I was born on the 3rd of October. Every member of my family was born on a day that could be divided by 3.  I have 3 siblings, wanted 3 children and always loved the number 3. I loved it until I was told I was “triple negative”.At age 37, while nursing my second baby, I… Continue reading →

People celebrate many different anniversaries, the most common ones being wedding anniversaries and in the Jewish community, the yartzeit, or anniversary of a person’s passing .  As a single woman in her early 50’s, I haven’t celebrated any of my own wedding… Continue reading →

My Sharsheret Story is actually two stories that quickly entwined into one. I was diagnosed with stage two, invasive ductal carcinoma in February of this year. Although it was not a surprise, it was demoralizing. I had already been through a different cancer experience years… Continue reading →

After cooking and eating the equivalent of many Thanksgiving meals from Rosh Hashanah through the holiday of Sukkot, the last thing I want to do is “Talk Turkey” or “Talk Any Type of Poultry.” Though in the spirit of the American idiom “Talk Turkey,” on this American… Continue reading →

On November 2nd, 2014 I will be competing in the New York City Marathon. But this blog is not about me; it is much bigger.Since taking on the challenge to race in the New York City Marathon for Team Sharsheret, I have received the utmost support from all over. Of course, my… Continue reading →

When Karin Charnoff-Katz, MD, was diagnosed with breast cancer, she entered the patient experience and left a changed physician. On my way to work as a general radiologist in Memphis, I detoured to stop for a routine screening mammogram. I was 41 and a few months late for my… Continue reading →

“I was thrilled to receive your breast cancer survivor kit. It literally made my day. The cookbook is fantastic, and the information provided will definitely help me during my survivorship journey. I keep my kit in the great tote bag and refer to it often. It is usually the… Continue reading →

A diagnosis of ovarian cancer earlier this year was a life changing event.  Fear, anxiety, sadness, body image issues, and short and long term effects of chemotherapy, only begin to touch on the myriad of worries which confronted me.  Still, one of the most difficult… Continue reading →

When my youngest daughter was four months old, I was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer. With my newborn, I would go to chemo treatments followed by daily radiation. After radiation we would go to Gymboree because life needed to remain normal. It was a new normal, but just… Continue reading →

I arrived at Sharsheret for my first day of work, ready and willing to embrace my inevitable role as coffee-delivery girl, file organizer, data enterer, and performer of all such tasks typically delegated to the summer intern. However, as I dived into spreadsheets and media… Continue reading →

“Anything you do that is small is not small at all,” was the message of a breast cancer survivor who spoke at the annual Sharsheret Cake Wars event at Yeshiva University. This was my introduction to Sharsheret. After Cake Wars, I attended Sharsheret walks, speaking… Continue reading →

Inspiring, brave, passionate.  All words one can use to describe the women and caregivers I met at the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance Conference in Washington, D.C. this July.  One such woman is Carey, a Sharsheret peer supporter and founder of Teal Toes, an ovarian… Continue reading →

It’s true when they say time flies when you’re having fun.This summer I had the privilege of interning at Sharsheret. I cannot believe that it has already been nine weeks, and my time at Sharsheret is almost over!When I first heard about Sharsheret, I did not understand how… Continue reading →

A study presented this week at the 2014 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting suggests that in younger women with early stage estrogen-receptor positive (ER+) breast cancer, obesity is associated with poorer outcomes. The research comes from a review of 70… Continue reading →

Sharsheret is proud to have been awarded a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to develop and implement our program for young Jewish breast cancer survivors, Thriving Again®.  This grant was part of a larger CDC initiative to address breast cancer in… Continue reading →

This is my third year attending Sharsheret’s annual Benefit.  The loving, accepting atmosphere envelops me as I walk in to the room.  It feels so familiar even though I only know a handful of people.I think back to May of 2011.  I was undergoing chemo.  The… Continue reading →

As all great adventures do, this one started on Facebook and a post by Rochelle Shoretz, the Founder of Sharsheret, about running the NYC Half Marathon. In an instant, when some of the best decisions are made, I hopped on the band wagon and said, “I should run in honor of my… Continue reading →

‘Will my insurance cover genetic counseling and testing What do I do if coverage is denied’Boy, if I had a penny for every time I heard these questions…It is well established that 1 in 40 individuals of Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry carries a BRCA mutation, predisposing them… Continue reading →

An article published yesterday in the Wall Street Journal highlights cancer survivorship care programs, not only as an emerging trend in the medical field, but as an essential accreditation standard for U.S. cancer centers by 2015, according to the Commission on Cancer. … Continue reading →

Today’s New York Times article outlining a proposed population-wide BRCA screening program in Israel notes Sharsheret’s work in genetics as part of a “campaign to raise awareness about the genetic susceptibility to breast and ovarian cancer among Ashkenazi Jews.” … Continue reading →