Please consider sharing this post with others so that they can read her words and experience the significance of both her story and her organization. 

With that being said, please welcome the founder of NothingPink, Kelly Kashmer:  

My phone rang, and my two daughters and I were on the floor playing cars (loudly). You know how impossible it is to take a call with little ones around. As moms, we have this understanding that one eye or ear can attempt to focus, while the other is watching our littles tear up a playroom right before us. My daughters were 3 and 1 - my youngest, just starting to hear herself make noises and needing to give me kisses every second. We were home that morning from the gym and enjoying our time together (it was still early in the day ;). It was my doctor on the phone, and for the 30 minutes we spoke, I only heard one thing, "You are BRCA2+”. 

I hung up and realized that the results were from a test she had recommended, one that I had taken two weeks prior at my OB/GYN's office. Because I threw away the pamphlet she gave me, I didn't know what BRCA2+ meant. I recalled seeing magazine articles while in line at Target about Angelina Jolie, but in all honesty, that was it. What did it mean? Well, it basically meant that my chances of ever developing breast or ovarian cancer were significantly increased compared to the general population.

Okay...

I didn't see that coming, but the people in my family that I knew about who were previously diagnosed with cancer were much older than me. Surely, as a 31-year-old, this was not something I needed to worry about right now. My priorities were snacks, playgrounds, Zumba at the YMCA, and the Cartwheel app. Nonetheless, I met with a genetic counselor who gave me two options: aggressive screening or preventative surgery. 

Although my husband and I already had two beautiful, healthy girls, I just wasn't ready to make a decision for surgery. I didn't know if, once they were both in grade school, my heart would ache for babies again. My husband thankfully worked through this decision with me, and we decided together that I would undergo screening for two years and revisit the decision again in the future.

Now, as you can imagine, as a mom, these appointments started lining up, and I was scrambling to make the time work to go to them during my window of 9-12 preschool, not to mention hoping to find someone who would be able to watch my younger daughter, Karalynn, so that she wouldn’t be with me during these daunting appointments. 

My friend, Lara, came with me to a few as I had no idea what to expect. I had never had an MRI or a mammogram, so it was very new to me. And then everything changed: the baseline scans that I went in for revealed something I could never have prepared myself for. Rather than having a clear result to use as a baseline to compare to scans in later years, I was informed that I already had Stage II Triple Negative breast cancer. 

My life forever changed. I didn't have any signs or symptoms of cancer. There was no lump, no illness. Nothing was red, nothing inflamed. I was simply a 31-year-old with two small children who was told if I had waited 6 months, I wouldn't be here writing these words to you. 

Over the course of these last three years of my life, we, as a family, have gone down a very dark road of chemotherapy, surgeries, infections, blood transfusions, etc. My faith, family, and friends have pulled me through, as there were times I was too weak or ill to go on. 

There are 3 things I learned through this debilitating disease that I want to share with you:

1. If you don't get screening, genetic counseling, or testing for yourself (because you are a typical mom who always puts everyone first!), DO IT FOR YOUR KIDS! This information is crucial to the lifestyle we live now. My sweet daughters already have a strike against them. Now, it's my responsibility to do everything I can to make sure we are living a healthy lifestyle. 

2. Your kids will have this information when they are older. It was extremely difficult for my family to find information regarding my grandmothers’ causes of death because they didn't share these conversations with anyone. We later discovered that my grandmother and aunt, on my father's side, both died of ovarian cancer. 

3. God made us from two people. The BRCA gene was actually passed down from my father. Although your Primary Care and Ob/Gyn will typically discuss family history based on the maternal side of your family, it's important to remember that God made us from two people and our genetic makeup comes from both sides.

As a result of my BRCA journey, and the information I gained along the way, I founded NothingPink. NothingPink is a non-profit organization local to Fort Mill, South Carolina. Our mission is simple: bring awareness, education, and financial assistance to those who are in need of genetic testing for hereditary breast and ovarian cancers. 

This BRCA genetic test saved my life, and my personal goal is to help the women (and men!) of our community understand why taking that first step of meeting with a genetic counselor is so important. And remember, if you don’t do it for yourself, do it for your kids!

For further information on BRCA genetic testing, please visit www.NothingPink.org, and/or contact any of the professionals below:

Christen Csuy MS, CGC


Cancer Genetic Counselor


Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center


200 Hawthorne Lane


Charlotte, NC 28204

(704) 384-5221

Stacy Lenarcic, MS, CGC


Cancer Genetic Counselor


Carolinas Medical Center


1021 Morehead Medical Drive


Suite 2300


Charlotte, NC 28204


(980) 442-2513

Ashley Migliaro, MS, CGC


CaroMont Cancer Center


2525 Court Drive 


Gastonia, NC 28054 

(704) 834-3672

 

P.S. NothingPink will be having their (ladies only!) annual fundraising event on April 1st! It is called "Crumpets, Cocktails, and Croquet," and will include a garden party and croquet tournament at 2:00 pm and a cocktail reception at 3:30 pm. For more information, and to purchase tickets, please visit HERE.