I’m proud to announce that A Glass of Goldwater is a new partner of Sharsheret. Look out for more coming your way from me and this amazing organization.
Have you taken a good look at your boobs recently? I certainly haven’t. And after a great meeting with Eve Kleinerman, Illinois Director of Sharsheret, I realized that I definitely need to be.
Cancer is an uncomfortable subject for most people, but it is SO important to talk about it. More and more often, young women (mid to late 20’s and 30’s) are diagnosed with breast and ovarian cancer. This is way before any women’s health professional even suggests we start to get mammograms. But Sharsheret has done ground-breaking work to educate women about their bodies. I’m proud to stand with them in an effort to save more lives and help more women.
Unfortunately, cancer is a subject that hits close to home. My mother passed away when I was nine from lung cancer, and my step mother passed away from metastasized breast cancer when Miri was just 10 weeks old. I wrote a post about it last year. If you’d like to check it out, here it is.
Why Sharsheret?
In 2001 (that’s 18 years ago!) Sharsheret was founded by a woman named Rochelle Shoretz (a”h). Rochelle was a 28-year-old, young, Jewish mother, who was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had a lot of support from her NJ community, but found that she really wanted to talk to a woman who had walked in her shoes. Though her grandmother had died of the disease, cancer was a taboo subject that wasn’t discussed within her family and, she soon recognized, within the Jewish community at large.
Over the past 18 years, Sharsheret has turned into a support network of over 14,000 women who have lived with, or are living with, breast and ovarian cancer. They offer resources, counseling, genetic support, and education. Because of Rochelle’s pioneering efforts, women are more educated and aware of their bodies, which is helping to diagnose cancers at earlier stages. In turn, this is saving women’s lives. Rochelle passed away in 2015 from complications of breast cancer, but her legacy lives on, and I hope to help bring more awareness to young women, like myself, about how to be in tune with our bodies, so we can be aware and prepared if, G-d forbid, we ever need to be.
So what now?
I learned so much, and had so many questions after my 1 hour meeting with Eve Kleinerman. I knew that if I had questions, it was likely other women would also have the same questions.
Last night, I went live on Instagram with Eve, and she answered so many questions I never knew I had about breast and ovarian cancer, the prevalence in young, Jewish women and how we can be more aware of our bodies.
All it takes to catch something serious is a simple monthly breast self-examination, but so many of us think we’re invincible or just don’t know any better. We just assume that cancer can’t happen to us, and that’s where we get into trouble.
If only we had been more aware of our bodies. If only we had stopped being so uncomfortable with our bodies and talking about cancer history in our families. Then we could have caught something earlier. But with the help and education of Sharsheret…now we can. We can stop being so uncomfortable, and start touching our boobs. Because then we’ll know if something’s different, and we’ll know exactly what to do and who to call if we ever need to, G-d forbid.
Did you know?
1 in 40 Ashkenazi Jews, both men and women, carries the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation.
Everyone who carries a cancer gene mutation has a 50% chance of passing it on to the next generation.
Individuals who carry mutations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY to make choices about high risk screening and risk-reducing surgery and treatment that can SAVE THEIR LIFE.
If you have any questions about genetics, Sharsheret is there to help with that as well. You can reach out to your local Sharsheret branch or email genetics@sharsheret.org.
The lesson I’ve learned from all of this? Don’t be afraid to talk about our bodies. It could save your life.
Look out for more partnerships between A Glass of Goldwater and Sharsheret coming in the near future.
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