A little background...

About forteen years ago I was a Freshman in high school without a care or worry in the world. I had started my first season of golf on the Varsity team, and was on cloud nine. I believe it was shortly after spring break that my parents sat my sister and I down and explained to us that my mother had breast cancer. Looking back on it now, I had no idea what was about to happen or honestly what it even meant.

After a few quickly scheduled surgeries my mother was preparing herself for chemotheraphy. I believe we, my sister and I, were both in good spirits waiting patiently for life to return to normal. Personally, I do not think it had ever entered my mind the severity of her disease or what toll it could possibly take on our family over time.

Five years later we were planning my older sisters wedding. I had started my first year in college, and everyone in the family was busy with decorations and other tasks for the big day. Little did I, or anyone else know that Mom had started having headaches. Katie and Ronnies wedding was scheduled for December 28th, and it was getting closer everyday. With no time to spare, anything not dealing with the wedding was pushed to the bottom of the list. Needless to say, December came and went and the wedding was beautiful.

Mom went in to see her doctors after the new year had begun. The normal test were run, and she was instructed to go straight to the hospital. She had swelling in her brain, and two brain tumors to go along with it. Surgery was scheduled to remove brain tumor #1, that was the day that my mother changed forever. I'm sure I will elaborate more on this at a later date. Both brain tumors were removed that spring. Mom underwent radiation therapy, and the rest of us continued our normal lives. After the surgeries my mother was never the same person as before. In November of that year, Mom passed away at the age of 42. I was 19.

My goal with this blog is to hopefully encourage others who have felt the same feelings I have, and to share the choices I have made pertaining to breast cancer. In the last 10 years my husband, Cody, and I have had a very open and direct discussion about GENETIC TESTING. We together made the choice to have my blood drawn and tested to find out if I had a genetic mutation predisposing me for a higher risk of breast cancer. In December we went to see the genetic counselor, and my results are in...