Being diagnosed with breast cancer while about to get divorced was deeply isolating. Sharsheret made sure I didn’t go through it alone.
Tensions were high. Our marriage had fallen apart. It was time to tell our kids.
But instead of telling the kids that we were getting divorced, we had a different conversation with them.
I had just been diagnosed with breast cancer.
It was stage 2 and had spread to my lymph nodes. I was BRCA2 positive, inherited from my father.
In the weeks and months that followed, I underwent 5 surgeries, 8 rounds of chemotherapy and 5 weeks of radiation.
While the nausea and hair loss were expected, I was completely unprepared for the debilitating fatigue. Throughout my treatment, we kept the impending divorce from everyone. I am grateful that following each surgery, my spouse helped me physically with my post-op recovery. But facing cancer without the emotional support of a loving partner was profoundly isolating.
As my life unraveled, Sharsheret was my true north. When I was diagnosed, Sharsheret answered all of my questions. I read every resource they sent me and participated in their numerous educational webinars. When my hair fell out, Sharsheret provided me with a fully subsidized, beautiful human hair wig. My Sharsheret social worker offered me the care and support I desperately needed and could not find at home.
No one really knows what their future holds. I hope mine will include finding a new partner who accepts that my cancer may recur and that my body is forever altered. No matter what happens, one thing is certain: Sharsheret will support me unconditionally.
Please join me in making a year-end donation, and ensure that I, and thousands of women and men just like me, have Sharsheret to lean on when we need it most.