In 2012, I was visiting my daughter Lorrie’s home in Virginia. Lorrie is an RN and her colleague at the hospital (her gynecologist) suggested she get tested because of her Jewish roots, which put her at increased risk for having a BRCA1 or BRCA2 genetic mutation. It turns out… Continue reading
I will never forget the week I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2018. A close friend had put me in touch with a mutual camp friend who had experienced what I was experiencing several months before. I remember vividly how my mind was racing with all sorts of unanswered… Continue reading
News broke in mid-January that Chris Evert, a top professional tennis player in the 1970’s and 1980’s, had been diagnosed with Stage 1 ovarian cancer. At first glance, this is very sad news. However, in reading the story’s details, it becomes clear that Chris is… Continue reading
I was born a Yankee fan. My father was raised in the South Bronx, a son of penniless Jewish immigrants who had fled Czarist Russia, too poor to buy a ticket to Yankee Stadium. He and his pals watched the games from the roof of his apartment building. He grew up to be a… Continue reading
Social Support. Oncology Exercise. Each, on its own, is so powerful and necessary after a cancer diagnosis. Put them together, and … Wow! It’s a powerful combination. I’ve been working on marrying social support and fitness for almost five years, since my… Continue reading
It’s that time of year when GIFTS are high on our minds. One of my favorite – and amusing – lines from all of my cancer-girl books is about gifts. In Five Lessons I Didn’t Learn From Breast Cancer (And One Big One I Did), Shelly Lewis wisely writes, “Cancer is not a… Continue reading
October ended six weeks ago, and it flooded me with relief. That might seem like a strange thing to say about such an innocuous month, one filled with foliage and candy corn. Let me explain. In October 2017, I participated in a "Boxing for Boobies" event organized by a… Continue reading
In 2009, I was sure my BRCA test would be positive. I was Ashkenazi. I had ovarian and uterine cancer. I’d grown up hearing about great aunts with unspeakable disease. But BRCA wasn’t my issue. It took years before I knew what was. In 2021, after another bout of cancer,… Continue reading
I was 33 years old, had a 13-month-old son and was 33 weeks pregnant with my daughter. That’s when I found the lump. Triple negative breast cancer. BRCA1 positive. Inherited from my father. When the doctors told me it was cancer, I was in a state of shock. I could… Continue reading
November is Men’s Health Awareness Month, and I hope that sharing my BRCA journey will help others, especially men. BRCA, known as the “breast cancer gene,” became a household term for our family in 2018 when I completed a “direct to consumer” genetic test -- largely… Continue reading
This message appeared in the special edition of The Jewish Federations National Women’s Philanthropy (NWP) newsletter It is with great honor that I write this D’var Torah. The women of Federation and National Women's Philanthropy are some of the strongest, most… Continue reading
Dense breasts are fairly common. In fact, slightly more women have them than don't. Still, many women are confused about what it means to have dense breasts and how this may affect cancer screenings. Breasts are made up of milk-producing glands, ducts that carry the milk;… Continue reading
Before I was diagnosed with breast cancer 11 years ago I had a lot of theoretical knowledge of what being a cancer patient meant. Afterwards, I understood how terrifying it is to hear your name paired with the word CANCER. I understood how scared the people I loved and… Continue reading
In March 2018 at age 43 I was diagnosed with De Novo Her2 Positive Stage IV Metastatic Breast Cancer. That is a mouthful to say so you can imagine the shock that I was in during the four weeks between feeling the lump and receiving my final diagnosis. I was in a fog trying to… Continue reading
In late summer of 2013, we moved to a new house and were in the middle of an all-out remodel - scraping ceilings, redoing the kitchen, and painting everything! I was also training for my first half marathon. I looked better than I did in high school and I felt great too! I… Continue reading
Breast cancer is a disease wrought with emotion that can leave behind both visible and unseen scars. The physical and mental toll it can take on a woman’s health is immense, which is why women need to have innovative treatment choices to cater to their individual… Continue reading
I had just turned 40. Professionally, I was thriving and was recently promoted. Everything on the outside seemed to be going my way. Privately, I was completely overwhelmed, depressed, and not feeling well. All mothers spread themselves too thin, right I was juggling… Continue reading
Survival times have lengthened for patients with certain challenging cancers thanks to a leading-edge “hot chemotherapy” treatment available at the Patricia Lynch Cancer Center at Holy Name. Hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) is used for some cancers that… Continue reading
Yom Kippur, 2019. I wore white, as is my custom, and didn’t shower, apply creams, or wear leather. These are the tools the tradition offers to playact our mortality. But I didn’t need them. I was two months past a major surgery, one month into chemotherapy, and fully aware… Continue reading
This article originally appeared in Tablet As a professor of Jewish studies, I encourage my students to use Jewish ritual in creative ways. In Introduction to Judaism at the University of Southern California, my students create a ritual marking a nontraditional event, like… Continue reading
