How Breast Cancer Has Affected My Family
If you haven’t noticed by now, every October we’re very hands-on and full throttle when it comes to breast cancer awareness. There’s a backstory to it, and it begins with my great-grandmother Mary.
Mary was an absolute gem of a woman: kind, caring, intelligent, beautiful, and quick-witted too. She passed away at 74 from ovarian cancer.
Before she passed, she was ill for quite some time. My Zaida (Yiddish for grandfather), her son-in-law, was a top OBGYN in the US and Canada. He noticed the cancer was spreading and decided to operate on her, though many of his colleagues thought he was crazy. He performed a hysterectomy, a surgery that was almost a death sentence at the time. Because of that surgery, my great-grandmother lived several more years.
When her daughter, my Bubbie (Yiddish for grandma), was 48, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. After rounds of chemotherapy, she became cancer-free.
We thought she was cancer-free for good, and she was for about 25 years, before it came back in a milder form. She underwent more radiation and a mastectomy, and came out strong. She’s been cancer-free again ever since.
My Bubbie carries a gene mutation called BRCA1, which predisposes carriers to breast cancer: someone with the BRCA1 gene is up to six times more likely to get it. The gene is easily passed to children.
Fortunately for my immediate family, my mother was the only one of my Bubbie’s children who doesn’t carry the BRCA1 gene. Her sister and brother both do.
When my aunt found out she had a high likelihood of getting breast cancer, she chose a preventative double mastectomy and hysterectomy, all in her mid-30s, while still caring for her three daughters, who were all under 10 at the time. She’s a warrior.
My uncle, Dr. Ian Taras, now an established gynecologist who practiced alongside his father, also carries the BRCA1 gene and has stayed watchful for his own children. He’s become an inspiration in the breast cancer awareness community: from driving a pink Tesla nicknamed the “BreastCar” to promote awareness, to leading fundraising for the Revlon Run/Walk and the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation, ahead of teams from ABC, Disney, and others.
Breast cancer affects one in every 833 men, and one in every eight women. As someone with close family ties to this disease, the message I want to share with the world is that we see you, we support you, and we’re doing our part to help end it.
Those affected by breast cancer are warriors. We’re here to fight alongside them.
So every October, look for a fundraiser from our winery to help fight breast cancer. This month, we’re offering our Pink Power Bundle, three of our rosés bundled at a discounted rate, with 10% of proceeds donated to the Dr. Susan Love Foundation for Breast Cancer Research. You can shop the bundle here.
Please continue to help us fight, and to help us get rid of this disease for good.
Cheers,
Amanda